Adding aquarium salt prophyllactically helps without building resistance. It helps with slime coat and electrolytes. Ich hates salt. You can go up to 1 tbsp salt per 5g, or quote a bit more with Cichlids and livebearers, especially Mollies. NO TABLE SALT!
Very informative so how about the fish med trio pack from Aquarium Co-op?I recently purchased it to have on hand so as I get new fish quarantine them for 30 days with no meds unless absolutely necessary then?
I learn soooo much from you, Cory, A Gamer's Wife, KG Tropicals, Rachel O'Leary, My Hectic Life Pets, Life with Pets 🤗 I APPRECIATE YOU ALL 🥰 I am 9mos into the hobby and learning quickly! From you, I hv also learned the no drip acclimation method, and more... I love that you all love the hobby so much that you are willing to share your knowledge and free of charge. I then do my part to "pay it forward"...when at the fish store, usually, Big Box, I help others and they seem to appreciate it! I even walk them to the aisles and help them shop products. P.S. Wasn't long before I developed MTS 😃.
I keep a "living" quarantine/recovery tank with plants, cherry shrimp and loads of small pest snails in it. The already stable and planted environment seems to really help. The shrimp don't seem to mind the treatments for fungus, flukes, etc and the fish will eat the small snails which provide loads of protein. Then once recovered, the fish goes home and the tank is left to re-grow on it's own until next time. Obviously anything like salt or methane blue can't be dropped in there. So I dip them in those separately before going in and then again when coming out and going back in to the pond.
I wondered about if a planted quarantine tank would be good! I plan to set one up, but normally when I see quarantine tanks they are pretty bare, or use only fake plants. I don't mind fake plants and simple decor, but I wondered if live plants would be beneficial at all for quarantined fish.
@@eliseheitmann8000 You can always put plants like devils ivy on the edge of the quarantine. Just remove them when you have to dose salt or other plant killing treatments.
Excellent video, I was looking for info on what to medicate a quarantine tank with but I can see the logic of not medicating unless necessary. Just one additional thing I would add is that yes, it's obvious that we should use separate equipment, syphons, hoses nets etc but perhaps the most important and most easily overlooked is our hands. It's so easy to go from one tank to another without washing our hands in between but that is probably the quickest way to spread disease from one to another, just from the water on our hands.
Andy Stoke just said true and true and true !!! What kind of medicine 💊 , which of them we need to use !!! How much in ten litter water what is the temperature 🌡️ . Thanks
Now I’m getting a quarantine tank. Bought a pair corydoras and the next day one was dead. After a few days my Otos started looking sick. Water quality was perfect. Than I noticed my Apistogrammas flashing and looking sick but thought nothing of it. The next day he was gasping for air on the surface. Velvet or some type of parasite. Treating my tank now and hoping my Kribs and Bristlenose don’t die. Learned the hard way and lost 8 fish!
I got a couple of corys and the next day one was dead. Went back to the store and most of them where dead. Its been over month and nothing else has died and everything is looking really healthy. But my tank is understocked and ive been cycling a sponge filter in my tank waiting to setup my quarantine tank.
Thanks for this objective and professional video. I’m doing my home work for starting our latest fish tank, a 648L or 176 US gallon tank. I’m planning to have 6 or so discuss fish in there. Yes lost nice fish over the years by cross contamination and being in a rush. So also from me thanks for taking the time to make this video and share your experience.
Dude I’ve been watching you so long man. It’s June 27th 2024 you look so different 6 years ago! I love your videos man. Thanks for staying in the hobby. I lost a fish today due to face rot. He was a cuckoo catfish. I should have quarantine him. I’m just glad it hasn’t spread to my other cats.
Thanks for this vid! Just lost 2 gouramis. Newbie mistake. Trying to tackle cloudiness and ich at the same time. Have learned a lot just 3 weeks into keeping fish. Wish to give it all up, but will persevere on with the remaining 4 mollies. Thanks again!
Awwhhh! I've had ups/downs... Newbie mistakes--not cycling with the right fish, over feeding...but I am learning quickly with each experience! I am looking fwd to it getting easier but I really am enjoying the end result: pretty aquascaping, fish in their habitat, feeding frenzy😃...Persevere we must!!
I got a 10 gallon LED kit from Petco, it came with everything I needed to start a quarantine tank. I then took a large sponge filter out of my 75 gallon with established bacteria, then on a water change day, used the excess water from my 75 gallon to fill the 10 gallon. I’ve been quarantining my angels this way for a while now and it seems to be working pretty well.
Here is a topic I haven’t heard anyone talk about at all, is electrical plug safety. Also, getting a used tank or one older tank (10 years+), and the need to reseal it. Maybe show how to do that. I am a fan an I have the bug, so used tanks will be how I will do this. That’s how I got my first tank, was at a yard sale when I was 11, with my own money.
Agreed! Hey I am 61 getting back into the hobby after 40 years. There are so many used aquariums out there, why would I buy new? I can buy new equipment. I know how to deal an aquarium and like you I would like to see that demonstrated here. What is a bit sad, is that so many people have been in and out of the hobby because of no quarantine or from either bad advice or no advice.
Nice video with good info. My fish room is in a spare bedroom and I took off the closet door and thats were my 20long quarantined tank is. I also have a separate bucket for water changes for it and thats where i keep the separate net, and siphon. I keep bare bottom just cause its easier to clean.
I recently learned this hard lesson about needing to have a quarantine tank. I purchase some electric blue acara that I did not notice had some ich starting on their tales until a couple days after getting them home. They were in our 75g tank. Sadly I lost both of them and an adult angel. I now have a dedicated 30g for a quarantine tank and keep an extra bag of bio media in my main tanks filter that I can remove and place into the quarantine tanks filter and then I just discard it afterwards and start over with a new bag of bio media as they are relatively inexpensive.
i currently have a brand new betta quarantined and i am going to be keeping him here for a while before adding him to my community tank, and im excited he was very inexpensive, but he seemed extremely healthy considering he was in a cup at the pet store for over a month. in just the first day of having him out of the cup and in the quarantine tank instead, hes already made a massssivvveee bubble nest, and he had literally zero bubbles when in the cup. even just when i changed out the water in his cup the day i got him (i wasnt going to be home until like another 8 hours after i bought him, i used my dad's water which had been sitting out and treated, he has fish at his house too), even after just changing the water in the cup, he got up from the bottom of the cups, let his fins show more, and was actually moving around and he seemed so happy just then. i cant wait to see how happy he is once he goes into the community tank, because even just in quarantine he seems thrilled to be there
Ha! I knew it! I just started watching your channel, and in another video I asked if Jason had any experience in Education. The way he presents information is classic teaching 101. I was right! I called it- 10 years teaching microbiology! From one educator to another, well done! By far, you have the best and most comprehensive information. I started keeping fish before I got pregnant with my son, and I couldn’t keep up. 5 years later, I’m ready to start a new tank, and I’m needing a refresher course. All your videos are so helpful. I’m taking notes. Thanks so much!☮️
I'm glad I watched your video, and it actually did make a lot of sense, especially that little microbiology part about antibiotic resistance. Very informative! I've got some imported guppies coming my way soon, so I'll keep what I've learned just now in mind. 👍
Hello Jason. Awesome video. I've been listening to so many videos on how to quarantine. This is the absolutely 💯% best. Why? Because you mentioned common knowledge of microbiology and physiology. That's the way I think but sometimes knew information in a different area can cause past knowledge cloudy. I won't add meds unless I see a need, not even salt. I'm trying to get into Discus fish soon. I deleted the rest because I didn't want to be too wordy.
So a couple of questions. 1) If you keep your equipment only for the quarantine tank, how do you move fish out of the quarantine tank into your regular tank? Which net would you use? 2) After you transfer the fish out of the quarantine tank, do you do a complete water change/filter change, basically cycle the aquarium all over again to prevent any previous bad stuff from infecting the next batch of fish? Or would it not matter? I find your videos very informative, so thank you!
Good questions. 1) If the fish made it through QT without any issues, you can assume the net is ok to use and the tank is in fact ok as well. 2) I usually leave a bristlenose pleco in each of my QT tanks to keep them cycled. Nothing really gets cleaned other than weekly maintenance. Again, once you move the fish out you are essentially saying the fish and the tank were problem free for the last four weeks. Thanks for watching!
@@PrimeTimeAquatics Wow that was fast. Thanks for the response. OK, so 1 more question. You said you leave a bristlenose pleco in. Does that mean that fish remains in with the quarantined fish, or do you move the pleco out first and then re-add after the quarantine period? I've just setup my own quarantine tank so just want to make sure I do the best for whatever fish i put in.
@@COMPNOR-97 I got the impression he leaves the Pleco in at all times even with qt fish 🤔 Plecos must be hardy. I forgot I learned WCMM are hardy, danios, rasbora--I bet any of these can be left in Qt?🤔
This was awesome that you so much!! I am actually studying microbiology at the moment so it was great to see you apply it to something you're passionate about!
This has helped me alot. I have 7 tanks now with a quarantine tank. I buy from a local pet store that's only doing fish but, I buy the fish bring them home and put in quarantine tank for about 2-3 weeks. They looked ok and ate well. Not diseases on them. Put in my 20 long beautifully scraped tank now i got ICK!!! AND got ICK in another 5 gallon fluval because I got some Jilli cats and they looked ok so just put them in tank. Not sure if I contaminated that tank or the Jilli cats had ICK too. Bought from same store! So now having to medicate both tanks and trying to not contaminate my other tanks. It's hard all my tanks in our kitchen/living areas. Very frustrated. When I get them they all look good but then they developed in about 3 weeks in? Aaaaaaaaah. Now my Ember Tetras have ICK too. They are in the 20 long with the green tetras I thought were ok!This is so frustrating and awful.
I appreciate your knowledge of managing fish tanks. It seems to me you're education videos are geared towards more advance aquarium owners. However, the average tank owner of 1 or 2 tanks may not or does not have space for a quarantine tank, which requires additional maintenance and $$. Mos of the local stores only guarantee the fish for 7 days. After that you're our of money anyway. I'm welcome to your response and advice for basic aquarium owners like myself. Thanks!
Great idea to avoid a quarantine tank becoming a display tank is to use a food safe, see through rubber tub with filtered-cycled media.great job, you e helped me so much by explaining our many things about this hobby.
Prime Time Aquatics I haven’t, but I think you have an excellent point. I monitor their behavior carefully, but I could miss something. I could cut the side of the bin and silicone a piece of glass or acrylic over the opening. It wouldn’t have to be very big. With a good light, it will give me a better view.
Thank you for your scientific insight. I work in veterinary medicine so I also know the potential downfalls of prophylactic antibiotics! However, I have heard of fish having tape worms and, at least with dogs and cats we always treat puppies and kittens with a deworming agent.. and follow up with a final dose 2 weeks later to ensure all parasites AND their offspring are destroyed. In your opinion, is there any downside to deworming all new fish during the quarantine period?
I don't think there is - other than the cost. I don't generally do it because I'm not sure fish are as heavily impacted by the parasites as dogs and cats?
Thanks for the great explanation from a microbiological pint of view. I just brought a new Peppermint Bristlenose male home and quarantined him right away with an established old water quarantine tank. I have noticed his fins are a little ragged so I did put a little bit of Melafix in with him right before I watched your video but maybe one dose is ok, and I will turn his light down or off for a few days. I know he came from a clean tank where he was, but I really want to make sure he's really healthy before introducing him to my female Peppermint Bn, as it will be the first time for both of the to breed and im hoping for the best results for them, and their fry. I've been really impressed with your indepth explanations in the videos I have seen, so I thought it was time to subscribe and learn. Thanks Professor .🐙🎣
Most common problem i get when rushing fish into main tank is they get ich after 4 or 5 days. Look great until then, then a few spots show up. Always seems to be right around a week after adding for me
Good information and I love that you come at this scientifically. I'm in Canada and we just don't have many meds available. I put salt in my quarantine when fish first arrive, 1tsp/gal and increase to 1tbsp/gal if needed as a first attempt to treat anything external that crops up, and if not let the salt concentration go down naturally with water changes. How do you feel about hydrogen peroxide as a disinfectant?
Great advice thanks. I have a question on using filter media to stabilise the quarantine tank. Say you have a second sponge filter that you transfer over to it, how do you then put it back in your main tank without contaminating that? Do we need to just wash it and let it dry out so the bacteria dies off? This is more for a temporary quarantine/ hospital tank?
I was a fool and didn’t quarantine some new bristlenose plecos for my 55gl. Of course, they brought in ich. They are doing ok, but several other original fish were not as lucky.
@@PrimeTimeAquatics it will be ok! I’m using your tips (I have a biology BS, so what you said resonated with me), going to set up a nice quarantine tub, and prevent this from ever happening again
Reading reviews on various aquarium shops, it seems one of the most common reasons for losing your fish is lack of quarantine! Lack of patience! Thanks for doing this!!!!!!!
I'm new to hobby a few months since April 2021. Already 8 tanks and still learning. Watched almost all your videos. Recently a lot of fish is dying from specifically two tanks. Each tank has their own net, own class cleaner, etc. Water maintenance once per week (50%). What I decided, after troubleshooting is that both tanks got new fish in which I did not quarantine although I have a quarantine tank with fish in currently, newly bought, is that the fish from our local big bucks store has some issues. As it is the only common think in the two tanks where fish are dying. Water seems to be great as both tanks has some fry in them but adults is dying as well as other fish not bought recently. I've been doing the adding salt and raining the temperature thing a bit for two two weeks now and added a general cure medicine. Dying seems a bit less but still not over. What can be the issue here. Internal parasites/worms? As I do not think it is the water as their is babies in the tank which can only happen if conditions is good, right? Just a newby asking😊
Learned of this episode because you mentioned it in last year’s stream with Jon at KGTtopicals. Jason, your advice is sound - your experience and credentials give me confidence. I frequently turn to your videos to help me sort out the recommendations of others.
The (10) gallon ie "Hospital Tank" is definitely the way to go to conserve medicine like you say for small community fish. I keep extra sponges in my existing tanks. New Mr Clean sponges gathered enough healthy bacteria to seed my new tank. I am keeping fry in a (20) gallon next to my "hospital tank". As it turns out I wasn't just seeing things on my Dalmation Molly's lip. I dosed her with Paraguard in the (10) gallon tank and now the white spot is gone! It must've been an external fungus. SeaChem says she may have bumped ti. This is possible too bc I have flat round pumice airstone in my tanks. It is a carryover from my hydrophonic days. I am happy to see the white spot gone! I retuned her upstairs to my (30) tall.
Thanks Jason for the great content. Do you quarantine snails or shrimp before adding to an established tank? If so, what signs do you watch for if they are healthy?
I am ready to start my quarantine tank and online got pots for some live plants to help with cycling and water parameters. My question is: if I leave the live plants in the tank and say, after a week, some of the fish develop ich, can I treat the tank with ich-x or take them out and decontaminate them, how? Idk. Thanks for any feedback!
Thank you for an informative video (years after it's production), as I appreciate the medication as a last resort approach! As a follow up question, if you choose to medicate a tank how do you responsibly dispose of the medication once dissolved? I recognize that the answer will differ based on community regulations, but even a 10gallon tank is a large volume of water to dispose responsibly. For malachite green (the active ingredient in Ich-X) would you remove it using a carbon filter, then dispose of the filter? What about an antibacterial like erythromycin (maracyn) or antibiotic like metrodinazole (paracleanse)?
Great question - the reality is it gets water changed out and down the drain. Usually the AB concentrations are greatly reduced once inside the tank for a number of days (it’s no longer active). The other meds may be more resilient though.
Wow so much info to learn. I’m going to be a very first time fish owner. Just bought a 55 gal tank set it up and filled it today. A couple of questions, if I buy my fish all at once can I put them in the new tank without needing a quarantine tank? Also do you have a beginner video on exactly how to cycle my tank. I put the cycle stuff in it and water conditioner but now I have no idea what I’m waiting to check for or what I due now. Thank you in advance.
Great question - if the new fish are going into the new tank at the same time the new tank is essentially your QT tank, so you won't need another one unless/until you buy more fish at a later date. I've done videos on the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle a tank quickly - both are in my Water Parameters playlist! Thanks for watching!
Can you do a video on how to get fish into the main tank properly after a 30 day quarantine ? I can’t seem to find any videos of anyone showing the way to do it successfully.
If the fish make it through QT properly there isn't a chance of any cross contamination? If they were healthy in the tank with no signs of disease the QT tank is fine too.
Thank you for the valuable information. When I buy new fish, can I add seachem Stressguard or Paraguard daily for a week to prevent any infections and reduce stress, even if there are no visible symptoms in the fish? Thanks in advance
Do you recommend only using a hang on back that can have media transferred into it on a quarantine tank? If you take media or anything out of another tank and put it into a quarantine tank, can you put it back when you transfer the fish? -or after drying it out if something happens? If you have a quarantine tank running all the time with a sponge filter and there are no fish in the tank can you squeeze some filter media or waste water from cleaning sponge filters in other tanks periodically just to keep the bacteria going? I like to have one running in case I come home with a fish. My 10 gallon has been running for years and has some algae covered flower pots in it. I hadn’t lost any quarantined fish until recently. I lost a couple of otocinclus and then a few weeks later I lost a small electric blue acara. I did not detect a spike in ammonia or nitrates either time. My local fish store folks said the tank probably need to cycle again. I’m just trying to figure out best practices for maintaining a quarantine tank. Thanks for your input!
I usually just keep a bristlenose pleco in my QT tanks or some snails (and feed them). That usually keeps them in good shape. The other option is to transfer filter media from an existing tank to the QT when you add fish to the QT tank.
Video 3 years ago but so informative for my QT today! I'm so grateful for this information! If you see this, I have a question. I quarantined 7 new goldfish. One showed signs of a fungal growth and didn't improve after salt baths and treatment with microbe lift and Artemis fungal medicine. After a week of worsening condition, I euthanized the little guy. Was the sick one a threat to the health of the rest? Or are they likely all infected but the sickly one just had poor immune system? Wondering whether I should continue to treat the QT tank. They look healthy and swim energetically.
I have found that fungal infections often impact the weakest fish in a group. Could it spread to the to the other fish? Maybe. I would keep them in QT for another few weeks just to make sure.
If anyone has ich- use Copper-Aid! It worked like a charm on my goldfish to cure velvet and ich. No other medications I tried seemed to put a dent in the diseases and I lost several fish. Copper-Aid really does work guys
Very good info. I just figured the meds were always necessary but the fish I bought do seem VERY healthy. BUT the tanks around them didn’t look so great. So maybe I should let them sit in quarantine for 2 weeks then if nothing comes up by week three then we are good?
I would leave them in for four weeks - some of the internal parasites don't show noticeable changes in fish health for 3-4 weeks. Smart that you are quarantining!
How can I quarantine Otocynclus? They mostly eat Aufwuchs and mostly are wild caught… Also the same thing with Neritina Snails. And thanks for this video. ❤️
dr. jason... always value you opinions...i have a fairly large online shipment coming in thursday...i have a 29 gallon and a 20 gallon that im going to set up to quarantine....how many fish for the 29....heres my list....2 yellow blaze..1 german yellow blaze and 1 malawi trout....1 rainbow.....1 sveni...2 alifrons...1 balazanii and 1 triangle...thanks philip
Unfortunately prior to watching your last two videos on it, my big black molly girl mouth turned white and her fins were shredding. I raise the temperature added salt and used API medicine. My question is prior to this problem I was using the same Nets and gravel vacuums on all five tanks to do cleaning and water changes. Should I treat all five tanks even though the fish seem fine? I would appreciate your reply very much ASAP. Thank you
Hey Jason, great video! I always learn a lot from your channel :) I have a 30g main tank and a 10g quarantine tank. The 10g has a weird little built in compartment in the back with filter media and a small pump to circulate water (there is no intake, the pump just pushes the water around the tank). Is it okay to take the filter media from the quarantine tank (before I set it up for new fish) and place it in my larger aquarium till it gets bacteria and pop it back? If so how long does it need to be cycled?
Sure - it usually takes about 3-4 weeks. You could also tank filter media form the 30 gallon and place it in the 10 gallon and it should work right away (for a small number of fish).
Hello Jason I hope you are doing fine . And I hope you are safe and be safe in this difficult time of covid. I have discus i went throw lot of issues and always your advises was very helpful. I want to ask your opinion about using vitamin C and multivitamin of human for discus fish . If you agree in using this things please tell me what shall be be the dose per L For example I have vitamin C each tablet is 150 Mg Thanks
nice video i got wild guppies from a 2" pond out hear at our local gas station in hawaii and had doa immediately within 2 hours 120 cot 50 gon so quarantine for 3 weeks and seeing like spots on gills and around couple of fish body thinking ick but been treating it my second time within 5 days no will continue to monitor them thank you for the video much informative I wanted to put fancy guppies from the pet store and start a breeding Colony with them but have to keep an eye on the disease thanks for the info well use my own separate siphon powered for draining water and such for other tanks trying not to introduce disease to others thank you.
I have a few questions about avoiding cross contamination. How do you transfer fish from quarantine tank to your actual tank? If there was not some kind of disease after 30 days, could I just move them to my tank? If my new fish had some kind of disease in the quarantine tank and I cured it, do I just use the same materials to transfer fish directly to the main tank?
Since I always restart the "clock" if there was an infection (30 days after successful treatment), either way I just move them in without too much worry.
I’m thinking about adding some new African cichlids (peacocks) to my 75 gallon, probably 6. I want to quarantine them so the other 8 won’t be affected. Would a 20 gallon long work? They would be 3-4 inches as I’m buying guaranteed males. This is my current quarantine setup but I mainly keep medium to small fish. If not I might just have to cough up some money to buy an extra 40 gallon.
Hey there Jason need some advice please. I just received an order of tetras and they were shipped across the country overnight. They were alive when I got them but they all died overnight. It was a hospital tank, dechlorinated, no ammonia or nitrite and I did not add food. PH was 7.6 (source ph was 7.8). I temp matched for 25 min then plopped. No other fish in the tank. The vendor really thinks it was something I did with a new hospital tank, which could be the case, but I don’t know what else I could be missing that might have caused them to die basically in ten hours or so (overnight). Thoughts?🙏
Hard to say for sure. It does happen sometimes, but if there is no ammonia, nitrite and pH and hardness were mostly a match it probably isn't your water.
I’m not sure if it depends on the fish specie or the fish but I medicated a mix of cichlids (severum, eba, uaru) and they were fine thru the whole process. Then recently I medicated a group of angelfish and I lost one and now they are acting like they are stoned and not eating aggressively. Before medicating they were always hungry, excited to see me (hungry) and more active. Not sure if I want to continue to medicate unless I see a reason to do so
I'm of the opinion that all meds stress fish to some degree. I only use them when there are signs of disease. Often angels are sold very small (quarter size) and I find them to be very sensitive at that size. If they aren't showing signs of disease I wouldn't medicate them.
Hi Jason, would running very hot water in your fill hose or drain hose (python) before going to your QT and your displays? Just wondering if the hot water would kill ICH. Thank you, best site, best info, awesome.
Thank you for this information. I have a question. I am fairly new to this hobby and I recently made one mistake you mentioned. I used the same syphon from one tank into another tank unaware at the time that the fish I have in one tank had fin rot. I introduced this bacteria into the second tank. Luckily I have no fish in the second tank as it was cycling at the time. Should I also treat the second tank with medication since I contaminated that tank? I'd hate to take all the gravel, plants, heater, biofilter, etc. out to disinfect it and start all over again.
Question, how long should you seed ur sponge filter in a established tank, before putting it in ur quarantine tank? The sponge being brand new, that is!
What if you're buying new fish for a new tank? Should you quarantine each and every species? Group them by how they were grouped (or not) in the shop? Quarantine together because they came from the same shop?
I quarantined some guppies that I bought from a local pet store and the day after I brought him home one of them died. I treated the tank with marison and paraquins. They continued to die and then I read that pair cleanse doesn't get rid of red worms which it look like that's what they had so I bought expel P But the day it arrived is when I lost the final two fish. I did have a cory and a snail in the tank also so I did the two doses of expel p And then waited an additional week after finishing it before moving them into another tank. Corey looks great and is eating well etc. I saw somewhere to use peroxide to clean the tank and equipment/decorations. What are your thoughts on that? Also can a sponge filter be soaked in peroxide and then rinsed and air dried? I plan on soaking it in water for a day and then letting everything air dry preferably outside. Will that kill any parasites or bacteria that was in the aquarium? I'd like to use it for quarantine in the future.
I am currently setting up my first display tank and quarantine tank and I have a question regarding the necessity for air stones. In the 20 gallon display tank I have the Marineland Penguin Pro 125 filter and in the 10 gallon quarantine tank I have the Aqueon QuietFlow 10. I am new to fishkeeping so I will be sticking to simple community fish for the time being. Do you think these filters will do enough aerating or should I consider getting an airpump and air stones?
One of my Neon tetras i have had for about a month now has Neon Tetra Disease . I used a bacterial remedy treatment , what else should I do? Do I put him in a bowl ? I know it’s not ideal but I don’t have money for a second tank
I would definitely separate him if you have other fish in the tank. You can continue to treat him if you want, but often it costs far more in treatment compared to replacing the fish if cost is a consideration.
What is the good way to disinfect siphon each use for quarantine? Rinse under hot water and let it dry? Wipe with vinegar-water solution or..? Thank you.
We try to make sure our hoses dry out between each use. That is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of disease. If I have fish in QT I also try to make sure I hose the same hose for that tank and don't use it for other tanks.
I understand the idea of isolating the quarantine tank with equipment. For example using 1 net for the quaratine tank. But how do you transfer the fish to the main tank while mainting this isolation. Also the new fish can still carry pathogens after the 30 days has passed well (carrier). Still bringing pathogens from the quarantine tank to your main tank. Could you elaborate on this? Thanks
The idea is if the fish have not shown signs of disease after 30 days, there is very little risk of transferring disease from the quarantine tank to the main tank. While it's possible some fish could still be carriers, there has to be a balance between taking proper precautions and introducing fish to new tanks. By quarantining for 30 days one greatly reduces the risk of introducing disease into the main tank. The process has been established/followed by some of the best fish biologists in the world based on 100's of scientific papers, meetings and 1000's of years of combined fish experience. : -)
I don’t have a tank yet. When I get fish, they will be from a well trusted, and recommend 4.7 local fish store. It is not a chain store and has all the fish I would like. Should I quarantine them all at once in the same tank at once or stagger when I get the fish?
If I get them at the same time I usually QT them in the same tank provided I have the room. If they come in at different times I use different tanks. Very smart thinking about this now! Most people don't.
Hi There thank for all the advice. If you remember I had sick discus fish and you gave me some advice and now they are good and been in quarantine for 45 days . Now I want to take them to my display tank what shall I do ! Because in some video they say to take one fish from old tank and add it to quarantine tank with the fish which was sick for 2 weeks if every thing ok then move all of them to the display tank please advise ? Thank you
I can tell what I do - if the fish in QT have been disease free for 30 days I just transfer them to the display tank. However, the suggestion to transfer one fish to the QT tank and make sure everything is ok isn't a bad idea either.
Absolutely, if I think the fish need it. I don't want to drastically change their habitat from where they came from, or where they're going, unless I see evidence of disease.
Do I have to quarantine a fish if its the first one I've ever had and it's going to be living alone? I might add two snails for algae control prior to getting the fish
What should be done for sensitive wild-caught fish? I have 5 kuhlis in quarantine and I know they're especially sensitive since they don't really have scales they seem to finally be comfy in the Qt tank since they're out and exploring more
I don't change anything for wild caught. GIve them four weeks and a calm environment with a little less light and a place to hide. CHeck on them every couple days if they are hiding to make sure there are no visible signs of disease.
So do I clean my quarantine tank like my main tank once the fish are moved or does it need a deep clean to remove potential illness, and if so does that mean I have to restart the nitrogen cycle in the quarantine tank?
Thanks for ALL the info. U mention several good things that can save my aquarium (aka investment/ zen station) that I haven't heard from any other helpful vid.
I have a new fish coming tomorrow (mustard spot Pleco).. my quarantine tank already has a fish with ich in it. What should I do?? Was going to roll the dice and add the pleco into my display tank. Is this a terrible idea?
Nothing extreme, but I generally try to keep tank water out of my eyes, ears, nose and mouth and generally don't clean tanks if I have cuts on my hands. Good question!
Yes...that was a GREAT question bcs I might possibly hv some type of fish allergy to tank water, detritus, etc... Earlier on I would become ill within 24hrs of water changing any of my tasks 🤒... I hv since purchased huge, long gloves fr Harbor Freight tools! I did wonder if the gloves would leach chemical into the water. Per staff at private owned LFS, I washed the gloves with soap, rinsed thoroughly--haven't experienced any latex illness or chemical illness with my fish. P.S. I disinfect the gloves in bleach:water solution after each use--I use same gloves for each tank.
Hi There and happy new year. Thanks for All the advises I learned from your great videos. A quick question please about the gravel which we use for tanks do we need to change the gravel over the time or it can be ok for long periods the reason why I asked because I am using deco line gravel and I lost some fishes during the last period for unknown reason so I suspected the whole system started with disinfecting the tank with lot of salt and keep it run for 10 days and then flush all water and keep it to dry, ofcourse I removed the gravel which is one year old but looks so good and I am now hesitate shall I buy new gravel or just give it a good wash and reuse it.? Please advise Thank you
Usually it's best to leave the substrate alone (gravel and sand). It houses beneficial bacteria and if changed it will lose that feature until it becomes repopulated again. I have some tanks set-up and the substrate hasn't been changed in over 10 years.
@@PrimeTimeAquatics I agree so by now all benficial bacteria are dead. So it means as per your experience no need to buy new gravel. Any suggestions for disinfect my old gravel?normally I use hot water and salt then wash it is that ok??? Thanks a lot you saved for me around 50 euro for buying new gravel Thanks
Prime Time Aquatics just saw a video where a guy in Ohio who saves large fish uses ceramic tiles on bottom if tanks instead of gravel. Looks really cool . Thinking of doing it. What do you think?
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You're right - if you're not going to prophylactically medicate, waiting a month for quarantine and observation is a great idea.
Yep.
Adding aquarium salt prophyllactically helps without building resistance.
It helps with slime coat and electrolytes.
Ich hates salt.
You can go up to 1 tbsp salt per 5g, or quote a bit more with Cichlids and livebearers, especially Mollies.
NO TABLE SALT!
Very informative so how about the fish med trio pack from Aquarium Co-op?I recently purchased it to have on hand so as I get new fish quarantine them for 30 days with no meds unless absolutely necessary then?
@@kinglyzard
K
He’s also right that prophylactically medicating like you do is bad
I learn soooo much from you, Cory, A Gamer's Wife, KG Tropicals, Rachel O'Leary, My Hectic Life Pets, Life with Pets 🤗
I APPRECIATE YOU ALL 🥰
I am 9mos into the hobby and learning quickly!
From you, I hv also learned the no drip acclimation method, and more...
I love that you all love the hobby so much that you are willing to share your knowledge and free of charge. I then do my part to "pay it forward"...when at the fish store, usually, Big Box, I help others and they seem to appreciate it! I even walk them to the aisles and help them shop products.
P.S. Wasn't long before I developed MTS 😃.
Appreciate you being here!
@@PrimeTimeAquatics
Awww Shucks ☺ (she says blushing)
I keep a "living" quarantine/recovery tank with plants, cherry shrimp and loads of small pest snails in it. The already stable and planted environment seems to really help. The shrimp don't seem to mind the treatments for fungus, flukes, etc and the fish will eat the small snails which provide loads of protein. Then once recovered, the fish goes home and the tank is left to re-grow on it's own until next time.
Obviously anything like salt or methane blue can't be dropped in there. So I dip them in those separately before going in and then again when coming out and going back in to the pond.
I wondered about if a planted quarantine tank would be good! I plan to set one up, but normally when I see quarantine tanks they are pretty bare, or use only fake plants. I don't mind fake plants and simple decor, but I wondered if live plants would be beneficial at all for quarantined fish.
@@eliseheitmann8000 I think plants are great. They look good, and they help water changes not be needed quite as fast.
I just used aquarium salt at half dose in my planted tank. Plant growth slowed to a crawl but I didn't see any catastrophic results on the plants.
@@eliseheitmann8000 You can always put plants like devils ivy on the edge of the quarantine. Just remove them when you have to dose salt or other plant killing treatments.
Excellent video, I was looking for info on what to medicate a quarantine tank with but I can see the logic of not medicating unless necessary.
Just one additional thing I would add is that yes, it's obvious that we should use separate equipment, syphons, hoses nets etc but perhaps the most important and most easily overlooked is our hands. It's so easy to go from one tank to another without washing our hands in between but that is probably the quickest way to spread disease from one to another, just from the water on our hands.
Very true!
Andy Stoke just said true and true and true !!! What kind of medicine 💊 , which of them we need to use !!! How much in ten litter water what is the temperature 🌡️ . Thanks
No antibiotics make sense, but what about internal worm meds?
So glad I waited 3 weeks before adding my green neons to the main tank, day 13 they presented with ick. Thank goodness I waited
Smart!
Best quarantine how to video!
Thank you!
Listen to this guy. He knows what he's talking about.
Now I’m getting a quarantine tank. Bought a pair corydoras and the next day one was dead. After a few days my Otos started looking sick. Water quality was perfect. Than I noticed my Apistogrammas flashing and looking sick but thought nothing of it. The next day he was gasping for air on the surface. Velvet or some type of parasite. Treating my tank now and hoping my Kribs and Bristlenose don’t die. Learned the hard way and lost 8 fish!
Sorry to hear about your outbreak of disease - you are doing the right thing!
I got a couple of corys and the next day one was dead. Went back to the store and most of them where dead. Its been over month and nothing else has died and everything is looking really healthy. But my tank is understocked and ive been cycling a sponge filter in my tank waiting to setup my quarantine tank.
Thanks for this objective and professional video. I’m doing my home work for starting our latest fish tank, a 648L or 176 US gallon tank. I’m planning to have 6 or so discuss fish in there. Yes lost nice fish over the years by cross contamination and being in a rush. So also from me thanks for taking the time to make this video and share your experience.
Good plan! Bigger tanks can be hard to treat, especially if there are expensive/sensitive fish.
Dude I’ve been watching you so long man. It’s June 27th 2024 you look so different 6 years ago! I love your videos man. Thanks for staying in the hobby. I lost a fish today due to face rot. He was a cuckoo catfish. I should have quarantine him. I’m just glad it hasn’t spread to my other cats.
Sorry that happened. Thanks for being here!
Thanks for this vid! Just lost 2 gouramis. Newbie mistake. Trying to tackle cloudiness and ich at the same time. Have learned a lot just 3 weeks into keeping fish. Wish to give it all up, but will persevere on with the remaining 4 mollies. Thanks again!
Hang in there. Sounds like your tank is probably cycling. Once everything gets settled in it really is a very enjoyable hobby. :-)
Awwhhh!
I've had ups/downs...
Newbie mistakes--not cycling with the right fish, over feeding...but I am learning quickly with each experience!
I am looking fwd to it getting easier but I really am enjoying the end result: pretty aquascaping, fish in their habitat, feeding frenzy😃...Persevere we must!!
I got a 10 gallon LED kit from Petco, it came with everything I needed to start a quarantine tank. I then took a large sponge filter out of my 75 gallon with established bacteria, then on a water change day, used the excess water from my 75 gallon to fill the 10 gallon. I’ve been quarantining my angels this way for a while now and it seems to be working pretty well.
Here is a topic I haven’t heard anyone talk about at all, is electrical plug safety. Also, getting a used tank or one older tank (10 years+), and the need to reseal it. Maybe show how to do that. I am a fan an I have the bug, so used tanks will be how I will do this. That’s how I got my first tank, was at a yard sale when I was 11, with my own money.
Nice ideas! I'll add them to my list. Thanks for watching!
Agreed! Hey I am 61 getting back into the hobby after 40 years. There are so many used aquariums out there, why would I buy new? I can buy new equipment. I know how to deal an aquarium and like you I would like to see that demonstrated here. What is a bit sad, is that so many people have been in and out of the hobby because of no quarantine or from either bad advice or no advice.
Nice video with good info. My fish room is in a spare bedroom and I took off the closet door and thats were my 20long quarantined tank is. I also have a separate bucket for water changes for it and thats where i keep the separate net, and siphon. I keep bare bottom just cause its easier to clean.
I'm new to the hobby, I had a thriving tank until there was an ich outbreak. I'm starting a 10 gallon quarentine tank now.
this was super helpful, thank you so much for sharing this with us!!
Glad you liked it!
Title correction: How to Quarantine Fish with Stone Cold Steve Austin
Haha. Because I SAID SO. : -)
And that's the bottom line, and that's all I got to say about that!
You look at me when I’m talking to you fish with your beady little eyes
Brother that’s Keith Jardine
😭😭
I recently learned this hard lesson about needing to have a quarantine tank. I purchase some electric blue acara that I did not notice had some ich starting on their tales until a couple days after getting them home. They were in our 75g tank. Sadly I lost both of them and an adult angel.
I now have a dedicated 30g for a quarantine tank and keep an extra bag of bio media in my main tanks filter that I can remove and place into the quarantine tanks filter and then I just discard it afterwards and start over with a new bag of bio media as they are relatively inexpensive.
i currently have a brand new betta quarantined and i am going to be keeping him here for a while before adding him to my community tank, and im excited
he was very inexpensive, but he seemed extremely healthy considering he was in a cup at the pet store for over a month. in just the first day of having him out of the cup and in the quarantine tank instead, hes already made a massssivvveee bubble nest, and he had literally zero bubbles when in the cup. even just when i changed out the water in his cup the day i got him (i wasnt going to be home until like another 8 hours after i bought him, i used my dad's water which had been sitting out and treated, he has fish at his house too), even after just changing the water in the cup, he got up from the bottom of the cups, let his fins show more, and was actually moving around and he seemed so happy just then. i cant wait to see how happy he is once he goes into the community tank, because even just in quarantine he seems thrilled to be there
Hope he works out great!
@Castiel Reid...
Remember not to house him with another male betta or fin nippers 👍🏽
Ha! I knew it! I just started watching your channel, and in another video I asked if Jason had any experience in Education. The way he presents information is classic teaching 101. I was right! I called it- 10 years teaching microbiology! From one educator to another, well done! By far, you have the best and most comprehensive information. I started keeping fish before I got pregnant with my son, and I couldn’t keep up. 5 years later, I’m ready to start a new tank, and I’m needing a refresher course. All your videos are so helpful. I’m taking notes. Thanks so much!☮️
Thank you for being here! : -)
I'm glad I watched your video, and it actually did make a lot of sense, especially that little microbiology part about antibiotic resistance. Very informative! I've got some imported guppies coming my way soon, so I'll keep what I've learned just now in mind. 👍
Glad it helped!
Hello Jason. Awesome video. I've been listening to so many videos on how to quarantine. This is the absolutely 💯% best. Why? Because you mentioned common knowledge of microbiology and physiology. That's the way I think but sometimes knew information in a different area can cause past knowledge cloudy. I won't add meds unless I see a need, not even salt.
I'm trying to get into Discus fish soon.
I deleted the rest because I didn't want to be too wordy.
Have fun!
So a couple of questions. 1) If you keep your equipment only for the quarantine tank, how do you move fish out of the quarantine tank into your regular tank? Which net would you use? 2) After you transfer the fish out of the quarantine tank, do you do a complete water change/filter change, basically cycle the aquarium all over again to prevent any previous bad stuff from infecting the next batch of fish? Or would it not matter?
I find your videos very informative, so thank you!
Good questions. 1) If the fish made it through QT without any issues, you can assume the net is ok to use and the tank is in fact ok as well. 2) I usually leave a bristlenose pleco in each of my QT tanks to keep them cycled. Nothing really gets cleaned other than weekly maintenance. Again, once you move the fish out you are essentially saying the fish and the tank were problem free for the last four weeks. Thanks for watching!
@@PrimeTimeAquatics Wow that was fast. Thanks for the response. OK, so 1 more question. You said you leave a bristlenose pleco in. Does that mean that fish remains in with the quarantined fish, or do you move the pleco out first and then re-add after the quarantine period? I've just setup my own quarantine tank so just want to make sure I do the best for whatever fish i put in.
@@COMPNOR-97
I got the impression he leaves the Pleco in at all times even with qt fish 🤔 Plecos must be hardy.
I forgot I learned WCMM are hardy, danios, rasbora--I bet any of these can be left in Qt?🤔
This was awesome that you so much!! I am actually studying microbiology at the moment so it was great to see you apply it to something you're passionate about!
That is so cool! Hope you enjoy as much as I have. :-)
Great video Jason, I caught myself several time using the same net on different tanks.
This has helped me alot. I have 7 tanks now with a quarantine tank. I buy from a local pet store that's only doing fish but, I buy the fish bring them home and put in quarantine tank for about 2-3 weeks. They looked ok and ate well. Not diseases on them. Put in my 20 long beautifully scraped tank now i got ICK!!! AND got ICK in another 5 gallon fluval because I got some Jilli cats and they looked ok so just put them in tank. Not sure if I contaminated that tank or the Jilli cats had ICK too. Bought from same store! So now having to medicate both tanks and trying to not contaminate my other tanks. It's hard all my tanks in our kitchen/living areas. Very frustrated. When I get them they all look good but then they developed in about 3 weeks in? Aaaaaaaaah. Now my Ember Tetras have ICK too. They are in the 20 long with the green tetras I thought were ok!This is so frustrating and awful.
I’m sorry you’re having to deal with it.
new at keeping discus, have kept fresh water kept marine had a pound 6 thousand gals koi and back to keeping discus fantastic …..
My go-to fish channel!
I revisit this video whenever I order new mbuna. Thanks as always.
Thank you !
Thank You.
Great advice, Thank you.
Awesome explanation on the style of quarantine. Great video.
Thank you!
Thank you VERY much for your candid and professional advise!
I appreciate your knowledge of managing fish tanks. It seems to me you're education videos are geared towards more advance aquarium owners. However, the average tank owner of 1 or 2 tanks may not or does not have space for a quarantine tank, which requires additional maintenance and $$. Mos of the local stores only guarantee the fish for 7 days. After that you're our of money anyway. I'm welcome to your response and advice for basic aquarium owners like myself. Thanks!
There’s not much you can do to protect existing fish without a QT tank, unfortunately.
I've seen people set up quarantine in a storage container with a lid or a 5 gallon bucket.
Great idea to avoid a quarantine tank becoming a display tank is to use a food safe, see through rubber tub with filtered-cycled media.great job, you e helped me so much by explaining our many things about this hobby.
Nice idea. The only reason I hesitate to do that is it might be harder to see infections with just a top view. Have you found that to be a problem?
Prime Time Aquatics I haven’t, but I think you have an excellent point. I monitor their behavior carefully, but I could miss something. I could cut the side of the bin and silicone a piece of glass or acrylic over the opening. It wouldn’t have to be very big. With a good light, it will give me a better view.
Good info mate! Thanks!
Thank you for your scientific insight. I work in veterinary medicine so I also know the potential downfalls of prophylactic antibiotics! However, I have heard of fish having tape worms and, at least with dogs and cats we always treat puppies and kittens with a deworming agent.. and follow up with a final dose 2 weeks later to ensure all parasites AND their offspring are destroyed. In your opinion, is there any downside to deworming all new fish during the quarantine period?
I don't think there is - other than the cost. I don't generally do it because I'm not sure fish are as heavily impacted by the parasites as dogs and cats?
Prime Time Aquatics thank for your reply! Yeah, I don’t know either lol fish are new to me so I’m learning every day!
Thanks for the great explanation from a microbiological pint of view.
I just brought a new Peppermint Bristlenose male home and quarantined him right away with an established old water quarantine tank. I have noticed his fins are a little ragged so I did put a little bit of Melafix in with him right before I watched your video but maybe one dose is ok, and I will turn his light down or off for a few days. I know he came from a clean tank where he was, but I really want to make sure he's really healthy before introducing him to my female Peppermint Bn, as it will be the first time for both of the to breed and im hoping for the best results for them, and their fry.
I've been really impressed with your indepth explanations in the videos I have seen, so I thought it was time to subscribe and learn. Thanks Professor .🐙🎣
Most common problem i get when rushing fish into main tank is they get ich after 4 or 5 days. Look great until then, then a few spots show up. Always seems to be right around a week after adding for me
Exactly what I am going through with right now. Lol
Good information and I love that you come at this scientifically. I'm in Canada and we just don't have many meds available. I put salt in my quarantine when fish first arrive, 1tsp/gal and increase to 1tbsp/gal if needed as a first attempt to treat anything external that crops up, and if not let the salt concentration go down naturally with water changes. How do you feel about hydrogen peroxide as a disinfectant?
H2O2 can work too. Just have to be careful with it.
Very good video !!! Very informative for sure
Corey Smith Thank you!
Great advice thanks. I have a question on using filter media to stabilise the quarantine tank. Say you have a second sponge filter that you transfer over to it, how do you then put it back in your main tank without contaminating that? Do we need to just wash it and let it dry out so the bacteria dies off? This is more for a temporary quarantine/ hospital tank?
You can certainly do that. Also, if the fish made it through without any issues chances are your filter is fine too.
I was a fool and didn’t quarantine some new bristlenose plecos for my 55gl. Of course, they brought in ich. They are doing ok, but several other original fish were not as lucky.
Sorry that happened.
@@PrimeTimeAquatics it will be ok! I’m using your tips (I have a biology BS, so what you said resonated with me), going to set up a nice quarantine tub, and prevent this from ever happening again
Reading reviews on various aquarium shops, it seems one of the most common reasons for losing your fish is lack of quarantine! Lack of patience! Thanks for doing this!!!!!!!
Absolutely true!
I'm new to hobby a few months since April 2021. Already 8 tanks and still learning. Watched almost all your videos. Recently a lot of fish is dying from specifically two tanks. Each tank has their own net, own class cleaner, etc. Water maintenance once per week (50%). What I decided, after troubleshooting is that both tanks got new fish in which I did not quarantine although I have a quarantine tank with fish in currently, newly bought, is that the fish from our local big bucks store has some issues. As it is the only common think in the two tanks where fish are dying. Water seems to be great as both tanks has some fry in them but adults is dying as well as other fish not bought recently. I've been doing the adding salt and raining the temperature thing a bit for two two weeks now and added a general cure medicine. Dying seems a bit less but still not over. What can be the issue here. Internal parasites/worms? As I do not think it is the water as their is babies in the tank which can only happen if conditions is good, right? Just a newby asking😊
I've followed other methods, however this will be my quarantine practice moving forward.
As always, thank you. Stay safe.
Thanks for watching!
Learned of this episode because you mentioned it in last year’s stream with Jon at KGTtopicals. Jason, your advice is sound - your experience and credentials give me confidence. I frequently turn to your videos to help me sort out the recommendations of others.
Excellent. Clear and concise
Thank you!
Superbly explained sir followed as a tutorial should. 👏👏
The (10) gallon ie "Hospital Tank" is definitely the way to go to conserve medicine like you say for small community fish. I keep extra sponges in my existing tanks. New Mr Clean sponges gathered enough healthy bacteria to seed my new tank. I am keeping fry in a (20) gallon next to my "hospital tank". As it turns out I wasn't just seeing things on my Dalmation Molly's lip. I dosed her with Paraguard in the (10) gallon tank and now the white spot is gone! It must've been an external fungus. SeaChem says she may have bumped ti. This is possible too bc I have flat round pumice airstone in my tanks. It is a carryover from my hydrophonic days. I am happy to see the white spot gone! I retuned her upstairs to my (30) tall.
Thanks Jason for the great content. Do you quarantine snails or shrimp before adding to an established tank? If so, what signs do you watch for if they are healthy?
I don't only because they usually don't harbor the same parasites that impact fish without a third novel host.
@@PrimeTimeAquatics Thanks so much! Love both channels you and Joanna have. Happy New Year!!
This is so helpful. New to fish keeping... thank you so much
Good luck and have fun!
I am ready to start my quarantine tank and online got pots for some live plants to help with cycling and water parameters. My question is: if I leave the live plants in the tank and say, after a week, some of the fish develop ich, can I treat the tank with ich-x or take them out and decontaminate them, how? Idk. Thanks for any feedback!
Yep - ICH x is plant safe. Just leave them in.
Thanks, Steve.
Thank you for an informative video (years after it's production), as I appreciate the medication as a last resort approach! As a follow up question, if you choose to medicate a tank how do you responsibly dispose of the medication once dissolved? I recognize that the answer will differ based on community regulations, but even a 10gallon tank is a large volume of water to dispose responsibly. For malachite green (the active ingredient in Ich-X) would you remove it using a carbon filter, then dispose of the filter? What about an antibacterial like erythromycin (maracyn) or antibiotic like metrodinazole (paracleanse)?
Great question - the reality is it gets water changed out and down the drain. Usually the AB concentrations are greatly reduced once inside the tank for a number of days (it’s no longer active). The other meds may be more resilient though.
Really helpful!!! Thank you
Wow so much info to learn. I’m going to be a very first time fish owner. Just bought a 55 gal tank set it up and filled it today. A couple of questions, if I buy my fish all at once can I put them in the new tank without needing a quarantine tank? Also do you have a beginner video on exactly how to cycle my tank. I put the cycle stuff in it and water conditioner but now I have no idea what I’m waiting to check for or what I due now. Thank you in advance.
Great question - if the new fish are going into the new tank at the same time the new tank is essentially your QT tank, so you won't need another one unless/until you buy more fish at a later date. I've done videos on the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle a tank quickly - both are in my Water Parameters playlist! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for asking my question!
Can you do a video on how to get fish into the main tank properly after a 30 day quarantine ? I can’t seem to find any videos of anyone showing the way to do it successfully.
I just net them out and put them in the display tank.
So how do you transfer your fish to your normal tank with out cross contamination with the net or so forth?
If the fish make it through QT properly there isn't a chance of any cross contamination? If they were healthy in the tank with no signs of disease the QT tank is fine too.
Great info and great videos! Any suggestions for quarantining plants? Thanks
I usually don't, but you could isolate them for four weeks at 78 degrees and most likely ich would be gone with no hosts.
@@PrimeTimeAquatics thanks!
Whoa where is the beard 😂 love your guys content. I am Avery particular person and have to have exact information.
Thank you for the valuable information.
When I buy new fish, can I add seachem Stressguard or Paraguard daily for a week to prevent any infections and reduce stress, even if there are no visible symptoms in the fish?
Thanks in advance
You can, but I don’t unless it’s necessary.
Do you recommend only using a hang on back that can have media transferred into it on a quarantine tank? If you take media or anything out of another tank and put it into a quarantine tank, can you put it back when you transfer the fish? -or after drying it out if something happens? If you have a quarantine tank running all the time with a sponge filter and there are no fish in the tank can you squeeze some filter media or waste water from cleaning sponge filters in other tanks periodically just to keep the bacteria going? I like to have one running in case I come home with a fish. My 10 gallon has been running for years and has some algae covered flower pots in it. I hadn’t lost any quarantined fish until recently. I lost a couple of otocinclus and then a few weeks later I lost a small electric blue acara. I did not detect a spike in ammonia or nitrates either time. My local fish store folks said the tank probably need to cycle again. I’m just trying to figure out best practices for maintaining a quarantine tank. Thanks for your input!
I usually just keep a bristlenose pleco in my QT tanks or some snails (and feed them). That usually keeps them in good shape. The other option is to transfer filter media from an existing tank to the QT when you add fish to the QT tank.
Video 3 years ago but so informative for my QT today! I'm so grateful for this information! If you see this, I have a question. I quarantined 7 new goldfish. One showed signs of a fungal growth and didn't improve after salt baths and treatment with microbe lift and Artemis fungal medicine. After a week of worsening condition, I euthanized the little guy. Was the sick one a threat to the health of the rest? Or are they likely all infected but the sickly one just had poor immune system? Wondering whether I should continue to treat the QT tank. They look healthy and swim energetically.
I have found that fungal infections often impact the weakest fish in a group. Could it spread to the to the other fish? Maybe. I would keep them in QT for another few weeks just to make sure.
@@PrimeTimeAquatics Thanks so much for the tip. I will do so.
If anyone has ich- use Copper-Aid! It worked like a charm on my goldfish to cure velvet and ich. No other medications I tried seemed to put a dent in the diseases and I lost several fish. Copper-Aid really does work guys
Very good info. I just figured the meds were always necessary but the fish I bought do seem VERY healthy. BUT the tanks around them didn’t look so great. So maybe I should let them sit in quarantine for 2 weeks then if nothing comes up by week three then we are good?
I would leave them in for four weeks - some of the internal parasites don't show noticeable changes in fish health for 3-4 weeks. Smart that you are quarantining!
Thanks for the great info and video!
Thank you!
WOW! Great video, thanks!
How can I quarantine Otocynclus?
They mostly eat Aufwuchs and mostly are wild caught… Also the same thing with Neritina Snails.
And thanks for this video. ❤️
You can feed them algae wafers while in QT!
Incredible Advice!
dr. jason... always value you opinions...i have a fairly large online shipment coming in thursday...i have a 29 gallon and a 20 gallon that im going to set up to quarantine....how many fish for the 29....heres my list....2 yellow blaze..1 german yellow blaze and 1 malawi trout....1 rainbow.....1 sveni...2 alifrons...1 balazanii and 1 triangle...thanks philip
If they are small try to spilt them up as evenly as possible. Obviously, the 29 can hold a little more.
Unfortunately prior to watching your last two videos on it, my big black molly girl mouth turned white and her fins were shredding. I raise the temperature added salt and used API medicine. My question is prior to this problem I was using the same Nets and gravel vacuums on all five tanks to do cleaning and water changes. Should I treat all five tanks even though the fish seem fine? I would appreciate your reply very much ASAP. Thank you
I would keep an eye on those other tanks. It doesn't sound like ich, which almost always spreads to other tanks. This may not, but watch them.
Please make timestamps in your long videos (: it helps a lot
Good video
Hey Jason, great video! I always learn a lot from your channel :)
I have a 30g main tank and a 10g quarantine tank. The 10g has a weird little built in compartment in the back with filter media and a small pump to circulate water (there is no intake, the pump just pushes the water around the tank). Is it okay to take the filter media from the quarantine tank (before I set it up for new fish) and place it in my larger aquarium till it gets bacteria and pop it back? If so how long does it need to be cycled?
Sure - it usually takes about 3-4 weeks. You could also tank filter media form the 30 gallon and place it in the 10 gallon and it should work right away (for a small number of fish).
Hello Jason I hope you are doing fine .
And I hope you are safe and be safe in this difficult time of covid.
I have discus i went throw lot of issues and always your advises was very helpful.
I want to ask your opinion about using vitamin C and multivitamin of human for discus fish . If you agree in using this things please tell me what shall be be the dose per L
For example I have vitamin C each tablet is 150 Mg
Thanks
I haven't used human vitamins on fish so I'm not sure?
Thanks a lot . For your reply
nice video i got wild guppies from a 2" pond out hear at our local gas station in hawaii and had doa immediately within 2 hours 120 cot 50 gon so quarantine for 3 weeks and seeing like spots on gills and around couple of fish body thinking ick but been treating it my second time within 5 days no will continue to monitor them thank you for the video much informative I wanted to put fancy guppies from the pet store and start a breeding Colony with them but have to keep an eye on the disease thanks for the info well use my own separate siphon powered for draining water and such for other tanks trying not to introduce disease to others thank you.
Sounds like an interesting project. Glad it helped!
I have a few questions about avoiding cross contamination. How do you transfer fish from quarantine tank to your actual tank? If there was not some kind of disease after 30 days, could I just move them to my tank? If my new fish had some kind of disease in the quarantine tank and I cured it, do I just use the same materials to transfer fish directly to the main tank?
Since I always restart the "clock" if there was an infection (30 days after successful treatment), either way I just move them in without too much worry.
I’m thinking about adding some new African cichlids (peacocks) to my 75 gallon, probably 6. I want to quarantine them so the other 8 won’t be affected. Would a 20 gallon long work? They would be 3-4 inches as I’m buying guaranteed males. This is my current quarantine setup but I mainly keep medium to small fish. If not I might just have to cough up some money to buy an extra 40 gallon.
If they are approaching four inches they might be rough on one another?
Hey there Jason need some advice please. I just received an order of tetras and they were shipped across the country overnight. They were alive when I got them but they all died overnight. It was a hospital tank, dechlorinated, no ammonia or nitrite and I did not add food. PH was 7.6 (source ph was 7.8). I temp matched for 25 min then plopped. No other fish in the tank. The vendor really thinks it was something I did with a new hospital tank, which could be the case, but I don’t know what else I could be missing that might have caused them to die basically in ten hours or so (overnight). Thoughts?🙏
Hard to say for sure. It does happen sometimes, but if there is no ammonia, nitrite and pH and hardness were mostly a match it probably isn't your water.
I’m not sure if it depends on the fish specie or the fish but I medicated a mix of cichlids (severum, eba, uaru) and they were fine thru the whole process. Then recently I medicated a group of angelfish and I lost one and now they are acting like they are stoned and not eating aggressively. Before medicating they were always hungry, excited to see me (hungry) and more active. Not sure if I want to continue to medicate unless I see a reason to do so
I'm of the opinion that all meds stress fish to some degree. I only use them when there are signs of disease. Often angels are sold very small (quarter size) and I find them to be very sensitive at that size. If they aren't showing signs of disease I wouldn't medicate them.
Hi Jason, would running very hot water in your fill hose or drain hose (python) before going to your QT and your displays? Just wondering if the hot water would kill ICH. Thank you, best site, best info, awesome.
It probably wouldn't do that much for the cyst stage (they would survive just fine).
Thank you for this information. I have a question. I am fairly new to this hobby and I recently made one mistake you mentioned. I used the same syphon from one tank into another tank unaware at the time that the fish I have in one tank had fin rot. I introduced this bacteria into the second tank. Luckily I have no fish in the second tank as it was cycling at the time. Should I also treat the second tank with medication since I contaminated that tank? I'd hate to take all the gravel, plants, heater, biofilter, etc. out to disinfect it and start all over again.
You can, but often the infectious agent doesn't remain viable long without a host.
Question, how long should you seed ur sponge filter in a established tank, before putting it in ur quarantine tank? The sponge being brand new, that is!
I try to give it at least four weeks
@@PrimeTimeAquatics wow, that long eh, ok...thx
What if you're buying new fish for a new tank? Should you quarantine each and every species? Group them by how they were grouped (or not) in the shop? Quarantine together because they came from the same shop?
I generally QT them together.
Ah awesome, thank you 👍
I quarantined some guppies that I bought from a local pet store and the day after I brought him home one of them died. I treated the tank with marison and paraquins. They continued to die and then I read that pair cleanse doesn't get rid of red worms which it look like that's what they had so I bought expel P But the day it arrived is when I lost the final two fish. I did have a cory and a snail in the tank also so I did the two doses of expel p And then waited an additional week after finishing it before moving them into another tank. Corey looks great and is eating well etc. I saw somewhere to use peroxide to clean the tank and equipment/decorations. What are your thoughts on that? Also can a sponge filter be soaked in peroxide and then rinsed and air dried? I plan on soaking it in water for a day and then letting everything air dry preferably outside. Will that kill any parasites or bacteria that was in the aquarium? I'd like to use it for quarantine in the future.
You can certainly do that. If it were some type of worm, just letting everything dry will ensure the worms die too.
Thank you for this! Glad I watched this
Thank you!
I am currently setting up my first display tank and quarantine tank and I have a question regarding the necessity for air stones. In the 20 gallon display tank I have the Marineland Penguin Pro 125 filter and in the 10 gallon quarantine tank I have the Aqueon QuietFlow 10. I am new to fishkeeping so I will be sticking to simple community fish for the time being. Do you think these filters will do enough aerating or should I consider getting an airpump and air stones?
The air stones really aren't necessary, but they certainly don't hurt anything.
One of my Neon tetras i have had for about a month now has Neon Tetra Disease . I used a bacterial remedy treatment , what else should I do? Do I put him in a bowl ? I know it’s not ideal but I don’t have money for a second tank
I would definitely separate him if you have other fish in the tank. You can continue to treat him if you want, but often it costs far more in treatment compared to replacing the fish if cost is a consideration.
What is the good way to disinfect siphon each use for quarantine? Rinse under hot water and let it dry? Wipe with vinegar-water solution or..? Thank you.
We try to make sure our hoses dry out between each use. That is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of disease. If I have fish in QT I also try to make sure I hose the same hose for that tank and don't use it for other tanks.
@@PrimeTimeAquatics Thank you.So, drying out is one of disinfectant method? I did not know that.Thank you for informative video all the time.
I understand the idea of isolating the quarantine tank with equipment. For example using 1 net for the quaratine tank. But how do you transfer the fish to the main tank while mainting this isolation. Also the new fish can still carry pathogens after the 30 days has passed well (carrier). Still bringing pathogens from the quarantine tank to your main tank. Could you elaborate on this? Thanks
The idea is if the fish have not shown signs of disease after 30 days, there is very little risk of transferring disease from the quarantine tank to the main tank. While it's possible some fish could still be carriers, there has to be a balance between taking proper precautions and introducing fish to new tanks. By quarantining for 30 days one greatly reduces the risk of introducing disease into the main tank. The process has been established/followed by some of the best fish biologists in the world based on 100's of scientific papers, meetings and 1000's of years of combined fish experience. : -)
@@PrimeTimeAquatics thanks for the reply! I will be implementing this
Thank you!
I don’t have a tank yet. When I get fish, they will be from a well trusted, and recommend 4.7 local fish store. It is not a chain store and has all the fish I would like. Should I quarantine them all at once in the same tank at once or stagger when I get the fish?
If I get them at the same time I usually QT them in the same tank provided I have the room. If they come in at different times I use different tanks. Very smart thinking about this now! Most people don't.
Hi There thank for all the advice. If you remember I had sick discus fish and you gave me some advice and now they are good and been in quarantine for 45 days . Now I want to take them to my display tank what shall I do ! Because in some video they say to take one fish from old tank and add it to quarantine tank with the fish which was sick for 2 weeks if every thing ok then move all of them to the display tank please advise ?
Thank you
I can tell what I do - if the fish in QT have been disease free for 30 days I just transfer them to the display tank. However, the suggestion to transfer one fish to the QT tank and make sure everything is ok isn't a bad idea either.
@@PrimeTimeAquatics thanks Jason appreciated all your advises 👍😀 always I do what you suggest to me great .
Have you consider salt and heat for the quarantine tanks? Depending on the type of fish?
Absolutely, if I think the fish need it. I don't want to drastically change their habitat from where they came from, or where they're going, unless I see evidence of disease.
How much salt should I add to quarantine tank if fish has ICH.? . It’s ok to have filter w/Carbon after adding salt?
Do I have to quarantine a fish if its the first one I've ever had and it's going to be living alone? I might add two snails for algae control prior to getting the fish
Nope - the new tank becomes the QT tank 😀
What should be done for sensitive wild-caught fish? I have 5 kuhlis in quarantine and I know they're especially sensitive since they don't really have scales they seem to finally be comfy in the Qt tank since they're out and exploring more
I don't change anything for wild caught. GIve them four weeks and a calm environment with a little less light and a place to hide. CHeck on them every couple days if they are hiding to make sure there are no visible signs of disease.
So do I clean my quarantine tank like my main tank once the fish are moved or does it need a deep clean to remove potential illness, and if so does that mean I have to restart the nitrogen cycle in the quarantine tank?
If your fish are safe to move to your display tank the QT tank should be ok too.
Thanks for ALL the info. U mention several good things that can save my aquarium (aka investment/ zen station) that I haven't heard from any other helpful vid.
Thank you!
I have a new fish coming tomorrow (mustard spot Pleco).. my quarantine tank already has a fish with ich in it. What should I do?? Was going to roll the dice and add the pleco into my display tank. Is this a terrible idea?
Usually that’s a bad idea.
Jason, do you do anything to protect yourself from possible fish to human infection?
Nothing extreme, but I generally try to keep tank water out of my eyes, ears, nose and mouth and generally don't clean tanks if I have cuts on my hands. Good question!
Yes...that was a GREAT question bcs I might possibly hv some type of fish allergy to tank water, detritus, etc...
Earlier on I would become ill within 24hrs of water changing any of my tasks 🤒...
I hv since purchased huge, long gloves fr Harbor Freight tools!
I did wonder if the gloves would leach chemical into the water. Per staff at private owned LFS, I washed the gloves with soap, rinsed thoroughly--haven't experienced any latex illness or chemical illness with my fish.
P.S. I disinfect the gloves in bleach:water solution after each use--I use same gloves for each tank.
Hi There and happy new year.
Thanks for All the advises I learned from your great videos.
A quick question please about the gravel which we use for tanks do we need to change the gravel over the time or it can be ok for long periods the reason why I asked because I am using deco line gravel and I lost some fishes during the last period for unknown reason so I suspected the whole system started with disinfecting the tank with lot of salt and keep it run for 10 days and then flush all water and keep it to dry, ofcourse I removed the gravel which is one year old but looks so good and I am now hesitate shall I buy new gravel or just give it a good wash and reuse it.?
Please advise
Thank you
Usually it's best to leave the substrate alone (gravel and sand). It houses beneficial bacteria and if changed it will lose that feature until it becomes repopulated again. I have some tanks set-up and the substrate hasn't been changed in over 10 years.
@@PrimeTimeAquatics I agree so by now all benficial bacteria are dead. So it means as per your experience no need to buy new gravel. Any suggestions for disinfect my old gravel?normally I use hot water and salt then wash it is that ok???
Thanks a lot you saved for me around 50 euro for buying new gravel
Thanks
Prime Time Aquatics just saw a video where a guy in Ohio who saves large fish uses ceramic tiles on bottom if tanks instead of gravel. Looks really cool . Thinking of doing it. What do you think?