LeenBeth

Our tank is 2 months old now...all is well/stable/healthy...we are being very patient and stocking slowly.....monitoring parameters.

Though I am wondering a few things...
is it just matter of time before all fish get some type of ICH or diseases that need treatment?

How do you know what it is they have? What are some general issues I should start educating myself on to be better prepared?

Should be have medicine on hand for immediate use or wait til a situation arises and go fron there? Is there any type that is best to use on an undiagnosed condition?

I have been reading and researching hospital tanks but havent set one up yet...Im sure it will be just a matter of time now. Right now space is limited ( not that its an excuse...just a reality )

just trying to be educated and prepared....
thanks for the help

MinxMermaid

The most important thing to keep in mind is that some of the meds you use for freshwater cannot be used for saltwater.
i would wait to buy meds until you have a problem, so long as you can get to a LFS rather quickly if you do get a problem.

i find the below diagnostic chart the easiest to figure out what i've got.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...htm#Diagnostic

good luck!

sgould

The likelihood of a disease outbreak depends on a variety of things...fish species, water quality, sources of new stock and QTing proceedures for instance. When something does come up, you just have to do some detective work to figure it out...google the symptoms, consult other fishkeepers (on Fishlore of course!), ask questions at a reputable LFS, etc. As for keeping medicines on hand...well, it's not a bad idea, but I will admit I don't have anything on hand. So long as I don't develop an outbreak on Christmas day or something, I figure I can get what I need when the time comes. IMO, randomly medicating an undiagnosed condition is sort of a last ditch desperation move for something you just can't figure out. I suppose an illness could come down to that, but it would really be better to have some idea of what you are treating before throwing random medications into your tank. And always medicate in a QT rather than your main tank...many medicines have some sort of negative side effect...killing your beneficial bacteria, harming invertibrates, etc.

MinxMermaid

ah Sean, as always you're one of the smartest saltwater guys around

thanks again for your hellp with our salty tank....its doing good now

sgould

Stop it, I'll blush!

LeenBeth

Thanks for the info....diagnosis chat looks very helpful.
I woulnd never just randomly treat something...I guess thats why I feel the need to educate myself now so when the time comes up I can handle it better

Ive been researching the QT tanks....
and most say I can use water from my main tank when I do a water change.....
ok that makes sense but what if the main tank is home to whatever the outbreak is?
How do you get the QT tank set up fast enought o isolate the fish ( or since this hypothetical sitation is in the main tank....do you just trate the main tank?)

does the QT tank just sit there doing nothing? can something occupy it while its not serving as a hospital?
I guess im confused about the part where you can set it up last minute.....and having one up and running and waiting...

I appreciate your time and patience with my newbie questions

MinxMermaid

when we've had a hospital tank set up, we keep a little something in there to keep it cycled. in our fresh hospital we kept a couple of cory cats in there, course then it became our guppy tank.
in a small salty hospital, i was gonna say maybe a couple of damsels, but then i remembered they get super territorial and you wouldn't want to put a sick fishy in there.
maybe someone with more experience could tell you what you could put in there.

nemo addict

a qt tank is a must now before introducing new fish to your main display as sgould said about the affects of meds killing inverts ,they normally contain copper and will kill your live rock if you have and any corals/shrimp ect ... it is best to qt a fish before introducing in to your main tank (a qt tank can just be basic heat and air) and water from your main display , tank can be a small dependant on size of your fish i have used a dust bin (plastic trash can) cured of cause which i used to transport my live rock in and just threw a spare power head in and a spare heater ,, if you have to treat with a copper based med then nothing used in the qt should be used in the main tank
hope this helps qt doesnt have to be a tank