Current Quarantine Protocol

[Gildo]

the product is sera tremazol. it is always for aquarium use, so I don't think it has harmful active ingredients. after calculations I dosed 0.68 ml in just under 5 gallons
started feeling sick after a couple of hours.
now he seems to be further worse so i don't think he will say for long

 

[Jay Hemdal]

the product is sera tremazol. it is always for aquarium use, so I don't think it has harmful active ingredients. after calculations I dosed 0.68 ml in just under 5 gallons
started feeling sick after a couple of hours.
now he seems to be further worse so i don't think he will say for long

Another possible issue: when fish have a large number of flukes on their skin or gills, each worm acts like a tiny cork. When you kill the flukes with praziquantel, the worms drop off, leaving hundreds of holes in the fish's skin. The fish can then bleed to death. There is nothing to be done about that though. If the fish dies, look at its gills. If they are dark red, then this is not the issue. If the gills are pink or white, that means it has lost a lot of blood, and that could be the issue.

Jay

 

[Gildo]

while it was on the bottom the gills were quite clear. so I think the latter is the accredited theory, he died a little while ago, I took him out of the tank and I have no way of recovering him to observe better. I noticed though that it was very "hard" "stiff"
while foxface is fine.
If I buy a young Ctenochaetus strigosus again, it will surely be in the same condition, how do you advise me to proceed to avoid the same fate? do i start with praziquel instead of copper? do I halve the dose? other?
Could I have saved him today if at the first signs of suffering I had put him in salt water without praziquel?
Sad evening

 

[Jay Hemdal]

while it was on the bottom the gills were quite clear. so I think the latter is the accredited theory, he died a little while ago, I took him out of the tank and I have no way of recovering him to observe better. I noticed though that it was very "hard" "stiff"
while foxface is fine.
If I buy a young Ctenochaetus strigosus again, it will surely be in the same condition, how do you advise me to proceed to avoid the same fate? do i start with praziquel instead of copper? do I halve the dose? other?
Could I have saved him today if at the first signs of suffering I had put him in salt water without praziquel?
Sad evening

What you can do is do a freshwater dip before starting the copper treatment. That will buy you some time by killing off the flukes before their numbers grow too high during the copper treatment.
I know it’s tempting to run the prazi first, but that puts the fish at greater risk of dying from ich or velvet.
Jay

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Jay, what do you recommend for quarantine for blue green chromis to hopefully head off uronema?

@jayhemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Jay, what do you recommend for quarantine for blue green chromis to hopefully head off uronema?

@jayhemdal

There simply is no effective treatment for inter cellular Uronema. You can use chloroquine to try and stop transfer between fish.

I’ve just stopped buying blue green chromis from SE Asia, that fixes the issue (grin).

Chromis are sometimes available from Fiji and East Africa, they do better.

Jay

 

[Gildo]

Hello
are there any special precautions for Labroides dimidiatus? am I comfortable with prazi and copper?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello
are there any special precautions for Labroides dimidiatus? am I comfortable with prazi and copper?

This species can be delicate. The ones collected in East Africa are hardier. If the fish is eating well and looks good, you can treat it with Coppersafe (not ionic copper) and then praziquantel (but aerate the tank very well).

Jay

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Do I need to deviate from the protocol for any of these fish?

Engineer goby
Firefin
Green chromis

I just got these into qt from my LFS today and plan to follow the protocol.

Thank you

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Do I need to deviate from the protocol for any of these fish?

Engineer goby
Firefin
Green chromis

I just got these into qt from my LFS today and plan to follow the protocol.

Thank you

Firefin = fire fish?

Those fish are all fine. You will have an issue with the engineer goby in that they like to burrow/hide, so you need to make sure the quarantine tank has some plastic rocks or something (non-calcium based_ for it to feel comfortable.

Be VERY certain that your QT is at the same salinity as the LFS tanks are. Many times, we see people buy fish at a specific gravity of say, 1.019, and then bring the fish home and try to acclimated them to 1.025. This is very stressful, too much of a rise.

Jay

 

[s70]

If the LFS is already medicating with copper, should I just prep the water to the same level of copper instead of waiting a couple days,

 

[Jay Hemdal]

If the LFS is already medicating with copper, should I just prep the water to the same level of copper instead of waiting a couple days,

Good point. It depends on what type of copper they are using and at what level. Lots of LFS keep their fish in partial copper, that's always a mistake. If they are keeping the fish in full copper, then yes, you can move the fish right over to your QT in full copper.

Jay

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Firefin = fire fish?

Those fish are all fine. You will have an issue with the engineer goby in that they like to burrow/hide, so you need to make sure the quarantine tank has some plastic rocks or something (non-calcium based_ for it to feel comfortable.

Be VERY certain that your QT is at the same salinity as the LFS tanks are. Many times, we see people buy fish at a specific gravity of say, 1.019, and then bring the fish home and try to acclimated them to 1.025. This is very stressful, too much of a rise.

Jay

Yes fire fish.

They are all doing great at 2.6 copper.

On this subject, for any of youthat break the rules and put any rock or sand in.

Make sure you test your copper before the first dose. I hit 2.6 thinking I was only at 1.6.

That rock and sand really leach it back into the water at a much higher number than I expected.

It was only a pound of rock and 4lbs of sand. Of which was thouroughly cleaned and dry a month before this next QT started.

Luckily putting the new fish straight into water that must have been at 1ppm did not have any issues.

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

2022 Quarantine Procedures

Jay Hemdal
David Scarborough



Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before adding the fish to your display tank. This process does not control Brooklynella, Uronema, viruses or internal parasites. These issues however, make up a much smaller number of disease cases in marine fish.

Quarantine tank Requirements:

Tank must be large enough to comfortably handle the number and size of fish for up to 9 weeks.

• Tank should have a filtration system that has completed the nitrogen cycle. Canisters, HOB overflow filters, or appropriately sized sponge filters are acceptable.
• The filtration system must not use carbon or other absorbing/adsorbing filtrants (e.g. Polyfilter) that might absorb copper or medication. NO calcareous rock LIVE or DEAD
• Bare bottom should be used. A saucer with non-absorbing sand can be utilized for wrasses, gobies, blennies or other species which are overly stressed by the bare bottom. Painting the underside of the tank black can also help
• Heater/thermometer
• Removable structure, e.g. PVC pipe may be used to provide hiding places for the fish.
• Ambient light will often be adequate for the QT tank.
• A means to maintain oxygen levels should be available. Air stones and sponge filters are usually adequate.
• A lid should be used to prevent the fish from jumping out of the tank.
• Set salinity level and temperature to the same levels as in your Display Tank.

Days 1 – 2: Observation - let the fish settle in and determine proper diet.

• Set QT temperature to 78 - 80 degrees F.
• Acclimate the new fish to the QT:
  • Measure salinity of the water in which the fish arrived.
  • Adjust salinity in QT to within 2 ppt of the salinity of the water in which the fish arrived.
  • Acclimate the fish to the QT gradually over 45 minutes.
• Observe the fish for any symptoms which might influence the treatment(s) you should administer.
• Determine if the fish are eating adequately to proceed.

Day 2: Begin Copper Treatment

• Add Coppersafe to the QT to achieve a concentration of 2.50 ppm over the course of 24 hours. This can be done in two doses 12 hours apart or multiple smaller doses if you prefer. Coppersafe will not be effective until a concentration over 2.0 ppm is present. A target of 2.50 ppm will allow for fluctuations without the risk of falling below the 2.0 ppm threshold. Hanna Copper checker is the most accurate test to use.
• Never use ammonia removing products or other reducing agents (dechlorinator) when dosing copper. Most products bind copper with an amine to reduce toxicity to the fish. Reducing agents break that bond, releasing free copper that can harm the fish.
• Feed and top off tank water normally.

Days 3 – 32: Continue Copper Treatment

• Monitor copper ppm regularly. If the copper level remains steady day to day, you can test less often, but if the concentration falls below 2.0 ppm, you may need to restart the 30-day count for the copper treatment.
• Monitor water quality parameters as you would for your display tank.
• If the copper or ammonia levels ever exceed guidelines, be prepared to administer water changes (pre dosed with copper) to correct the problem.

Day 34: Copper Done

• Begin copper removal through water changes.
• Binding agents Cuprisorb may be used to hasten the removal process.
• Carbon is usually too slow or ineffective at removing copper and should not be relied upon without adequate monitoring.

Day 35: Praziquantel Treatment #1

• Confirm copper has been removed adequately to drop the concentration to less than 1 ppm. Copper and Prazi should not be administered simultaneously.
• Add Prazipro to the QT per the instructions on the label.
• Ensure the additional oxygenation source is working. This treatment will potentially reduce the oxygen levels within the QT to critical levels without additional air flow.

Day 42, Day 49: Praziquantel Treatment #2, #3

• Add Prazipro to the QT per the instructions on the label, 7 days apart. Spacing needed for these treatments is based on killing new flukes hatching from previously laid eggs. The time interval is not well known. A range of 7 to 9 days seems to give the best results.

Day 64: New Fish QT complete

• Observe fish for 2 weeks after last prazi dose. Note: many public aquariums do not move fish out of quarantine unless they are in the middle of a full copper treatment. This vastly reduces the risk from Cryptocaryon or Amyloodinium. To use that method, substitute a copper treatment for this 2 week observation period, and move the fish out around day 10.
• Conduct a 5-minute fresh water dip if the fish is of a species particularly susceptible to Neobenedenia flukes. If flukes are detected, reduce QT salinity to 50% and hold for an additional 35 days.
• Confirm salinity and temperature of QT and DT are the same, add fish to DT.

I searched but couldn't specifically find an answer for this.

What are your current protocols for quarantining invertebrates and corals?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I searched but couldn't specifically find an answer for this.

What are your current protocols for quarantining invertebrates and corals?

Active quarantine of corals dips and such, are not something I do a lot of….you’ll want to ask on the coral section what people are using. If you are talking about isolating corals for fish biosecurity, I talk about that here:

Biosecurity

A short introduction to aquarium biosecurity

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

Active quarantine of corals dips and such, are not something I do a lot of….you’ll want to ask on the coral section what people are using. If you are talking about isolating corals for fish biosecurity, I talk about that here:

Biosecurity

A short introduction to aquarium biosecurity

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Biosecurity, specifically depuration, is apparently what I was looking for. So thank you for the informative article.

For depuration, what are the timelines that you recommend? I have been adhering to the following chart from humblefish, but with what I encountered last week (with the dying harptail blenny in QT), if I am getting all the rest of my reefing info from this site, I need to get my QT protocols as well.

Also, what is the proper procedure to clean equipment after it has touched QT water?

Thank you for always being so helpful.

Edit: and specifically I am looking for info on clean up crews right now. I don't mess with corals very often.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Biosecurity, specifically depuration, is apparently what I was looking for. So thank you for the informative article.

For depuration, what are the timelines that you recommend? I have been adhering to the following chart from humblefish, but with what I encountered last week (with the dying harptail blenny in QT), if I am getting all the rest of my reefing info from this site, I need to get my QT protocols as well.

Also, what is the proper procedure to clean equipment after it has touched QT water?

Thank you for always being so helpful.

Edit: and specifically I am looking for info on clean up crews right now. I don't mess with corals very often.

Cleaning equipment depends on what material it is made from. Personally, I prefer to have dedicated equipment for each QT and DT. If I do move items from system to system, soaking in FW for 24 hours and then air drying helps, as would a dip in 100 ppm sodium hypochlorite (bleach). The trouble with the bleach is that it is corrosive and difficult to rinse off.

I've seen that chart before - looks nice and definitive, but there is no strong evidence to support the time frames given.

You CANNOT have such definitive time frames and not discuss which parasite (and its life stage) you are attempting to exclude.

I can guarantee you that for Neobenedenia flukes eggs, rinsing with DT water is useless - the eggs are sticky. 16 days with no fish host will technically cause the eggs to become non-viable, but I go 30 days.

Anything wet can transmit disease propagules. The goal is to hold the organism in the absence of a host for long enough that most of the disease-causing propagules will die out from lack of a host. That is 45 days, with the long term issue being Cryptocaryon.

Underlying ALL of this is the propagule pressure in the tank where the invertebrates came from. If they are from fishless systems, that of course counts towards the depuration time. If there is no acute disease in the system of origin, then the chance of moving a disease over is slim to none, even with no depuration.

45 days is the worst case scenario, as if you were moving the invertebrate from a tank with an active Cryptocaryon infection. If you don't know the status of the origin tank, it is best to err on the side of caution.

Don't forget, at the same time, holding new corals out of your DT for 45 days can help reduce the chance of introducing coral pests.

Jay

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

Cleaning equipment depends on what material it is made from. Personally, I prefer to have dedicated equipment for each QT and DT. If I do move items from system to system, soaking in FW for 24 hours and then air drying helps, as would a dip in 100 ppm sodium hypochlorite (bleach). The trouble with the bleach is that it is corrosive and difficult to rinse off.

I've seen that chart before - looks nice and definitive, but there is no strong evidence to support the time frames given.

You CANNOT have such definitive time frames and not discuss which parasite (and its life stage) you are attempting to exclude.

I can guarantee you that for Neobenedenia flukes eggs, rinsing with DT water is useless - the eggs are sticky. 16 days with no fish host will technically cause the eggs to become non-viable, but I go 30 days.

Anything wet can transmit disease propagules. The goal is to hold the organism in the absence of a host for long enough that most of the disease-causing propagules will die out from lack of a host. That is 45 days, with the long term issue being Cryptocaryon.

Underlying ALL of this is the propagule pressure in the tank where the invertebrates came from. If they are from fishless systems, that of course counts towards the depuration time. If there is no acute disease in the system of origin, then the chance of moving a disease over is slim to none, even with no depuration.

45 days is the worst case scenario, as if you were moving the invertebrate from a tank with an active Cryptocaryon infection. If you don't know the status of the origin tank, it is best to err on the side of caution.

Don't forget, at the same time, holding new corals out of your DT for 45 days can help reduce the chance of introducing coral pests.

Jay

Thank you for the thorough answer. I have been running separate invertebrate and fish quarantine tanks. For the inverts and corals I have been keeping them fallow for 45+ days. So with your info in mind, I will stick with that plan. It's a pain in the butt, however, I am hoping this greatly reduces the risk of tragedy down the line.

I have separate equipment for QT and DT but sometimes I would like to reassign the tank the equipment is used with. I have been air drying, cleaning with bleach, and then thoroughly cleaning so it sounds like I was on the right track.

Thank you again, Jay.

 

[ConsummatePro]

For lyretail anthias, I understand they can be sensitive to copper, yet the biggest issue seems to be uronemia.

I am a doctor and can get metronidazole easily, and I know I can’t use chloroquine phosphate with anthias.

If I understand, copper does nothing for uronemia, and metronidazole in the water can kill free swimming uronema but not internal infestation (you need to get it in the food, but hard to do). Do I understand correctly that anthias aren’t as prone to ick and velvet as other fish? Does this change the risk:reward consideration for copper when it comes to anthias?

With these in mind, I’m wondering thoughts about quarantine protocols for anthias. What are your thoughts on

1. Quarantine with only metronidazole in the water, dosed at 25 mg/gal, every 48 hours. 25% water change before each treatment for 10-14 days

2. Above but with a Molly in the QT tank to act as an ick detector. Treat with copper if found.

3. Tank Transfer method using 2 tanks dosed with metronidazole like option 1.

4. Ignore the above and do the standard coppersafe quarantine. Nothing specific for uronema.

5. Observation alone 30 days, no meds.

6. Just put the anthias in the display tank without quarantine. Count on likely present uronema in DT anyhow and larger volume and biome to keep things ok.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

For lyretail anthias, I understand they can be sensitive to copper, yet the biggest issue seems to be uronemia.

I am a doctor and can get metronidazole easily, and I know I can’t use chloroquine phosphate with anthias.

If I understand, copper does nothing for uronemia, and metronidazole in the water can kill free swimming uronema but not internal infestation (you need to get it in the food, but hard to do). Do I understand correctly that anthias aren’t as prone to ick and velvet as other fish? Does this change the risk:reward consideration for copper when it comes to anthias?

With these in mind, I’m wondering thoughts about quarantine protocols for anthias. What are your thoughts on

1. Quarantine with only metronidazole in the water, dosed at 25 mg/gal, every 48 hours. 25% water change before each treatment for 10-14 days

2. Above but with a Molly in the QT tank to act as an ick detector. Treat with copper if found.

3. Tank Transfer method using 2 tanks dosed with metronidazole like option 1.

4. Ignore the above and do the standard coppersafe quarantine. Nothing specific for uronema.

5. Observation alone 30 days, no meds.

6. Just put the anthias in the display tank without quarantine. Count on likely present uronema in DT anyhow and larger volume and biome to keep things ok.

Well, personally, I would avoid lyretail anthias unless I knew they were collected in East Africa or Australia, the SE Pacific ones have too high of a mortality rate for me. I don't find anthias less prone to ick or velvet at all.

Ionic copper is more of a problem with anthias than amine based copper is. I use coppersafe measured with a Hanna tester for anthias with no issues. Metronidazole in the water just isn't very effective against protozoans. At 0.5% in food, it does control gut protozoans pretty well.

I'd go with #4

Jay