Quarantine Resources!

Good morning,

Folks, I can't stress enough, the importance of Quarantine for all new fish that may be going into an already stocked/established aquarium. I'm seeing threads/posts of people rescuing fish and adding them directly into their main display tanks which can be VERY risky. Not only rescues but this is for any new fish you want to add to an established aquarium.

Without Quarantine, any disease, fungus, parasites, the new fish may have may very well spread to all of the inhabitants of the established aquarium, with the possibility of wiping out the entire stock.

Please don't be in such a hurry to add new fish to your well stocked established aquarium. Everything you've worked so hard for, cycling the tank and so on, can be ruined simply by adding 1 new fish that wasn't Quarantined. Some ill fish may require medicines and some of these medicines may destroy the beneficial bacteria needed to sustain the cycle. I've seen mention that some antibiotics can wipe out the cycle or the beneficial bacteria needed for a healthy aquarium.

Here are some very helpful links:
Quarantine Tank Setup for Aquarium Fish

Quick and dirty quarantine setup

How to set up a Quarantine tank

Cheapie QT tanks!

Please, Quarantine your new fish. Don't risk the lives of your other fish in your display tanks.

My personal recommendation is to Quarantine any new additions for 1 month at the very least.

Salt isn't necessary for Freshwater Quarantine.
Please do not make me say "I told you so" and give you one of these (you know I will!) lol

Thanks and best wishes for your fishes!

Ken

 

Keep in mind there are some really nasty pathogens out there that can stay undetected for 6-12 weeks, such as the . This awful, nasty, evil, horrific parasite wiped out my entire tank last year, and I lost twenty fish. If I had quarantined my fish, I may have prevented the loss of all my fish. However, there is a good chance that this parasite could have slipped pasted quarantine anyway, unless I kept my fish in quarantine for a couple months. So basically, the lesson for me: longer is better... and from my own personal experience, I would say that one month is the bare minimum.

Thanks to the help of many people here at Fishlore, I'm now on my way to completely resetting my tank and starting all over with a fishless cycle. I now have a quarantine tank set up and I will absolutely be using it.