brewmaster15
03-07-2003, 06:09 PM
Hi all,
I'm putting together an article for the library on Quarantine. I'm pretty much writing from the point of view as to why to QT, and what I do. If any wants to offer up what they do to be added to article. I'd appreciate it. You can just post it here and I'll add it in as some testimonials as to what other do and why. This article will be house in our Library and and on my personal site..Ctdiscus.com
I'd appreciate any help you can give.
thanks,
al
....Quarantine All New Discus!!
Al Sabetta 3/7/03
Many pathogens are easily harbored by newly acquired fish. These pathogens can cause Discus in an established tank to rapidly become ill. The safest way to insure that you do not accidentally infect your fish with a pathogen is to put all new fish through an adequate quarantine period. This has come to mean many things to many discus hobbyists and breeders. To many it is simply isolating new fish and observing them for signs of a disease for a period of weeks, and then treating as necessary if an ailment is obvious. Others will include prophylactic treatments for common ailments such as gill flukes, nematodes, and tape worms. The benefit of this method is you have a chance that you can eradicate low levels of a pathogen before it is a problem. The drawback with it is you may be treating your fish with unnecessary medications, which can harm the fish, environment, and create resistent strains of pathogens.
What ever form your quarantine procedure follows, you should ALWAYS Quarantine new fish. This is even if you trust the source implicitedly. Even if the supplier tells you that they have already done a Quarantine, do one yourself. If you do not quarantine you risk losing all of your Fish. Patience and an adequate quarantine is the best way to go when acquiring new fish.
The following is my procedure for Quarantine. It is not a recommendation, just a description of what I usually do when aquiring new fish.
1. No matter who the breeder, or seller is. I isolate the fish a minimum of 6 weeks. All equipment is dedicated to the QT setup.
2. When I first receive the fish They are dipped in methylene blue (50ppm solution /10 sec) and placed in a tank that has salt at concentration of 1-2 tablespoons /10 gal. This helps them deal with stress.
3. If there are any signs of bacteria or fungus, they get an increase in the salt to 1 tablespoon/ 1 gal water + furan 2 until the probelm clears.
4. dewormed with a tape worm specific medicine-pranziquantel
Once eating....
5 fed medicated gel food containing panacur for 1week, longer if I suspect worms(1gram per 4 oz of food. )
6. fed a medicated food, with metronidazole to deal with internal protozoans
7. externals parasite are dealt with using formalin , fluke tabs, clout, or potassium Permanganate as necessary.
8. I ALWAYS Assume Flukes...the gift that keeps on giving... currently I have found 3 weeks of treatment with Flubendazole or prazi to be the most effective, and safest treatment .
At the end of 6 weeks I take a cull fish from my other tanks and add it to the QT tank. If the cull does not get sick in week or two, then this tells me if the new fish are safe to mix with mine, and tells me if mine are safe to mix with them..
-al
I'm putting together an article for the library on Quarantine. I'm pretty much writing from the point of view as to why to QT, and what I do. If any wants to offer up what they do to be added to article. I'd appreciate it. You can just post it here and I'll add it in as some testimonials as to what other do and why. This article will be house in our Library and and on my personal site..Ctdiscus.com
I'd appreciate any help you can give.
thanks,
al
....Quarantine All New Discus!!
Al Sabetta 3/7/03
Many pathogens are easily harbored by newly acquired fish. These pathogens can cause Discus in an established tank to rapidly become ill. The safest way to insure that you do not accidentally infect your fish with a pathogen is to put all new fish through an adequate quarantine period. This has come to mean many things to many discus hobbyists and breeders. To many it is simply isolating new fish and observing them for signs of a disease for a period of weeks, and then treating as necessary if an ailment is obvious. Others will include prophylactic treatments for common ailments such as gill flukes, nematodes, and tape worms. The benefit of this method is you have a chance that you can eradicate low levels of a pathogen before it is a problem. The drawback with it is you may be treating your fish with unnecessary medications, which can harm the fish, environment, and create resistent strains of pathogens.
What ever form your quarantine procedure follows, you should ALWAYS Quarantine new fish. This is even if you trust the source implicitedly. Even if the supplier tells you that they have already done a Quarantine, do one yourself. If you do not quarantine you risk losing all of your Fish. Patience and an adequate quarantine is the best way to go when acquiring new fish.
The following is my procedure for Quarantine. It is not a recommendation, just a description of what I usually do when aquiring new fish.
1. No matter who the breeder, or seller is. I isolate the fish a minimum of 6 weeks. All equipment is dedicated to the QT setup.
2. When I first receive the fish They are dipped in methylene blue (50ppm solution /10 sec) and placed in a tank that has salt at concentration of 1-2 tablespoons /10 gal. This helps them deal with stress.
3. If there are any signs of bacteria or fungus, they get an increase in the salt to 1 tablespoon/ 1 gal water + furan 2 until the probelm clears.
4. dewormed with a tape worm specific medicine-pranziquantel
Once eating....
5 fed medicated gel food containing panacur for 1week, longer if I suspect worms(1gram per 4 oz of food. )
6. fed a medicated food, with metronidazole to deal with internal protozoans
7. externals parasite are dealt with using formalin , fluke tabs, clout, or potassium Permanganate as necessary.
8. I ALWAYS Assume Flukes...the gift that keeps on giving... currently I have found 3 weeks of treatment with Flubendazole or prazi to be the most effective, and safest treatment .
At the end of 6 weeks I take a cull fish from my other tanks and add it to the QT tank. If the cull does not get sick in week or two, then this tells me if the new fish are safe to mix with mine, and tells me if mine are safe to mix with them..
-al