Quarantine question for Canadians

Thalia · Jan 12, 2026

I'm setting up my first tank and getting ready to order my first fish. The local place I was going to order from keeps their fish in copper and hypo salinity. I'm in Canada so getting a hold of praziquantel is difficult/impossible. Do I still quarantine for a month in copper when I bring them home? Do I find out how long they were held at the store then quarantine for a total of 30 days? I contacted a vet but the only products they had were combined products (eqvalan, profender, milbemax, interceptor plus), are any of these safe to use? Do I have to worry about quarantine with my first fish? Or only with subsequent ones?

christinna77 · Jan 12, 2026

I'm in Canada - you can order prazi or GC from Amazon.com, mine arrived without any issues. Other medications can be ordered from https://www.americanaquariumproducts.com, they ship internationally and I also had no issues with it getting here.

Mr. Mojo Rising · Jan 12, 2026

All fish stores (many of them anyway) keep their fish in copper and low salinity, but it is minimal amount of copper and the main purpose is to suppress any illness, same with the low salinity, its just low enough to suppress but not cure. you should consider any fish to be un-quarantined.

Jay Hemdal · Jan 12, 2026

Thalia said:
I'm setting up my first tank and getting ready to order my first fish. The local place I was going to order from keeps their fish in copper and hypo salinity. I'm in Canada so getting a hold of praziquantel is difficult/impossible. Do I still quarantine for a month in copper when I bring them home? Do I find out how long they were held at the store then quarantine for a total of 30 days? I contacted a vet but the only products they had were combined products (eqvalan, profender, milbemax, interceptor plus), are any of these safe to use? Do I have to worry about quarantine with my first fish? Or only with subsequent ones?

My guess is the store is using low, not full hyposalinity - you can always run a proper course of hypo, 30 days at 1.009 That takes care of ich and flukes at one time. The only real issue is that it can make velvet worse (but that’s a much rarer issue).