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Unread 12/27/2014, 02:19 PM   #1
snorvich
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Stages of Marine Aquarist experience with parasites

At the risk of offending (I have no intention of doing so, however) some folks, I have observed that aquarists go through different stages of awareness about marine parasites. As their embedded base of fish increases in value, so too does their sensitivity to infecting their prized fish friends.

Unconscious Incompetence
Characteristics:
+ all tanks have ich, there is nothing one can do about that except feed garlic or ginger
+ I cannot afford to quarantine, I will just have to hope for the best and buy from good stores
+ I buy only from local fish stores (LFS) that will hold the fish for me for at least two weeks so I do not have to quarantine
+ I buy fish only from LFS that run copper in their system
+ I only get fish from reliable friends
+ I always fresh water dip all fish I purchase
+ I always drip acclimate every fish for two hours

Conscious Incompetence
Characteristics:
+ I know that parasites exist but with proper feeding the immune system of fish will fight them off
+ When I purchase fish, I get them right out of the bag when the LFS gets them in to avoid additional stress for the fish but I drip acclimate for at least two hours
+ I buy fish only from LFS that run copper in their system

Unconscious Competence
Characteristics:
+ I always quarantine for at least a month but do not treat fish unless I see something wrong

Conscious Competence
Characteristics:
+ I always put all fish through tank transfer, follow up with a month of observation and treat twice with Prazipro
+ I know basic behaviors associated with fish parasites and know treatments available for each
+ I keep an arsenal of treatment options for parasites, flukes and bacterial issues
+ I quarantine anything wet added to my aquaria

Just my opinions from observations working in this forum for quite a while.


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Unread 12/27/2014, 03:32 PM   #2
Newsmyrna80
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I believe your observations are dead on


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Unread 12/28/2014, 07:48 AM   #3
Nina51
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except for the part about "treat twice with Prazipro", i more or less fall into the last category and i have to give you, steve, all the credit for that. i have learned SO much from you when it comes to preventative care.

i'm not sure the reason for it but using medications on qt fish just scares the beejeebees outta me. i think i need an intervention.


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Unread 12/28/2014, 11:57 AM   #4
snorvich
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Thanks for the kind words Nina! I too am not a believer until relatively late (last 5 years) in treating fish with chemicals prophylactically; this is why I always advocate for tank transfer as a first line of defense against ich (rather than treating with copper or CP), which is still the most prevalent parasite that I see empirically. However, in recent years, I have seen more and more cases of flukes. While a fresh water dip will definitively provide a diagnosis, Prazipro is fairly easy on fish.

My goal is to have folks enjoy their tanks without the stress of seeing their fish get sick and die. I hope to persuade everyone to develop a quarantine protocol. I also try to help those that want help diagnosing and treating their fish; sometimes that is difficult with only second hand information.


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Unread 12/28/2014, 01:37 PM   #5
Deinonych
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nina51 View Post
except for the part about "treat twice with Prazipro", i more or less fall into the last category and i have to give you, steve, all the credit for that. i have learned SO much from you when it comes to preventative care.
Likewise.


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Unread 12/28/2014, 02:46 PM   #6
Outerbank
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I haven't added a fish in 4-5 years but always quarantined my fish prior to that. My last 3 fish a potters angel, moorish idol, and regal angel were kept in quarantine. The 30 gallon tank was too small for the MI and I was only able to treat with copper for a week. That was nearly 7 years ago.

I had been kind of neglecting my tank hobby for the past 18-24 months. I decided to devote time to it again and I am having a lot of fun. I went out and bought a kole tang and I began to read and learn from the forums again. There is a lot of new information. Snorvich's references/inputs are awesome. The KT is in a QT as I never add fish directly to the tank. I have been catching up on current treatments and doing TTM. The fish had velvet which I noticed early and thus I am now treating with copper. Gonna do the prazipro after copper and enter the up to date conscious competence stage.

I think quarentining goes beyond disease treatment, where we are not just looking at disease, but fattening healthy difficult fish to safely add to the DT. Fish that are not just disease fee, but also gaining weight, size, and eating more types of food. I kept many of my more difficult fish by themselves in a 30 gallon tank for 6-10 weeks just to feed them after hyposalinity treatment.


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Unread 10/21/2016, 04:09 PM   #7
delmo
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Do you know Mr. Linder? I had a training that spoke of this, some years ago. UI, CI, UC, CC... It can be applied to all learnings.
UI= You don't know what you don't know, CI=You know what you don't know, UC= You instinctively know(but don't know why) CC= You know what you know.

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Last edited by delmo; 10/21/2016 at 04:14 PM.
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