Hypsolanity... Necessary?

[Capt. Nemo]

Hi everyone,

I just recently purchased an Australian Harelquin Tusk which has been in quarantine since last Saturday. The fish "appears" to be in excellent healt,( great color, eating very well and very active). Should I still do hyposalinity as a precautionary measure in case the fish does have ich though there are no visilble signs of this parasite at the moment. Is hypo the standard practice for quarantine of all new fish even for those which "appear" to be in excellent health? Will I be doing more harm than good? What are the chances that I could inadverently kill by fish by reducing the salinity below 1.09 ? That's my greatest concern since I have no experience with this procedure.

Thanks
Gary

[T-T-Trigger]

no I don't think hypo is necessary, but a nice freshwater bath would be an simple and sufficient precautionary measure.

[Jerry W]

FW dips can be stressful to fish. Some don't tolerate them well. If the fish is otherwise healthy, simply quarantine the fish for 4 weeks and observe. Hyposalinity is safe and effective, but IMO, not necessary when acquiring new fish. It can be started at first sign of a problem, but again, doesn't need to be automatically done.

[T-T-Trigger]

Harlequin tusk will tolerate a freshwater bath just fine.