Cross infection and quarantine of discus

[ganesan]

If there are discus fish in one lfs in about 4 aquariums and in the rest of about 15 or so aquariums there are tetras,angel fish,geophagus, severum, rams,corydoras. Now the discus in each of these aquariums are from different sources. My question is this...is it alright to buy the discus from this store from different tanks and keep them in one aquarium at my home. The discus have been for about 14 days in this lfs and seems healthy and coming to the front of the aquarium,eating well and are fat. Assuming I buy these discus from each of these different aquariums do I need to quarantine them again at home and do a pp bath,metrogyl treatments or just add them to the main aquarium at home and hope all goes well. Kindly advise.

[brewmaster15]

A few questions..

Quoting/paraphrasing an old actor in the USA.."do you feel lucky? Well do you?" This scenario is a recipe for disaster in my book.

Do you know what kind of filtration the shop uses? If they are running a central system.. consider all fish as if from same tank.. Honestly its hard to isolate at a shop so odds are the fish there are probably already cross contaminated if its been a few weeks even if the tanks are not on a system.

I would still QT before adding to your main tank at home..especially if that tank has fish already.

Al

[Iminit]

Yes I would qt before adding to main tank. Beginning of the year I did this. 3 discus from 3 different tanks. I qt them and in a few days they crossed contaminated. 2 turned blackish the 3rd looked alright. He gave to the others. I treated right away and all 3 are fine. 3 months later after a paraguard treatment they went into main tank and are fine.

[ganesan]

Thanks I think quarantine is a must and a discus may look healthy but without quarantine it is risky

[seanyuki]

The late Kenny Cheung explained to me.
This is one reason why Quarantining new arrivals is so important...it gives you the opportunity to inspect your fish and be sure that they are healthy and well rested after their travel, and it allows the fish to get used to you, diets and their new environment.
How to quarantine is something that is debated often, and there are no hard fast rules but some general suggestions based on what is often recommended here at SimplyDiscus by experienced hobbyists.
Carefully observe fish for any problems in that time frame and deal with any issues as they arise...some will recommend prophylactically treating new fish for worms or other parasites...that is a personal choice.