Quarantining Fish

[120gallonFOWLR]

What is the proper quarantine procedure? Some fish that i get just all of a sudden die when there was nothing visibly wrong. For instance, I bought a Naso Tang on NYAquatic.com. It was a very nice fish, with nothing visibly wrong. I acclimated to my 55 g QT and saw that its stomach was sucked in a little. I did a dose of Prazi-Pro. A few days later, I saw that it developed a little ich. I researched dosing Cupramine with Prazi-Pro and many people said that they have had success so i did a half dose of Cupramine. That night, the fish went into a piece of PVC and started breathing extremely heavily. I did a 50% Water change real quick. The next morning, he was dead. I cannot explain any of this. The parameters on the tank were all good. Is there something that i'm doing wrong.
Thanks for all the help!

[nicfo25]

What is the proper quarantine procedure? Some fish that i get just all of a sudden die when there was nothing visibly wrong. For instance, I bought a Naso Tang on NYAquatic.com. It was a very nice fish, with nothing visibly wrong. I acclimated to my 55 g QT and saw that its stomach was sucked in a little. I did a dose of Prazi-Pro. A few days later, I saw that it developed a little ich. I researched dosing Cupramine with Prazi-Pro and many people said that they have had success so i did a half dose of Cupramine. That night, the fish went into a piece of PVC and started breathing extremely heavily. I did a 50% Water change real quick. The next morning, he was dead. I cannot explain any of this. The parameters on the tank were all good. Is there something that i'm doing wrong.
Thanks for all the help!

IMO slow down a litttle bit, sometimes people see a small sign of something and jump to meds. Fish need some peace and quiet in a QT tank that is someone private. You dont need them stressing. Dosing medicine and then quickly doing a 50% W/C stresses a new fish pretty bad.

Get healthy fish, QT for 4 weeks and dont be so quick on the trigger.

My whole goal of the first week is eating agressively. I want them fat and healthy when going into display.

Then I start obeserving. Good Luck hope this helps

[Rowdeus]

I aclimate slowly and keep in QT for about 3-4 weeks. Low Salinity and dose with Copper. If it is a Tang I usually feed it Curlerpa and they do well. Best thing I have done is bought the fish from the lfs still in the shipping bag. Just takes a while longer to aclimate.

[120gallonFOWLR]

IMO slow down a litttle bit, sometimes people see a small sign of something and jump to meds. Fish need some peace and quiet in a QT tank that is someone private. You dont need them stressing. Dosing medicine and then quickly doing a 50% W/C stresses a new fish pretty bad.

Get healthy fish, QT for 4 weeks and dont be so quick on the trigger.

My whole goal of the first week is eating agressively. I want them fat and healthy when going into display.

Then I start obeserving. Good Luck hope this helps

I appreciate the advice and respect your opinion. I usually do jump to diseases and dose fairly quickly. However, it is always best to treat a disease at its beginning stages. Next time, I will try to get the fish eating before i start dosing medications.
Thanks for the great advice!:beachbum:

[snorvich]

Well, I can give you my opinion about quarantining.

Q: Should I quarantine all fish?

A: Yes. Four weeks is a good window for observation of disease and parasites. All newly acquired fish will benefit from 4 weeks of time by themselves in the quarantine tank to recover from shipping/handling stress and to acclimate to your feeding regime.

Q: What about corals, inverts, algae, and live rock?

A: Set up a separate QT for them. That tank must never see copper or any medications that may be harmful to corals and inverts. It doesn't need to be large, doesn't necessarily need a skimmer, but will need adequate light and water movement. 4 weeks of observation should help spot any unwanted hitch hikers and pests and to provide a fallow period for cryptocaryon irritans and oodinium


Q. How big of a Quarantine Tank (QT) do I need?
A. Ideally large enough to permanently meet the needs of the largest fish you can expect to acquire. Realistically, as close to that size as you have room for.

Q: What filtration do I need for my QT?

A: The more the better. A skimmer is beneficial for oxygenating the water and in some cases can be run with medication in the water. A HOB filter adds more surface for bacteria to colonize as well as a place to run filter pads and carbon. A ball of chaetomorpha is a good idea provided there is light available. There's no substitute for live rock but keep in mind that copper as well as other medications will contaminate the rock permanently (never use it with inverts); I prefer to have live rock in my quarantine tank but obviously cannot do so for a hospital tank. Bottom line; use water changes to maintain water quality regardless of the filtration methods in place. I believe that a quarantine tank and hospital tank for treatment should be different tanks.

Q: How often should I change the water?
A: As often as necessary to maintain excellent water quality. Spend $5 and get an ammonia alert indicator so you're not caught off guard by an ammonia spike.


Q: How many fish can I keep in my QT?
A: There is no magic number but I prefer one fish by itself unless the fish come as a group such as a shoal of Apogon parvulus. Do your homework to understand which fish are compatible with each other, make sure there are enough hiding spaces for all fish to shelter in, and don't overload your filtration. Stress from fish interaction is highly undesirable during a quarantine period.


Q: How long should the quarantine process last?
A: Four weeks for observation is ample as it exceeds the life cycle of most parasites. If treatment beyond that is required it will depend on the treatment; usually 2-8 weeks. Technically speaking a QT would strictly be used for observation and rest period whereas a "Hospital Tank" would be used for treatment. As such the QT would more closely resemble an established tank, while the hospital tank would be very sterile with no surface that a parasite can attach to.

Q: Should I proceed with any treatments even if I don't see signs of disease?
A: Prophylactic treatment is a personal decision; I treat only if I see a problem. The primary reason for this is that hypo or copper is effective for ich but is not effective for other parasites such as oodinium. (I usually treat with Praziquantel (Prazipro) regardless of whether or not I see signs of parasites)

Q: How soon should I begin treatment?

A: Have the fish eating before starting treatment if possible. If there are signs of disease or parasites you may need to start treatment right away. Otherwise I wait until disease evidences itself before treating.

Q: How far in advance should I have the QT cycled an ready?
A: I keep an established QT constantly available. If a hospital tank has to be set up on short notice to treat a sick fish, use water from an established display tank.

Q: What equipment do I need to setup a QT?
A:

* Tank
* Heater
* Powerhead(s)
* Thermometer
* Ammonia Alert Indicator and/or Nitrate & Nitrite test kits
* PVC pipe segments or other hiding places for fish
* Live Rock (QT only not hospital)
* Light (optional for fish-only)
* Skimmer (optional)
* HOB Filter (optional)

Q: What are some medications I should have on hand?
A:

* Copper or Chloroquine - for ich and other external parasites
* Praziquantel - for flukes and worms
* nitrofurazone - for open wounds or sores
* Metronidazole - for intestinal and other protozoa
* Formalin - for brook and other external parasites
* Erythromycin and Minocycline - for bacterial prevention/treatment
* Food enhancers such as Selcon, Vitality, and Eco Garlic

[MrTuskfish]

^^^^^good info^^^^

To the OP: A basic question. Is your QT cycled? Ammonia poisoning sounds very possible with this fish. Did you use a copper test kit that was compatible with the brand of copper you dosed? i don't trust the 'count the drops' method. A normal dose of copper would not have killed this fish. I treat all fish with copper in QT. I'm in the minority on this issue, but almost all fish have been treated with copper along the way.
Also, sadly, a few fish just don't make the long trip from the reef to your tank. if you lose a fish, its sure better for that to happen in QT, where it hasn't had a chance to infect other fish.