When buying fish.....
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Nope. Never. Never put transport water in your system. There is NO WAY to tell what is in it (practically).
Edit:
Where do you draw the line? I assume that your tank is the optimal conditions for said fish, correct? Then why not get them there ASAP? Allow me an analogy- if you were outside of your house in poor attire for the conditions (lets say t shirt and shorts in a blizzard with temps at 20 degrees). You would just rush inside to the warm and proper environment, right? well, at what point do you say, "well, I better take my time. I dont want to shock my system by being in ideal condition too quickly"?
I am just playing devils advocate here. As I said, I do acclimate fish as needed. But, I think it is WAY overplayed, IMO.
Thank you! I am trying to find the best way to put a newly purchased fish into a display without a QT tank. I'm not sure on the best process yet. Would doing a dip as a precautionary then some sort of drip or float acclimation (assuming no extreme circumstances) be best?
The more details the better!
People tend to make a big deal out of it... So it always worries me that one day I will introduce a fish with some sort of parasite into my system. And any preventative short of a QT tank is something I will happily do (or even possibly purchasing a cheap qt / treatment tank may be necessary).
Some folks will qt the fish for you if you want to give it a shot. It's been awhile since I last saw someone post it but I'm sure there are some.
I have been doing a 10ml amount of tank water every 5 minutes till there is a 50% mix while floating. So far, so good. Oh, I squirt it from a syringe so that it oxygenates the water at the same time.
I have been doing a 10ml amount of tank water every 5 minutes till there is a 50% mix while floating. So far, so good. Oh, I squirt it from a syringe so that it oxygenates the water at the same time.
I'm not sure. I am not opposed to it really... just buying a fish that is stressed from its traveling, moving it again into a small tank that won't have the same conditions as the display, and then having to move it again all within a few weeks seems like more trouble to the fish than a dip and hour acclimation into its new home (with the best conditions).
As they say... it only takes one time for something bad to get into your tank and I think a QT is definitely the smartest option. I suppose I am just not completely sure on how to set one up properly, so it seems like more trouble than it actually is?
skriz
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Na, it's one of the easiest things to setup and it will be pretty much exactly like your display.
Get a 10g tank, a heater and a powerhead. Some cut pvc pipe is great to use for hiding places. QT parts list complete!
When I kept a small QT, I liked keeping a piece of live rock in my sump that I could transfer into the QT when I set it up. I would take that rock, some pvc and water from the display; set the heater, turn on the powerhead and voila! This would give me an excuse to do a small water change on the display while setting up the qt. Since it's only 10g, they're quick and easy to do and you can do daily water changes on the qt (using water from the display) very easily, maintaining optimal water conditions. When the qt period if over, you can easily transfer the fish over since the water parameters will be exactly the same as the DT.
If using the LR technique, be sure to nuke it before introducing back into the sump (just in case there's something in there!). If you can't do the LR, no biggie. Heck, a piece of sponge or media pad will even work to provide some biological filtration.
Now that's all fine and dandy when the fish is okay, but what if you need to treat/medicate? Then you're into a hospital tank. Depending on the medication, you may or may not be able to treat the qt. Some meds (praziquantel, etc) are fine in the qt. Other meds (copper, etc) are better used in a separate hospital tank (could be another 10g or even a salt bucket..an empty one
).I think you are applying this more to fish being shipped than fish being purchased from the lfs as the OP indicated. Yes, if your conditions are true, all goes out the window. That being said, it's virtually impossible for these conditions to be met with a fish purchased from a lfs, unless you left it in the car.....
Edit: And I've lost more fish in treatment and QT than I have lost adding directly to the display.
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Again, youre crossing ideas. Are you talking acclimatization, or quarantining? Ones got nothing to do with the other.
Also, for larger fish, its completely possible from a trip from the LFS. If the fish has just ate, or produces a significant amount of waste in the shipping water, this will be very toxic quickly. What about oxygen deprivation in small bagged water? There are dangerous conitins to be met.
Letr me (legitimately) ask this- what has killed your fish in treatment and QT? "Stress"? Or something else? I would gather that 99.9999% of the losses in QT are not from the stress of being in a QT system, its from an improperly setup up or maintained QT system.
Skriz;665360 wrote: Na, it's one of the easiest things to setup and it will be pretty much exactly like your display.
Get a 10g tank, a heater and a powerhead. Some cut pvc pipe is great to use for hiding places. QT parts list complete!
When I kept a small QT, I liked keeping a piece of live rock in my sump that I could transfer into the QT when I set it up. I would take that rock, some pvc and water from the display; set the heater, turn on the powerhead and voila! This would give me an excuse to do a small water change on the display while setting up the qt. Since it's only 10g, they're quick and easy to do and you can do daily water changes on the qt (using water from the display) very easily, maintaining optimal water conditions. When the qt period if over, you can easily transfer the fish over since the water parameters will be exactly the same as the DT.
If using the LR technique, be sure to nuke it before introducing back into the sump (just in case there's something in there!). If you can't do the LR, no biggie. Heck, a piece of sponge or media pad will even work to provide some biological filtration.
Now that's all fine and dandy when the fish is okay, but what if you need to treat/medicate? Then you're into a hospital tank. Depending on the medication, you may or may not be able to treat the qt. Some meds (praziquantel, etc) are fine in the qt. Other meds (copper, etc) are better used in a separate hospital tank (could be another 10g or even a salt bucket..an empty one
Skriz, thank you for your help! I may set one up when I get my new tank
One thing I'll add to what Skriz said: Yes, nuke the rock if you ever put it back in your DT... but DON'T put it back at all if you've treated your QT with copper-based medications. Copper is toxic to invertebrates. If your tank is fish-only, this won't apply.
The article that Jenn wrote is very thorough on the QT'ing subject also.
The article that Jenn wrote is very thorough on the QT'ing subject also.
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Too many forget that the quarantining is not only for the new fish but for protecting the existing fish already established as well. I don't understand how the stress from quarantine is worse than that of display tank if setup properly except that the other fish aren't kicking his butti n quarantine.
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Correct, and it has a better cahnce to adjust to diet without competition, etc.
