Mandarin quarantine?

[cpittmx]

Just got a mandarin and I'm not sure about quarantine on these guys. Are they safe to treat with copper or is it required since I've read they don't get ich? Also not sure how it will do in bare bottom tank due to special feeding requirements.

[funkejj]

Don't worry about QT a mandarin. First off you will have to constantly be dumping in copopods in the QT tank second they have a thick slime coat that is a deterrent to Ich. You will be safe not putting them in a QT tank.

[Ben_n_Em]

Not sure about the claim thats its safe to skip QT on a mandarin or any other fish, but i've gotten a couple mandarins through a 6 week QT successfully and have moved them to QT when they were picked on by other fish. I alternated feedings of frozen shrimp ova and arctipods and occasionally mixed in some live copopods. Feed at least 3 times a day and they seemed to come out of QT fat and happy.

[funkejj]

I have seen many mod's here say that it is safe to skip their QT.

[DownwardDawg]

Do NOT qt the Mandarin.

[snorvich]

I would not quarantine a mandarin.

[Lynnmw1208]

Do NOT treat with copper as this fish is sensitive to it. I wouldn't bother with QT, they need too specialized of a diet (pods). I didn't QT mine and had no problems :)

[tmz]

They are resistant to ich but not totally immune to it ,ime. They may be sensitive to copper. A long hypo treatment in qt may be hard to maintain with adeqaute food and low ammonia. Personally erring on the side of caution, I'd get some pods and frozen food to feed them and put them through a tank transfer process using a couple of 10 gallon tanks moving the fish every 3 days to a clean dried tank with new water for a total of 4 tranfers and you'll be sure no ich is coming in to your display..

[Liquid Hobby]

Just got a mandarin and I'm not sure about quarantine on these guys. Are they safe to treat with copper or is it required since I've read they don't get ich? Also not sure how it will do in bare bottom tank due to special feeding requirements.


Good questions that really should be asked before buying a diet specialized fish...

[Jstdv8]

I Qted my mandarin and treated with copper for 4 weeks. no ill effects. No fish should go through to the DT without some sort of QT.
Folks, all it takes is a drop of water on your hand to bring in ich into the system.
You are putting a wet fish that is full of water in your system. If you buy this fish either find out if it will accept other forms of food than pods or make arrangements to feed pods in the QT. They don't last long in the copper or the hypo, but they get the job done. Much easier if you buy one that accepts frozen food.

[cpittmx]

Good questions that really should be asked before buying a diet specialized fish...

I'm set to deal with it whatever the answer...and have it a qt tank and also have 2 2 liter bottle pod cultures but thank you for the informative post.

[cpittmx]

I think I'm going to go with switching tanks every 3 days.

[tmz]

Be sure to dry out the tank and equipment thoroughly each time you move the fish. Feed lightly. I use ten gallon tnks with some pvc for resting places and a smalll hang on the back filter, and air stone to keep it simple.
Not much if any ammonia will build up in 3 days but it should be checked and having some ammonia detoxifier on hand in case is helpful too. Many lfs's carry live pods if you need them. Some frozen cyclopeeze may also work if it won't take brine or mysis.
Mix the water for changes at least several hours ahead of time, match sg and heat it up. It's not very hard when using small tanks. Fish can be captured and transferred easily as well.
The 3 day turn around 4xs ensures ich from the fish leaves over the 12 days and the cysts formed by exiting parasites have in adequate time to hatch and reinfect.

BTW if at some point with this fish or others you choose to use copper do not use ammonia detoxifier as they will increase the toxicity ofthe copper.

Good luck.

[cpittmx]

Thanks for the info. I had a battle with brook in the past and had to remove and treat all fish and leave tank fallow.m since then have been very careful and stringent with quarantine procedures. The tank transfer seems most sensible for the mandarin.