Quarantine Questions...

[jwcarlson]

I'm *some period of time from* getting discus. Tank is set up, working on fishless cycle at the moment. 75 gallon and planning on getting discus from Hans.
Have water aging/preheating facilities set up and tested.

And in general just doing more reading. Can anyone shed light on dosages for Al's Quarantine? I've got a number of meds in-stock already, but want to make sure that I've got sufficient quantities to be able to do all of the recommended steps.
Additionally, is there any med that you'd recommend I keep 'in stock' for discus? I have kanaplex, metroplex, expel-p, paracleanse, Ich-X, and Maracyn already. As well as Focus and GarlicGuard if I need to mix anything in feed (which I've done in the past). There's no pet stores "in town" here, but within about an hour drive I can get to the chain stores (Petsmart and Petco) and a couple of LFS that may or may not be very well stocked on meds... I've not ever really looked for them there.
Just trying to avoid the "my discus are doing X" and now I'm waiting four days to have something shipped because it's not available locally. Within reason, of course.

Additionally, I have an (pretty good) old microscope that I bought from a friend a couple of years ago hoping to count nosema spores in my honey bees' gut contents, but never got around to it. He is quite a bit older than me and used it in college (I don't know his major, but he worked in labs after graduating). I'll have to dust it off, but I can do the the standard onion cells and looking at dog hair stuff. I think one of the lenses is 400x (but I could be off by a factor of 40 :crazy:).

Thanks in advance!

[seanyuki]

In pure form Levamisole 90 mg per 10 gallons and Praziquantel 110 mg per 10 gallons for worms treatments.

[jwcarlson]

I just dosed Prazi tonight. Is this a 24 hour bath or some number of days?
Should I feed lighter during it?

[seanyuki]

Once you deworm a fish(using Praziquantel)in quarantine,the only way it is going to encounter re-infection is by another infected fish or feeding contaminated live food.Assuming all your stock has been dewormed prior to introducing them into your main tank, the chance of them becoming re-infected is very unlikely. Companies that suggest worming every month are just targeting repeat sales because worms don't spontaneously appear out of nowhere. Quarantine procedures…Week One: Many Frequent water changes, observe fish behavior, and treat for anything specifically noted. Be sure all fish are eating well and passing normal feces.
Week Two: Prophylactic deworming with Praziquantel for tape worms, several days latter deworm with general dewormer (levamisole) added to water as 24 hour bath.
Always quarantine everything. It doesn't matter where it comes from.
After Week Six: Quarantine is over if the fish are looking healthy and eating well .......add least favourite of existing stock (aka Test fish) to new fish stock.
Week Six-Week Eight: Observe new stock and test fish. If all is well, most likely safe to mix all fish.Prophylactic lastly for parasitic flagellate using Metronidazole.HTH.

[jwcarlson]

That procedure is what I'm following.
I'm just wondering if I still do a water change tomorrow and if I do, do I redose the new water with Prazi or is it a 24 hour deal and just let my WCs take it out and do the levamisole later in the week.

The instructions are a little ambiguous, which is why I'm asking. :)

It's important to note that I'm not introducing any new fish to any old fish. These are just new (to me), juveniles that I want to make sure are as 'clean' as can be for grow out.

[seanyuki]

Praziquantel (Vodka or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to dissolve it ) is stable in water, leave it the water for 24 hrs.

[jwcarlson]

Thank you, Francis!

[jwcarlson]

Prazi treatment went fine, put in Levamisole tonight. The package said not to feed, is that necessary?
I know it's light sensitive, so I have the tank light off. Should I be covering the tank to make sure room/sunlight isn't lighting anything up? It gets some indirect sun from 10 feet away or so.