Poll To Medicate Or Not To Medicate New Fish In A Qt Tank

[bizaliz3]

I'd like to see what the consensus is on medicating a QT tank. (I didn't know what subforum to put this in, so move it mods if you want)

Just a couple basic questions I want answered after you make your vote in the poll. THANKS!!

1. Do you medicate new fish preventatively? or not? And why? Or do you only medicate if they appear sick?

2. What medication(s) do you use for QT and in what order (if more than one)? and WHY do you use the medication(s) you use?

3. How long do you QT new fish?



*And just a little side question.....what about plants? I know a lot of people give them dips to get rid of pest snails or their eggs....but no one ever seems to mention things like camallanus worms. I dealt with them almost a year ago now (it was MISERY) and the more I think about it, the more I think I may have actually gotten them from plants rather than fish.....Same with snails. So few people actually QT snails and they often carry the dreaded camallanus worms larva!! I have never QTd a nerite snail, or assassins, or mysteries....

What protective measures do you take to make sure plants or snails don't bring in any terrible worms or diseases? I mean...supposedly just sticking my hand in a tank with camallanus worms means I can spread them to another tank. So why have I literally never seen people talk about making their plants disease free? It only seems to be to avoid pest snails.

 

[finnipper59]

The whole reason for to qt tank is to test the fih for disease in the 1st place. Some medications, especially antiparacitics, can cause stress unnecessarily. You also can't use a lot of medications with snails or shrimp. And unless you buy fish alot, you may also be wasting money on treatments. There is also no guarantee that you're going to prevent bacterial or paracitic diseases from getting into your tank with quarantine anyway. Columnaris only shows 90% of the time externally. A fish could have it infect your tank while it looks happy and healthy. Then you notice it not eating ot spilling out its food, and you find it dead with no external signs of disease...after it has infected your tank. The same thing could happen in the internal parasites like worms. Treating your fish ahead of time will rid them of bacteria and parasites, but then are you going to do without shrimp and snails and switch to plastic plants? My advice is to quarantine them one species at a time for one week in a qt tank that has as exactly the same water perameters as you are able to keep as your permanent tank. Look for strange behavior, white stringy poop, strange spots, shreading of fin edges, fish scratching themselves against objects, and of course, unexplained deaths that occur. We always have the risk of diseases getting into our aquariums, but quarantine is a large help in preventing it without medication simultaneously.

I'd like to see what the consensus is on medicating a QT tank. (I didn't know what subforum to put this in, so move it mods if you want)

Just a couple basic questions I want answered after you make your vote in the poll. THANKS!!

1. Do you medicate new fish preventatively? or not? And why?

2. What medication(s) do you use for QT and in what order (if more than one)? and WHY do you use the medication(s) you use?

3. How long do you QT new fish?



*And just a little side question.....what about plants? I know a lot of people give them dips to get rid of pest snails or their eggs....but no one ever seems to mention things like camallanus worms. I dealt with them almost a year ago now (it was MISERY) and the more I think about it, the more I think I may have actually gotten them from plants rather than fish.....Same with snails. So few people actually QT snails and they often carry the dreaded camallanus worms larva!! I have never QTd a nerite snail, or assassins, or mysteries....

What protective measures do you take to make sure plants or snails don't bring in any terrible worms or diseases? I mean...supposedly just sticking my hand in a tank with camallanus worms means I can spread them to another tank. So why have I literally never seen people talk about making their plants disease free? It only seems to be to avoid pest snails.

 

[75g Discus Tank]

1. No. I don't medicate fish to prevent something. It's like if I took an Advil for nothing. I wait until symptoms appear. Mainly parasitic, fungal, or bacterial. My LFSs are all high quality and I have never gotten a sick fish from any of them.

2. I haven't used meds to QT fish yet. None of them were sick at purchase.

3. I QT from 2-4 weeks.

Side question: I dip y plants in bleach, hydrogen peroxide, or salt.

Salt kills pest snails, leeches, and anything related basically.

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but iodized salt will work because iodine kills microorganisms. Just rinse it really well afterwards.

 

[bizaliz3]

For the two of you who have voted, I added another choice.
"only if they show signs of illness"

I should have put that instead of "it depends"

I'd love more opinions and votes here please

 

[Rtessy]

1. Yes, I medicate with PraziPro since I've heard horror stories of internal parasites going unnoticed.
2. PraziPro for internal parasites/ gill flukes (preventative) then anything else as needed.
3. 4-5 weeks
I normally just rinse plants and soak them in tap water for a week then put them in, you're really making me consider doing something else with them... Same with snails, I just put them in... Thanks for the info on that!

 

[2006fuzz]

1. it depends on where I purcashed them from. Petsmart gets auto prazi-pro dosing not matter on the appereant "health" of the fish. the LFS and online gets put in QT and watched.
2. I dose Prazi-Pro preventativly if I feel liek need, otherwise I use what treats the specific issue I'm most likely fighting. Some fish do get Paraguard treatments for small scrapes and bruises type injuries.
3. 2-4 weeks. Petsmart purchases get 4 weeks minimum, otherwise it depends on my faith on the purchase location.

Edit: just thought I’d add it also depends on the type of fish. I never preventatively treat my bettas as they live alone and basically live in QT all their lives. I don’t treat any inverts either.

 

[bizaliz3]

Anyone else have any input? Keep it coming!

 

[Heather L]

I do a 2 week QT on fish purchased from my LFS, and really I only do that because I’m cautious by nature. My LFS qt’s before they sell and medicates as well.

If I purchase on-line I qt for 3-4 weeks and watch for signs of illness, only medicating if I suspect a problem.

I have never even thought about putting shrimp or snails in a qt, but you can bet I will from now on!

I have had a 6 month battle with hitchhiking rams horn snails in my black water tank, learned my lesson. I’ll always wash plants now.

I will say this, it’s very, very hard for me to resist the temptation to scape my qt tank and stock it

 

[MellySalz]

1. I do not medicate new fish for the same reasons others have stated. Another reason though, at least when it comes to antibiotics, is because I know that the overuse of antibiotics can lead to drug-resistant bacteria aka "superbugs" (MRSA, VRE, etc.) in humans, so I would assume the same applies for fish. I work as an RN so I always have this in the back of my mind if I'm ever considering using antibiotics on my fish.
2. N/A
3. It depends... For the most part, I usually just quarantine for 2 weeks, because in my own experience, whenever I bought fish who ended up being sick, I always saw symptoms within 2 weeks. However, if the new fish are more expensive/rare or if the tank I eventually plan on putting them contains expensive/rare fish (or even cheap fish that I love too much to take a chance on), I will quarantine them for at least 4 weeks. There have been a few times when I bought 2 different species on impulse that could not go in the QT together, so I ended up putting one species in the same tank as my most inexpensive fish or fish I wouldn't be distraught over should the worst happen. Luckily, the fish were always ok.

Back when I was a rookie though, before I even knew about quarantining fish, I bought a few guppies and added them right away to my tank with other guppies/livebearers, and before I knew it, I was dealing with a HORRIBLE case of camallanus worms! So I learned through experience early on about the importance of having a QT. However, I am still scarred from that experience (what a nightmare!!), and I refuse to ever buy guppies again. Every time I see them in the store, all I can think about are those worms!!

Just to add, I often see guppies with camallanus worms at the big box stores. They can be hard to spot because there are usually a bunch in one tank and they are swimming around so quickly. I tried notifying an employee once about it, but I'm sure you can guess how that went. Sure, they may medicate their fish, but not with anything that will actually kill those worms.

 

[Goldiemom]

I have new guppies coming in tomorrow. I was planning on treating with Prazipro but now wondering if I should wait. I always qt for 2 weeks unless something looks funny.

 

[alykat]

1. I don’t medicate new fish preventatively, however I do run a UV light on my QT tank and do daily small volume water changes for the first two weeks. If the fish show symptoms then I treat.

2. I have literally every fish medicine known to man. I give praziPro to any fish with stringy poo or any hint of an internal parasite. PolyGaurd is my first go to for bacteria if I can’t pinpoint what it is. I always have kanaplex and furan 2 on hand if it looks like columnaris. As for plants I do use levamisole in their qt to ward off worms. I won’t have snails in tanks with fish that eat snails because that’s how my puffers came down with camallanus.

3. I have extremely long QT periods. Minimum one month but preferably three months. This is because I have struggled with hidden diseases so much in the past. Getting my two display tanks up and running has been excruciating, and I am terrified of introducing anything into them.

 

[Fashooga]

I usually don’t medicate unless I see a reason. I had two fish in my QT and one showed white poo. I APIGC that for two weeks.

The previous fish I had in there were good for the two weeks I had them in there.

 

[smee82]

I hate having to dose my 110g so anything going in there gets prazipro in the qt.

 

[Kjeldsen]

"It depends"
Livebearers like guppies and platies will definitely get treated for Camallanus worms whether I see any or not. They're notorious carriers, and it's easier while they're still eating. Fenbendazole isn't overly harsh on the fish.

I'm considering pretreating dwarf cichlids for hex as well.

 

[mollybabes]

I don't quarantine at all. Haven't got a tank to do it in. I don't even medicate when I know there is something wrong unless I know it will work. The meds just stress the rest of the fish and I much rather have one fish die than the whole tank die and one survive

 

[bizaliz3]

I don't quarantine at all. Haven't got a tank to do it in. I don't even medicate when I know there is something wrong unless I know it will work. The meds just stress the rest of the fish and I much rather have one fish die than the whole tank die and one survive

But one sick fish can potentially kill your entire stock......that's the problem.

I guess it depends on how valuable your fish are to you (and that isn't meant to be a judgement) I didn't QT the first couple years either. But I now have some very valuable fish and many priceless fish....I refuse to risk it.

 

[mollybabes]

But one sick fish can potentially kill your entire stock......that's the problem.

I guess it depends on how valuable your fish are to you (and that isn't meant to be a judgement) I didn't QT the first couple years either. But I now have some very valuable fish and many priceless fish....I refuse to risk it.

My fish are never that expensive and we don't get new fish regularly. Also I have never bought a sick new fish.

 

[bizaliz3]

My fish are never that expensive and we don't get new fish regularly. Also I have never bought a sick new fish.

But you said you wouldn't even treat an established sick fish, because you don't want to stress out the not-sick fish with meds. But that sick fish could get them ALL sick...that's all I am saying.

 

[mollybabes]

But you said you wouldn't even treat an established sick fish, because you don't want to stress out the not-sick fish with meds. But that sick fish could get them ALL sick...that's all I am saying.

I meant I wouldn't unless I knew definitely that it was I'll and how to treat it

 

[bizaliz3]

I meant I wouldn't unless I knew definitely that it was I'll and how to treat it

Sadly....90% of the time...its a guessing game with meds. So you almost never know what you use and if it will work.

I'm not judging you. I was the same way for a long time.

I personally chose not to medicate my QT last time around. I'm not a fan of using meds either unless I know what will work....and that is almost never! Lol

 

[Letsfish]

I have a 10 gallon QT,with all new arrival the tank gets 5ml of Paraguard this has worked out really well for me. Most of my fish spend 4/5 weeks in there.The tank gets weekly 50% water change.

 

[Goldiemom]

I have never treated in QT unless they begin to show ich.