reeferkeeper420 link said:
So i was involved in this discussion on facebook about qt and treating fish. Do people here believe every fish should be QT'd and treated as if there showing signs of disease even if their not. I thought it would be stressful on the fish treating it with copper or prazipro or w.e they called it even if they look healthy. I see qt being neccesary, and monitoring them, but treating with other than hyposalinity. I dunno would love to see everyones view on this, since i dont trust those (Darn) amuricans lol
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Talk to the people who have been in the hobby for quite some time and I think you will get a pretty good majority to answer the same, Canadian or Mercian.
The fact is QT can be stressful on fish and can often be the nail in the coffin for a sick fish. The reason a lot of times is in the poor execution and bad QT set ups. The idea is pretty sound but to follow it out in a way that will be the less amount stressful to the fish requires expert knowledge and a separate system (or TWO). Most people just dont have the resources to pull it off well. So personally I believe most hobbyists would be better off using a more common sense and holistic approach.
Ideally this would be my approach.
Selecting a fish
1) Dont add a lot of fish at one time.
2) Make sure they look good and healthy, clear eyes, no spots, healthy bellies
3) Ask the store owner to see them eat, the really good stores will do this for you
Also you will always have better luck with buying a fish that is from someones tank. You can see they are healthy and eating, acclimated etc. Big difference here and way less risk. I always go this route when ever possible and am actually willing to pay more for a fish this way.
So you've selected a healthy fish and you want to bring it home.
**make sure you check the salanity of the fishes water, a lot of stores will not even mention that the salanity is low in the fish tanks. When I was a new hobbyist I killed one or two fish from adding them too quick. Depending on how low the salinity is it can take many hours to acclimate him to 1.025sg.
Do I add him directly to the display?
You have a few options here that I will lay out.
First option is yes, directly to the display. Always add the fish and observe the fish for a minute or two to see that breathing is normal etc. At this point he might try to hide (likely) and maybe even get picked on. TURN THE LIGHTS OFF for the day. Dont let the lights come back on till the morning. THis will give the fish some time to calm down, get used to the water and settle in. This will also stem off aggression for the time being. The next day when the lights come back on observe for aggression. IF you notice anything at all or you suspect there might be some in the near future I suggest getting a cheapo mirror from walmart (as little as $10 for a 4' one I think) and mount it to the tank. This will confuse all the fish and end the aggression. Later that day try to feed various good foods. Im a huge fan of PE mysis, nori, or whatever.
Second option which I really like is have a separate tank plumbed into the display (in the sump room, or whatever). This tank shouldnt be too small, but since its temporary it doesnt need to be huge. Have a few rocks in there and a cheopo whatever light. This tank ideally would be on a valve that you can isolate. We will call this the observation tank. So ideally you would leave the new fish in the observation tank for a week or two to make sure he is healthy and eating and disease/parasite free. If something shows up you can isolate the tank (but treatment in this tank is not suggested because it will go back onto the system).
And then the ultimate QT tank. Something not too small. With only maybe some PVC pipe. Fill it up with old water change water from your display. Do plenty of waterchages and dont over feed. Try not to leave food to rot and create nitrites. Again emphasis many waterchanges with tank water.
Again this is just my take on it. I've never wanted to do the QT tank personally because it requires and extra tank that is not normally in use but sitting around. Its also a lot of work in water changes. It probably is the best method but the fish should go in even when they arent sick..... its for new fish most cases. Not for fish you have had in the display for a few weeks that are not eating and getting sick. Although it might be a good idea to try to move them to QT you could just stress it out more. If a fish is in the display and eating I say leave it there. Getting a fish to eat is the majority of the battle.
