Adding fishies to the "FINAL" tank:D

[*Polka dots roc*]

Hi everyone,

It is my one month anniversary for my fish and I have a few questions.

I just set up the final tank and finally got the filter going after the last one I spent 2 and a 1/2 hours priming) bought a new one which also stopped working and today after the third try finally worked>:) I am getting ready to put my algae eaters and a few other fish into the tank because right now they are in a 10g until I medicate them and put them into the bigger tank and even with do a 85% waterchange twice a week they are all getting to big for such a small tank.

Anyways my question is I bought some seachem Paraguard and now I'm not sure if it will be good enough to kill the likely sickness' the other fish could bring to my discus once they are mixed. My "fish" budget has slowly depleated and I don't have much money to buy a few hundred dollars worth of meds. Will the Paraguard be enough to ensure my discus will be ok once they go into that tank in a couple of months? If not what other things do I need to use before I put them together?

The few small fish I have had for over 3 months and the algae eaters I just recieved from April a month ago. Everyone is eating lots and show no sign of disease.

Thank you

Nicole
P.S. I don't mind losing a few little fish.. but definatley not my discus

[*Polka dots roc*]

ANYONE??

[ncyracer]

I wouldnt really worry to much about the meds. Buy some melafix its a natural wound and body healer kinda like neosporin. I wouldnt go buying a pharmacy worth of meds i would just hope they dont get sick"knock on wood" and if they do buy the correct mediction at the needed time.Just add some of the paragon if you want to. Also with your filter is it a fluval? Because if it is when you prime it make shure you add water to the canister until its full. This will only need about two primes.
HTH:D
Ivo

[Ed13]

Nicole are you talking about a preventive treatment on the other fish?
Where they Qt? For how long?
Do they show any "weird" behaviour,scratches, marks, etc? Do they eat good?
If they where acquired through a reputable dealer, showing good condition and having no visible abrasions after a long enough qt, then you might not need to do a preemptive strike on them. However, I do it:D because am a paranoid freak!:bandana:
I always use a formalin and malachite green product on QT fish, mostly Quick Cure. This will take care of protozoans, flukes and some bacteria. After a week or more, I treat for tapeworms with Prazipro.

Paraguard to treats ich, etc. and external fungal/bacterial/viral lesions (e.g., fin rot) . It does contain malachite green but no formalin. Its supposed to be a more gentle approach than formalin based products, but it will not take care of flukes. So use it if you have it but, its not necessarily the best.

HTH

[Apistomaster]

There are 2 medications that I could get by with if that's all I could have:
1. Malachite Green Solution/No Formalin or any other active ingredients.
2. UltraCure PX Gel. Add it to the Discus favorite pellet type food with a little water until the food soaks it all up. Feed it for two weeks. Keep enough made up to last 5 days and keep the unused portion refrigerated. Use it only if you have a good reason. Mandatory for wild caught discus, imo. I feed the medicated food to all my wild discus for 2 weeks, twice a year. You can never completely kill internal parasites. Just decrease the numbers enough to help the fishes' immune systems to keep them in check.

3.Nice to have: UltraCure PX contains these in combination.
PraziPro
Metroniadazole
Flubedenzole 10% powder

Buy as you need them so your supply is fresh. Treating discus for imaginary problems is pointless.

[*Polka dots roc*]

Thanks guys,

Still trying to think of what I'll do. The smaller fish were bought from the petstore 5 or 6 months ago and I had them in my community tank until I took it down not to long ago. The algae eaters were from april and I have had them for a month. Everyone of them eats a ton and shows no signs of disease.

Since I got into aquariums 2 years ago I have only had three deaths in my tanks I don't really plan on a fourth and everywhere I look it says to make sure to treat your fish so that they don't contract a disease to the discus and all those kinds of things. I have the tank ready for them and I hope to put them in soon.

Here's what I'm thinking I could treat them with the paraguard for the week and then see how they are after the week if they still show no sign of illness I could add them to the tank. Have them in there for a month or two before the discus go in to add a little bit more time for qt. I think that should work although I'm not sure. I don't really want to medicate my discus just for this because I don't really believe that medicine is good for them, but will they be ok after a two or three months in qt?

[seanyuki]

Hi Nicole,

You could use a discus as a guinea pig to mix with the tropical fish and pray that the guppy is not a parasite carrier,after a week or so nothing happens then mix them all together........perhaps someone here could suggest.
Formalin is a very strong base medicine and could not combine with other medicine when introducing into the tank.


Cheers
Francis:)

[seanyuki]

Hi Nicole,

Any new pics of the new set up....the discus must be over 4 ins by now.?


Cheers

Francis:)

[*Polka dots roc*]

Hi Francis,

No new pictures I'll try tomorrow when I have the light on.
Yes I would say the runt might be only 3 and a half but the others are at least four inches. The turq is about 4 and a half though and is absolutely huge:) well not eight inches but for me hes HUGE :p