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QT Tank - Fish Medication

kinetic

kinetic

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I have an ORA orchid dottyback and gold sailfin blenny coming tomorrow from LiveAquaria (DD), and I setup a QT tank (actually just leftovers from when I was going to do a treatment tank for my magnifica).

I don't have any fish medication yet, and was just going to hold them for a week or two in the QT and medicate as needed. I have little experience diagnosing, but I guess I can tell if something has Ich or looks bad and then I figure I'd just look it up once I can see a problem and purchase meds as needed.

Then I know there's the whole TTM method for Ich. Not sure if I want to go through all that (or have the time at the moment).

Here are my questions:
  1. Should I do preventative medications even if I don't see any symptoms? If so, which ones?
  2. I never QT'd my Geometric hawkfish, I just took a big chance and I guess I got lucky. My clowns are all from captive bred systems (Sustainable Aquatics) so I never bothered. But with LiveAquaria order, I think it would be best if I did. Any votes for not necessarily needing QT or just do a light one for preventative measures?
  3. Is the whole Ich TTM really required?
 
Whenever I receive new fish I put them in an observation tank for at least two weeks before starting tank transfer. After tank transfer is complete I move them into another (sterile) observation tank where I try to fatten them up.
I recommend running praziquantel (prazipro) and feeding metroplex laced foods prophylactically. I do this with all new arrivals to eliminate any worms or other intestinal parasites.
 
TTM is really pretty easy. Just try it. Consider it an experiment if nothing else.

Note that TTM also helps with preventative medications like Prazipro.
You know you are doing 100% water changes, so can control dosage in the water exactly.

I would really skip the copper, formaldehyde, or other poison based meds completely.
It is very hard to get the right level to kill the parasite but not the fish.
 
OK, I just re-read posts on the TTM method, and it looks manageable.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

I'll do the above, but use prazipro (I have time to amazon it since I'd only treat it on the last day before tank transfer (day 3).

Do you guys recommend new batches of water, or just Display tank water? I mean if DT is already full of ich, it won't matter anyway? Unless somehow my current fish survived it, I doubt it has Ich.

Also, should I use Seachem Prime if I'm using prazipro? Like can I use it on day 2, but still dose Prazi on day 3?
 
NOt that I'm recommending not QTing -- I'm just curious about something. I thought Diver's Den pre-treated and pre-Qt'd their fish and that was the reason to pay the higher prices.
 
kinetic said:
OK, I just re-read posts on the TTM method, and it looks manageable.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/

I'll do the above, but use prazipro (I have time to amazon it since I'd only treat it on the last day before tank transfer (day 3).

Do you guys recommend new batches of water, or just Display tank water? I mean if DT is already full of ich, it won't matter anyway? Unless somehow my current fish survived it, I doubt it has Ich.

Also, should I use Seachem Prime if I'm using prazipro? Like can I use it on day 2, but still dose Prazi on day 3?
Click to expand...

I have mixed praziquantel and prime together with no ill effects. I can almost guarantee that your main display has ich if you haven’t quarantined anything in the past. The chances are pretty high. I use freshly mixed saltwater for quarantine to reduce chances of cross contamination.


Bruce Spiegelman said:
NOt that I'm recommending not QTing -- I'm just curious about something. I thought Diver's Den pre-treated and pre-Qt'd their fish and that was the reason to pay the higher prices.
Click to expand...

Divers Den does not actively quarantine fish. They will only treat fish that show signs of disease. I recieved a purple tang from them that was covered in ich.
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
NOt that I'm recommending not QTing -- I'm just curious about something. I thought Diver's Den pre-treated and pre-Qt'd their fish and that was the reason to pay the higher prices.
Click to expand...

I guess they do claim that:
"Diver's Den® items are held, quarantined and shipped from our state-of-the-art Aquaculture Coral & Aquatic Life Facility in Rhinelander, Wisconsin."

But I don't know what they mean by "quarantined."
 
Tmjvb said:
I have mixed praziquantel and prime together with no ill effects. I can almost guarantee that your main display has ich if you haven’t quarantined anything in the past. The chances are pretty high. I use freshly mixed saltwater for quarantine to reduce chances of cross contamination.
Click to expand...

That kind of will defeat the purpose of me doing a TTM if I'm just going to plop them back into my DT. Maybe I should just do a quick QT with prazipro. If Ich ever comes, I'll need a fallow period. If it's already there, that's inevitable anyway.

I doubt I could get Ich from the captive bred clowns, but I did get that geometric pygmy hawkfish from Aquatic Collection, so that could easily have happened.
 
kinetic said:
That kind of will defeat the purpose of me doing a TTM if I'm just going to plop them back into my DT. Maybe I should just do a quick QT with prazipro. If Ich ever comes, I'll need a fallow period. If it's already there, that's inevitable anyway.

I doubt I could get Ich from the captive bred clowns, but I did get that geometric pygmy hawkfish from Aquatic Collection, so that could easily have happened.
Click to expand...

I would quarantine regardless. It is a good place for the fish to acclimate to their new environment and get them eating.
 
kinetic said:
...Do you guys recommend new batches of water, or just Display tank water? ...
Click to expand...

I use display tank water.
In general, it is more stable.
No need to acclimate again, it is the same water.
And you get some nice water changes for your display tank.
 
Side notes:

Test your heater settings before doing TTM. By measuring water temp after it runs a bit, not looking at numbers on heater.
You want to make sure DT + 2 buckets match well.

Those little stick on ammonia monitors are handy to keep an eye on things.

You cannot go 3 days with larger fish, due to ammonia build up, but that should not be an issue for you.
 
Thanks all. I setup my QT tank with new water, though tomorrow I'll do a water change and dump that in there while the animals are drip acclimating.

I'll try to find PraziPro at the local Petco. Otherwise it'll be a longer drive over to Aquatic Collection.
 
With these two tiny fish, should I use Seachem Prime every day to battle ammonia? I'm assuming I should feed them.

I QT'd fish in the past, but I think back then all i did was copper and changed the water often. It's been so long.
 
kinetic said:
With these two tiny fish, should I use Seachem Prime every day to battle ammonia? I'm assuming I should feed them.

I QT'd fish in the past, but I think back then all i did was copper and changed the water often. It's been so long.
Click to expand...
Given your fish size, I would just add the prime with every transfer. I usually only feed on second and third day of transfer. IME, fish from DD, usually eat well.
 
Personally, if you're going to go through the effort to TTM, medicate and QT your new incoming fish, I'd reccomend doing the same with your existing fish as well and go fallow for 76 days on your main tank. For me, if I'm trying to mitigate risk of disease and parasites, I'd hate to start from an unknown state. And since you didn't TTM and QT your clowns (captive bred does not equal disease free) and your hawkfish and didn't QT any of your inverts, you're starting from an unknown state.
 
Wlachnit said:
Given your fish size, I would just add the prime with every transfer. I usually only feed on second and third day of transfer. IME, fish from DD, usually eat well.
Click to expand...
+1
If you do not want to do a water change after every feeding avoid feeding on the first day. I feed a few times a day during ttm but do a small water change and suck out any leftover food on the bottom.
 
Thanks for all the thoughts. I don't have much sense of how stable I can keep a TTM / QT tank for a long period of time. Doing a fallow period for my DT and keeping a hospital tank up seems to be impossible for me at the moment. It seems like I can go for 2 weeks with Prazipro to get rid of most things other than Ich. If I truly get Ich in the future, I would probably best do the TTM + 75 days of fallow. I think it would be ideal to do it now, but with work and travel coming up, and the lack of equipment for a true QT tank, I don't think I'll tackle that. I'll try to get rid of everything else with the two week prazipro treatment, and then go for a TTM/Fallow period in the future if needed. I'll probably need to setup my 40G breeder, get an ATO setup, some kind of filtration for it, and then double that for the other tank for the TTM. Just not enough time/space at the moment. Maybe that's irresponsible?
 
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