Hero discus in quarentine

[jeoper]

I know proper quarantine is 4-6 weeks then you take a discus and sacrifice it also referred to the "hero discus" and put in the quarantine with any fish you want to add to your main tank. I have been quarantine dither fish for my main discus tank some have been in qt over 3 months others 2-3 weeks. However, I recently put the hero discus in the quarantine. How long should I leave the hero discus in there to ensure all fish in qt are 100% safe for my main tank!?

[sanjay21]

Recommended duration is 2 weeks with Hero fish.

I do a Week to 10 days of observation and it worked fine all the time for me.

[SNap0283]

A month. Im over cautious but id rather be patient then have a tank crash and start over from scratch.

[jeoper]

I would do a month too I’m super ocd but this Discus went from a 90 gallon to a 20 gallon so it may be too much for it I think

[jeoper]

Yes I know some fish have been there like 4 months and a bristlenose like 2 weeks but my main concern is that bristlenose cuz I got from a LFS it’s been in my qt for 2 weeks. I treated the tank with Kusuri wormer plus and seachem paraguard when I noticed this pleco was non responsive to me gently tapping on glass or when I would turn lights on in the tank. A few days after the meds it was active and all over the place. Comes out in the dark or when I put food in. This pleco came from a tank where I had got another pleco that died because it was killed by another male bn in my qt and it also had 2 white marks on its stomach maybe fungal I’m not sure but when I bought it I didn’t notice the marks till I got home. There were no signs of ich or anything else except that it was not active and the other male bn that was already in my qt would not leave it alone pecking at it and just attaching it’s self on it attacking it like crazy till it I guess killed him cuz I woke up like 3am one morning to find it dead. I tell you this story cuz I got that bn replaced with the one that’s in my tank now (took the other one that was being aggressive out and put this new guy in.

[Filip]

You should start counting the 6 weeks QT duration from your latest addition (The new bn pleco that is ).
That means 2 more weeks of inspection without hero discus , and if they all act healthy and eat , additional 2-3 weeks with the hero discus . If all goes well you can put them along with your hero discus back in your main tank after a month from today.
If things went south in QT you give away the new diether fish along with the hero discus.

[jeoper]

I understand the 6 week part but the hero discus is already in the qt. At this point all I can do is observe. Everything seems ok. It is a Pigeon Blood Red and I don't see any signs of cross contamination and it eats little bits I guess its stressed from the big move