Quarantine questions...

[DMD123]

I am experienced enough of a fish keeper that I really know I should quarantine new fish before mixing with establish fish. But recently I made the mistake of adding goldfish from 3 different vendors into the same tank with the mistaken logic of 'they are all new and going through quarantine together'. In talking with a goldfish vendor, he mentioned they wait at least two weeks before mixing fish from different farms. I should have thought that through myself since I ended up losing three very expensive fish.

So I have been very hard core with this and have the fish separated out into 3 different spots.
Tank 1 65B Panda Yuan Bao oranda
Tote 2 - Ranchu (came out alive after being with the 3 other fish that died)
Tote 3 - Ranchu and Pearlscale

I have made sure to wash off tools from one tank to the next, wash my hands too if they were in one tank before going to the next and really thinking carefully about any sort of contamination factors. But realistically when they are all acclimated Im not that careful, I pretty much am like any fish store and go from one tank to the next.

My plan is a minimum two week separation with very frequent water changes to all tanks. But I am wondering should I do anything else?
Some will automatically put fish through parasite treatment, I do have Seachem ParaGuard, Metro, Salt and a few other things on hand.
Some run antibiotics, which I have a few different ones on hand.
Others say just clean water and if the fish "looks" healthy then dont add any unnecessary medications.

So I am asking you fishbox members what you think. How would you or do you quarantine?

 

[DMD123]

Been reading up a bunch of different articles on this subject and realize I missed the point of my quarantine a little. Part of the goal was to get the new fish acclimated to the new conditions they are going into. Most recommendations want you to start with a cycled tank, well I did all new water and filter and used bacteria in a bottle instead. I had no existing tank water used either. I was worried about the new fish getting infected with something from the existing fish. I really really trying to keep them in a sterile environment instead of acclimating them to mine.

With these realizations in mind, I did water changes on the fish in quarantine but used existing tank water from the other goldies for refilling. Also continuing to add the bacteria in the bottle too.

 

[sir_keith]

Does this 'bacteria in a bottle' stuff actually work? I always have extra sponge filters in some of my tanks, so if I need to set up a new tank unexpectedly, it can be 'cycled' immediately. Or an established HOB or canister filter can be moved.

Regarding the question of prophylactic antibiotics, I think it is a bad idea generally to use antibiotics in the absence of clear evidence of a specific infection. And that's not just for fishes.

 

[DMD123]

Been super paranoid this time around and I am probably a tiny bit overboard on the quarantine. I have been making a daily habit to remove the poo at the bottom of the bare bottom tank and totes. I dont want the fish to eat each others waste in case they are passing stuff through their systems. This also means some new water getting introduced daily. And I have added water from the healthy established goldfish tank to acclimate them.

Just looking back at the financial cost of the last three losses is making me work at this. But I have not done any antibiotics since no obvious issues are showing.

 

[John58Ford]

Regarding quick cycling, I have had some success with tetra safe start, but also some failures. I started my endler guppy journey stealing Tupperware from my wife's cupboard and would raise a batch up and sort them amongst the tubs before culling. Every month or three my stock would be full and I would put the male and female keepers in separate display tanks and give them some time off, washing and returning the tubs to my wife. I think I did that d for a few years and had quite the pile of tiny whisper i3 filters in a bucket, restarting the little "tanks" as needed to meet demand. Like Keith my go to method is to squeeze some good dirty sponge water out of a healthy tank to get things going, I keep a couple spare bags of dirty ceramics I can move around or loan out in my sump too but the sponge seems to work the best/quickest.

As far as quarantine, whenever I get imported fish I try to isolate for 1 to 2 months depending on what's already in the target tank (how much am I willing to risk). I typically fill the quarantine tank with water from the target tank the first time, then split the water 50/50 fresh/target if any water changes are required. Usually the qt is allot smaller than the target tank, the imported fish are smaller than adult, and that system seems to work. I don't treat with medication unless symptoms are present, to many risks with resistant strains, oxygenation issues, and interactions/sensitivities.

My quarantine tanks are where I bust out the ugly fake plants, toss in a coffee cup or two, chunks of PVC, and depending on species I might put some sand or leave it bare. Always give them refuge places to reduce stress.

I was following the goldfish story and man that's a bummer, but I'm sure you will nail it this time.

 

[DMD123]

I say I really should have known better since this happened once about 20 years ago. My tank was a 210g with a large midas, a school of red hooks a a sailfin pleco. I added two small cichilds of which one was a wild caught and whatever got brought in decimated the tank expect for like two of the seven silver dollars. I reset the tank and everything I added at that point was continuing to waste away and die like the original fish I had lost. An experienced fish keeper asked if I had taken the gravel out and disinfected it. Sure enough with me baking the gravel in the oven and disinfecting the tank, whatever plague that was in the tank finally went away. So 20 years later I essentially repeated my mistake.