aggressive quarantine in low salinity

Discussion in 'Tropical Fish' started by tdm850, Jun 19, 2010.

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  1. tdm850

    tdm850 Astrea Snail

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    I woke up this morning and found long nose and percula died in the quarantine tank, left only a fire fish, which I got them all together 3 days ago. I'm just not having too much luck lately....or just not educated. I would appreciate any inputs so wife won't look too unhappy and kids can stop naming new fishes and find out they are dead next day.

    Here is what I did:

    1. A 10 gallon quarantine tank, filled up with some water from display tank and water down with RO water to salinity 1.012.
    2. Equipment: simple external Rena SmartFilter, 50 watts heater maintaining at 84F, UV light, and air pump. I raised up the water temp to 84F to shorten marine ick's life cycle and hope to kill them with UV light.
    3. Fresh-water dip for each fish for 3 minutes at 84F
    4. Once all fished looked OK, I started adding medication as a part of aggressive quarantine. I planned to use API General Cure first, then Super Ick Cure and Furan-2.
    5. I started with API General cure for a couple day and noticed the long nose had a cloudy eye and protruding out. I then switched to API Furan-2 and hope to use anti-bacterial to take care of it. The percula seemed to be OK at this time.
    6. Well, this morning, the long nose and percula went to grandma's farm....
    Is my aggressive quarantine method..well.. too aggressive? I read somewhere that you need a 6-week quarantine just to be safe. It seems kind of long. How long do you guys normally quarantine under normal condition.

    One important factor I forgot to mention is that all three fishes just arrived at LFS when I picked them up. They were still in individual bags.

    I would appreciate any help and still got a lot to learn...


    Thanks in advance.
     
    tdm850, Jun 19, 2010
    tdm850, Jun 19, 2010
    #1

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  2. blackraven1425

    blackraven1425 Giant Squid

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    Mixing medications is definitely a bad idea. You don't know what the reactions between them will be, just like when dealing with medicine for people.

    The salinity is ok to be that low, but not in combination with medications. The salinity can change the potency of some meds.
     
    blackraven1425, Jun 19, 2010
    blackraven1425, Jun 19, 2010
    #2
  3. tdm850

    tdm850 Astrea Snail

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    Thanks for the input. The medications were not mixed. I took time to use carbon cartridge to filter chemicals out plus a 25% water change.
     
    tdm850, Jun 19, 2010
    tdm850, Jun 19, 2010
    #3
  4. kcbrad

    kcbrad Giant Squid

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    I wouldn't be medicating possibly healthy fish. QT them, and watch for signs of illness. If they develop then treat. Otherwise just QT for a period of time. Fish are quite sensitive to medications, especially so many.
     
    kcbrad, Jun 19, 2010
    kcbrad, Jun 19, 2010
    #4
  5. missionsix

    missionsix Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Why the treatment?
     
    missionsix, Jun 19, 2010
    missionsix, Jun 19, 2010
    #5
  6. tdm850

    tdm850 Astrea Snail

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    I read an article somewhere (not here for sure) about add medications to quarantine tank to shorten quarantine from 6 weeks to 2 weeks, regardless of fishes showing signs of illness or not.

    I guess it' not a good idea anymore and I feel like an idiot!
     
    tdm850, Jun 19, 2010
    tdm850, Jun 19, 2010
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  7. missionsix

    missionsix Super Moderator Staff Member

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    No need to feel like an idiot. Adding 3 fish at a time is a tricky thing to do. Especially when 1 or more are apt to letting ich get after them. Butterfly-->firefish-->clown in your case(surprised to see firefish over clown). Quarantine isn't necessary if water chemistry is good. In other words, when I decide add a fish(s) my tank has to be in stable running condition. I shrug off when fish scratch in my systems for the most part. Should something go south when my fish are feeling itchy, then problems occur. I've found that focus tends to be on the wrong things at the wrong time. Focus more on how well/not well your system is running and its stability. Further along the lines of stability--- R/O is a huge benefit in having a stable system. The money you spent on the fish and meds to cure them, could have been spent towards assuring a stable environment. Do you run all the equipment you would want/need/should have?
     
    missionsix, Jun 19, 2010
    missionsix, Jun 19, 2010
    #7
  8. tdm850

    tdm850 Astrea Snail

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    The water chemistry seems to be pretty good. I check them weekly and they have been quite stable:
    pH: 8.2
    NH3-N: 0 ppm
    NO2-N: 0 ppm
    NO3-N: 40 ppm
    Alkalinity: 3.2 mEq/L

    Is nitrate on the high end?
     
    tdm850, Jun 19, 2010
    tdm850, Jun 19, 2010
    #8
  9. bje

    bje Long-fin Bannerfish

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    yes, any higher than 40-50ppm NO3 and the methaglobin in their blood will start to rise and it turns to "brown-blood" disease.
     
    bje, Jun 19, 2010
    bje, Jun 19, 2010
    #9
  10. xmetalfan99

    xmetalfan99 Giant Squid

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    Nitrates are high. Do a water change to get them down.
     
    xmetalfan99, Jun 19, 2010
    xmetalfan99, Jun 19, 2010
    #10
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