What is the proper quarantine process

[khooyang]

Hi guys,

Am new to discus and also new to SimplyDiscus forum. Only keeping juvenile discus for 1 month time and yesterday, bought another 4 Red Alenquer discus and am trying to quarantine them now. At the moment, I just put them in a new tank but have not carried out any quarantine process as I am not sure what to do.

Have read many places, saw one from Al (written 2002) here:
http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/disease_medications/general_info/quarantine_procedures.shtml

and Kenny's journal on how to quarantine discuss here:
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?70091-Quarantine-recommendations-for-Discus-Purchased-from-Kenny-s-Discus

Now, I am confused which one to follow as Al suggest treating with medicine for few weeks but Kenny suggest observing, but of course Kenny say this on behalf of the fish he sell, so, may not apply to other dealer in general.

Also, from Al's post, what is the measure and dose of panacur and Metronidazole. I am not familiar with panacur and Metronidazole. I searched online and seems that Metro. can be purchased as pet food, but panacur seems to be deworm medicine for horses. Any one designed for fish or I am missing something?

Hoping expert here can help explaining or share your experience on quarantine. Am staying in Geelong VIC in Australia. Thanks for help in advance.

[khooyang]

Any expert here could please point me to a link or provide suggestion on quarantine please? Thank you very much.

[Skip]

what would be easiest for you.. paying for medications you don't have yet.. and the won't be sure of the dosage.. and then trying to figure out where to buy them.. and getting a scale cuz some meds are by weight and not by volume.. and then having to redose some meds cuz you are doing water changes..

OR..

just change out water daily and observe your fish

[khooyang]

Thanks Skip for that. I think I know what to do now.... Another quick question. Normally, if discus carry any disease, it will show up in 6 weeks time right?

[khooyang]

Found another one from Al at:
http://discustoday.info/some-tips-on-quarantine-and-its-importance/

Seems to be a good way to follow as the process is simple. Am getting the Levamisole and now have been treating the fish with Prazi... :)

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Skip for that. I think I know what to do now.... Another quick question. Normally, if discus carry any disease, it will show up in 6 weeks time right?

Most will, thats why 6 weeks is generally used as a minimum. However... some will not. Most external pathogens will show up in that time frame. Internal parasites like worms may not...which is where a hobbyist can get burned if they don't prophylactically treat for worms. Often by the time you notice symptoms of worms the discus has been stunted if a juvenile or they have gone off their feed, or started to loose weight. I deworm all fish when I first get them. For me it does not make sense not to.
hth,
al

[khooyang]

Thanks a lot Al.

I am basically searching online and finally found your post mentioned above and I think that's the best and is a lot simpler than your 2002 post. I think it's due to medicine improvement? I am following that and will hope that my Alenquer can finally mix well with my existing stock. Also, planning for a bigger tank and may build one with sump in a few months time.

Some pictures of my current stock :) . Am so happy with this new hobby :p

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7173/13969092396_288b7429af_o_d.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7084/13969092096_955fa07d39_o_d.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/13989015041_3f93785f6e_o_d.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5002/13988985322_66b291b338_o_d.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7413/13988984212_45d0676db8_o_d.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7394/13992632594_36dbc16147_o_d.jpg

[brewmaster15]

Hello,
That 2002 article is definetly outdated... the one you found at my blog is the most recent writeup I have done, and one of then reasons I started that blog. I'm working on a part 2 article for it currently.

Your group of fish is decent group of starter discus to learn the ropes on.. The Blue Diamond has alot of potential, the Turqs look like they are stunted but they look healthy enough. I would definetly go with a round of dewormers in case thats the cause.

You are going to want to really feed these guys well, several times aday, and with a substrate tank, maintenance and water changes are key. What are you currently feeding and doing for water changes? what size tank is this?

Hope you don't mind the comments,
al

[brewmaster15]

See here also for Quarantine info...
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?21044-Quarantine-*questions/page8

[Skip]

great pics.. !

but they are starting to show some small signs of not enough water changes..

you should up them to daily..

also.. its not quarantine when you add them to a tank with existing fish.. and if you do use meds, you have to be a little bit more careful when tank is full of other fish and plants.. and substrate..

[khooyang]

Hi Al,

That's useful comments. Accept them all. Waiting forward to your part 2 article !!! Nowadays, internet is how you learn, and beginner like me mostly rely on internet, but did get advice from a friend working in local fish shop, his name is Al (Almir) as well :). So...your write up would help lots of people around the world.

I did agree tht the red turqs isn't in very good shape, not my favourite and yes, you see relatively more photos on blue diamond as he's my favourite as I think he has some potential. Yes, will do a round of dewormers in my current tank using Praziquantel and Levamisole.

I feed them 3~4 times a day. Feeding beef heart in morning (about 7~8am). In the afternoon, since I am at work, feed them dry food (Tetra Color mix with New Life Spectrum Discus Formula) with auto feeder (12pm), then dinner time (6~7pm), feed them either brine shrimp or red worm. Then around 9pm feed them beef heart again.

I am currently using a Juwel RIO 180, a 180 litre tank. I think it would be a bit small in the future and hence, wanted an upgrade in a few months time. At the moment, am doing 80% water change once a week. For filter, am running two Eheim 2215 with bio media for the tank to ensure 8~10 times water circulation.

Am looking for 6 ft tank and is very much inspired by J Cardona's project:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=133528

[khooyang]

Thanks, Skip, only these few days started to read up post in this forum, and they are very useful and informative. Will keep up with the water change.

At the moment this tank has like 50 tetras and 10 L333 baby cat fish. Do you think I can just deworm this current tank with Prazi and Levamisole? Or what should I do? Open to your advise as I know very little in fish.

At the moment, I have 2 tanks. One is the Juwel shown in picture above that keep my existing stocks. Also, I have another 130 little tank that keep my 4 newly bought Alenquer for QT purpose.

[brewmaster15]

Thanks, Skip, only these few days started to read up post in this forum, and they are very useful and informative. Will keep up with the water change.

At the moment this tank has like 50 tetras and 10 L333 baby cat fish. Do you think I can just deworm this current tank with Prazi and Levamisole? Or what should I do? Open to your advise as I know very little in fish.

At the moment, I have 2 tanks. One is the Juwel shown in picture above that keep my existing stocks. Also, I have another 130 little tank that keep my 4 newly bought Alenquer for QT purpose.

Since you have all the fish mixed, you should deworm all the tank, and then deworm any new fish you get as part of their quarantine before you add to your main tank.

Tetras and plecos can be sensitive to meds, so always use those cautiously. Its probably best to half dose them first and see how they do. I have used levamisole and prazi with plecos and various tetras without any issues, but if you try things like formalin and malachite green for external parasites, you may have issues with them.

hth,
al

[niqhil]

Great discus and great photography !

[khooyang]

Thanks a lot, Al. Can't really sleep well last night...lots of sweat reading post here as I missed some important things like salt in water and so on with my existing tank.

Wake at 5 a.m. and doing 80% water change. Now half way through waiting for the tank to be filled. Medication will begin this afternoon with 1/2 dose first....thanks heap for the information, Al! Truly appreciated.

Thanks, Niqhil....will need to do more water change though, to make my discus a Monster :)

[DISCUS STU]

A good scale is important to measure the meds by weight and not volume. Good scales aren't that expensive. I use reconstitued RO water for my quarantine tanks.
1. Metronidazole at .50 mg. per 10 gallons (mixing Metric & Imperial measuring here) in a dedicated quarantine tank. No gravel.
2) Double strength PraziPro (Praziquantel)
3) Medicated Turkey heart food w/Metronidazole (assuming they're eating)
4) Alternate with Metronidazole flake and De-Worming Flake (every other day on the De-Worming flake). The De-Worming flake has Fenbendazole/Panacur. The medicated flake is from Angels Plus.
5) 50% water changes every few days, clean filters.
6) I generally do this for 2-3 weeks, but I can see that many others do this for 4-6 weeks.

Your fish look healty though the Turqs may be a little stunted. Generally only buy the little guys when they have proportionately small eyes compared to their bodies as the eyes continue to grow even though the rest of the fish may not. It's very satisfying to buy small fish and raise them into beautiful big fish.

Good luck!

[khooyang]

Thank you, Discus STU for the information. I have Metro, Prazi and Levamisole on hand and I am treating with these 2 medicines. I just got a batch of wilds :)

[Debow]

great pics.. !

but they are starting to show some small signs of not enough water changes..

you should up them to daily..

also.. its not quarantine when you add them to a tank with existing fish.. and if you do use meds, you have to be a little bit more careful when tank is full of other fish and plants.. and substrate..


How can you tell that the water needs to get changed more? What am I not seeing ? Please tell I am interested