First quarantine- am I ready?

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ZipAdeeZoa

ZipAdeeZoa

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Thank you everyone!

@Tastee thanks! So far topping off twice daily is keeping it in check but I might order that kit before (if) I get second fish, I even already have a food container I was using for an ATO jug before I got the 5 gallon hedpack

@Mjrenz Thanks! Thats good to know about GC but as you and Lasse discussed, I should probably just discard it. Its really good to know about the formalin though, never came across that in my research!

@Lasse thank you for all the notes on the species behavior, I’ll certainly keep it all in mind! Its also good to know the white poop may not mean parasites and would certainly be supported by the poo being half white and half off green (I think). I’ll just keep a close eye on him for now and try and keep feeding him a good variety of enriched frozen foods. I did notice they don’t seem to be overly gluttonous, I would only add 3 -5 brineshrimp at a time and saw him eat about 5-6 but it was one at a time as they drifted close enough and it was over the course of 2 minutes. In your experience do these fish do better with dither fish? Mine doesn’t seem to be to shy (always peeking out when I’m in the room to see whats going on) but I was thinking of having this be the only fish in the tank. I can certainly look into dithers if you think they seem to do better with them, I was thinking I could add a pink streak wrasse once the plectranthias is moved to the DT if that was the case.

Hopefully the two fish and two hermit crabs wouldn’t be overstocking for 13.5 gallon:confused:
 

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Thank you everyone!

@Tastee thanks! So far topping off twice daily is keeping it in check but I might order that kit before (if) I get second fish, I even already have a food container I was using for an ATO jug before I got the 5 gallon hedpack

@Mjrenz Thanks! Thats good to know about GC but as you and Lasse discussed, I should probably just discard it. Its really good to know about the formalin though, never came across that in my research!

@Lasse thank you for all the notes on the species behavior, I’ll certainly keep it all in mind! Its also good to know the white poop may not mean parasites and would certainly be supported by the poo being half white and half off green (I think). I’ll just keep a close eye on him for now and try and keep feeding him a good variety of enriched frozen foods. I did notice they don’t seem to be overly gluttonous, I would only add 3 -5 brineshrimp at a time and saw him eat about 5-6 but it was one at a time as they drifted close enough and it was over the course of 2 minutes. In your experience do these fish do better with dither fish? Mine doesn’t seem to be to shy (always peeking out when I’m in the room to see whats going on) but I was thinking of having this be the only fish in the tank. I can certainly look into dithers if you think they seem to do better with them, I was thinking I could add a pink streak wrasse once the plectranthias is moved to the DT if that was the case.

Hopefully the two fish and two hermit crabs wouldn’t be overstocking for 13.5 gallon:confused:
Since you can't replace it, before you discard the general cure, let's ask @ngoodermuth @HotRocks @4FordFamily and @Frtdrmrose7 if it's safe to use after its expiration date
 

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Since you can't replace it, before you discard the general cure, let's ask @ngoodermuth @HotRocks @4FordFamily and @Frtdrmrose7 if it's safe to use after its expiration date

I wouldn’t, unless it’s an emergency situation. It could very well be sub-therapeutic at normal doses... and sub-therapeutic antibiotic/antiparasitic treatments are generally not good. That’s how resistant strains are created....
 

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I wouldn’t, unless it’s an emergency situation. It could very well be sub-therapeutic at normal doses... and sub-therapeutic antibiotic/antiparasitic treatments are generally not good. That’s how resistant strains are created....
That makes sense
 

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fish do better with dither fish

I´m not native english speaking - I´m not sure I understand this. Do you mean non aggressive

If you mean Pseudocheilinops ataenia I think it should work out well but I have no ewxperiences of it. In such small aquaria - maybe one of the possum wrasses will fit in. I have 2 Wetmorella nigropinnata together with this fish - but the aquaria is 10 times larger than yours :) Look at my build thread - you will find many interesting fishes there

Sincerely Lasse
 

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I´m not native english speaking - I´m not sure I understand this. Do you mean non aggressive

If you mean Pseudocheilinops ataenia I think it should work out well but I have no ewxperiences of it. In such small aquaria - maybe one of the possum wrasses will fit in. I have 2 Wetmorella nigropinnata together with this fish - but the aquaria is 10 times larger than yours :) Look at my build thread - you will find many interesting fishes there

Sincerely Lasse
 
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ngoodermuth

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I´m not native english speaking - I´m not sure I understand this. Do you mean non aggressive

If you mean Pseudocheilinops ataenia I think it should work out well but I have no ewxperiences of it. In such small aquaria - maybe one of the possum wrasses will fit in. I have 2 Wetmorella nigropinnata together with this fish - but the aquaria is 10 times larger than yours :) Look at my build thread - you will find many interesting fishes there

Sincerely Lasse

Dither fish are active open swimming fish that draw other, more timid/reclusive fish into the open.
 

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Since you can't replace it, before you discard the general cure, let's ask @ngoodermuth @HotRocks @4FordFamily and @Frtdrmrose7 if it's safe to use after its expiration date

I know there is a push for alternative treatment methods considering the medication struggles in your area, OP.

Soaking food in an Epsom salt solution, and adding a chopped, boiled and de-shelled pea, can act as a laxative and hopefully cause the fish to expel parasites naturally. Worth a try if you don’t have other medications available!
 

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IMO - If the thin pop is caused by starvation - laxative will do the situation worse. If he/she is eating well - I would wait. Parasites in the gut and intestine is no fast killers, not even flagellates and as long as it eats and show up normal behaviour you can just observe. However, if he/she starts to cough and throw up and soon after that stop eating, treatment with a metronidazole derivate could help. You can use bath method in that case

Sincerely Lasse
 

4FordFamily

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I wouldn’t, unless it’s an emergency situation. It could very well be sub-therapeutic at normal doses... and sub-therapeutic antibiotic/antiparasitic treatments are generally not good. That’s how resistant strains are created....
I concur. Order more to have on hand :)
 

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ZipAdeeZoa

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Thanks for chiming in everyone!

@Lasse thanks for your input! I browsed your build thread and read your article a while back and really enjoyed both, I'll go through your build thread again with fine tooth comb because I somehow missed the wrasses and the plectranthias! And no worries, english makes the least sense of any language;Hilarious

Like ngoodermuth said, Dither fish just means somewhat active fish that spend time in the water column showing other fish that there are no predators around and that it is safe to come out. Also apologies for using common names, I hate using them because they only exist to make things more complicated but no one around here cares about the latin so I stoop to that level to save time... I'll use the proper names going forward. Yes I was referring to Pseudocheilinops ataenia, I really like fish that make me laugh and I thinks its quite endearing that they always look like this;Wideyed. I also like the Wetmorella species but I certainly prefer the look of the former. Like you said, I think it's best that I just keep observing before I take any action and see if consistent feedings give him a little more of a belly.

@Mjrenz Thanks for summoning the gang!

@ngoodermuth @4FordFamily Thanks for the tips! I'll keep those remedies in mind for a rainy day. I should specify I just can't obtain metro in the legal sense of the term...;Locktopic If it comes down to it I'm not going to watch my fish waste away without doing everything in my power to stop it, hopefully we won't have to go there though.

@4FordFamily I'm not sure if your aware that you just apologized to a Canadian for not realizing they lived in Canada which is a very Canadian thing to do. I'm sorry you felt like you had to apologize and I'm equally sorry that that no one warned you of the can of apologetic worms that doing so would unleash. I'm sorry aboot going on and on about this but apologies are something we take really seriously up here so you shouldn't just be throwing the S-word around like that. Anyway I hope going forward you don't feel sorry for small things like that because if you did, well then I'd just feel sorry for ya.

Sorry.
 

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@4FordFamily I'm not sure if your aware that you just apologized to a Canadian for not realizing they lived in Canada which is a very Canadian thing to do. I'm sorry you felt like you had to apologize and I'm equally sorry that that no one warned you of the can of apologetic worms that doing so would unleash. I'm sorry aboot going on and on about this but apologies are something we take really seriously up here so you shouldn't just be throwing the S-word around like that. Anyway I hope going forward you don't feel sorry for small things like that because if you did, well then I'd just feel sorry for ya.

Sorry.
Omg, that's funny! Now if we could just have a formal apology for Justin Bieber
 
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ZipAdeeZoa

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Omg, that's funny! Now if we could just have a formal apology for Justin Bieber

Well would you want that apology to be from Bieber, the Bielebers or the Beavers? I don't know about Bieber but I know most of the beavers had to leave because they kept getting frustrated with misaddressed fan mail from the bielebers and the misaddressed hate mail from the other 95-98% of the world so they we're really caught between an S and a orry if you know what I mean. Then the beavers sold some maple leafs with skinny jagged edges to Bieber (to the dismay of many bielebers despite it's recent legalization) and used the funds to go anywhere they dam pleased.

What I'mm trying to say is although I'm unsure if I can get you an apology from Bieber or his bielebers I do know some hydroponically skilled beavers that could give you something to take the edge off:D

I can't say I'm a bieleber but I do find some comfort in the fact that a Canadian artist made a hit song about apologizing;Hilarious
 

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Welcome to the world of QT! I just finished my first round of QT of fish after many years of keeping and getting lucky, and I'm now doing a round of QT for coral for the first time as well. It is definitely a pain, and a lot of work, especially the first time, but I suspect it is worth it to keep my other occupants safe.

Following along, and wishing you luck with your new creatures!
 
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ZipAdeeZoa

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Welcome to the world of QT! I just finished my first round of QT of fish after many years of keeping and getting lucky, and I'm now doing a round of QT for coral for the first time as well. It is definitely a pain, and a lot of work, especially the first time, but I suspect it is worth it to keep my other occupants safe.

Following along, and wishing you luck with your new creatures!
Thanks! Its certainly intimidating the first time round! I think most of my nerves just come from not having the "feel" for marine tanks that I do with fresh. With my fresh tanks I know the boundaries, what numbers I'll get from x amount of food or x amount of water changed and I'm very far away from being able to do that with salt. Sometimes I forget that research only gets you so far, I'll find the rhythm in time!

Figured I'd give everyone a little update- So far so good! I spend so much time focusing on how delicate the marine life is I forget just how quick to adapt it can be. The fish had been at the store for one week and when I first saw the fish it looked like the ghost of plectranthias past. That was just 5 days ago and now the fish as really coloured up, been more active and just tonight showed a much more aggressive feeding response and willingness to leave the PVC to get the food that I didn't see when food was offered just 12 hours prior. I've been switching back and forth between omega enriched brine shrimp and spirulina enriched brine shrimp. I know there isn't a whole lot to these foods but after 5-8 brine shrimp theres a slight bulge to the fishes belly. I'll pick up some mysis shrimp on Saturday and see how he responds to those.

The only thing I've seen thats remotely concerning is a little piece of something that only seems to be on one gill plate. this could simply be how the fish normally looks as well since there isn't a whole lot of HD macro video on these guys so I'm still trying to figure out whats normal. I haven't seen any change since I first got him and after a 4 minute and 53 second freshwater dip I feel like if it where a fluke it should have dislodged. I might whip out the macro lens tomorrow and see if I can't learn anything although it does seem to be on the side he doesn't show as often (go figure). No flashing, scratching or discolouration has been observed.

Tomorrow is waterchange day so I'll let you all know how that goes!
 
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ZipAdeeZoa

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Well I decided to only do a water change on the QT today and I'm really glad I did because I've made my first QT bonehead mistake... Hopefully you guys can help me determine the exact extent of noobness that occurred. I should start by saying the fish is fine and didn't seem to mind the water change at all also his feces appear to be normal now (thicker, brown/green) so perhaps it was starvation, keeping an eye on him nonetheless.

I have three Bright orange home depot buckets for my saltwater tank, one 5 gallon and two 2 gallon. I usually fill a 2 gallon bucket with RODI, add the salt some power heads and a heater and leave it be for an hour and a half. Once I get the salinity right I get the other 2 gallon bucket and match it to the other bucket and then pour the new water into the tank and call it a day.

Long story short I put both powerheads and the heater into the 5 gallon bucket to make one batch for the qt tank and I was going to follow up with a batch for display. However when I was checking the salinity with my hannah salinity tester I had the bright idea to check the QT tank which I did... and then I rechecked the bucket... So now that I have contaminated everything- how should I go about disinfecting it all? My girl friend has a bunch of parrots so bleach is out of the question. Would spraying everything with white vinegar or soaking it in freshwater for x amount of time be effective?
 

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Well I decided to only do a water change on the QT today and I'm really glad I did because I've made my first QT bonehead mistake... Hopefully you guys can help me determine the exact extent of noobness that occurred. I should start by saying the fish is fine and didn't seem to mind the water change at all also his feces

I have three Bright orange home depot buckets for my saltwater tank, one 5 gallon and two 2 gallon. I usually fill a 2 gallon bucket with RODI, add the salt some power heads and a heater and leave it be for an hour and a half. Once I get the salinity right I get the other 2 gallon bucket and match it to the other bucket and then pour the new water into the tank and call it a day.

Long story short I put both powerheads and the heater into the 5 gallon bucket to make one batch for the qt tank and I was going to follow up with a batch for display. However when I was checking the salinity with my hannah salinity tester I had the bright idea to check the QT tank which I did... and then I rechecked the bucket... So now that I have contaminated everything- how should I go about disinfecting it all? My girl friend has a bunch of parrots so bleach is out of the question. Would spraying everything with white vinegar or soaking it in freshwater for x amount of time be effective?
In the shortest answer possible, vinegar should be fine with a freshwater rinse and then letting it dry
 

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