Quarantine Question

[Sharkbait19]

Hi,
I’ve hade a royal gramma from petco in quarantine for almost a month, and am wondering where I should go from this point. I observed for a week, and although there were no visible signs of illness, I’m super paranoid about petco fish, and I tend to treat them like they’re all sick. So I started meds. It’s been in copper for three weeks (because I want to eliminate any potential ich), and today I intend to do a water change and start running carbon. The fish looks completely healthy, is eating, and swimming very actively. I was considering running PraziPro for a few days to eliminate potential flukes or other worms, but at the same time feel that it could be overkill, at least added on to Hexshield and Cupramine. Would you consider it healthy enough to move into the DT, or would you not consider it safe yet? What would you do?

 

[Jekyl]

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 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...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[LaloJ]

There are aquarists who treat their fish with cupramine and prazipro at the same time, I have read it on several occasions, if the fish is eating well then wait a few days and put prazi, I have also read comments about it suppressing the fish's appetite. Personally, I use the quarantine tank for observation and adaptation, not medical if not necessary, although if I had to use a prophylactic, I would choose Paraguard.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi,
I’ve hade a royal gramma from petco in quarantine for almost a month, and am wondering where I should go from this point. I observed for a week, and although there were no visible signs of illness, I’m super paranoid about petco fish, and I tend to treat them like they’re all sick. So I started meds. It’s been in copper for three weeks (because I want to eliminate any potential ich), and today I intend to do a water change and start running carbon. The fish looks completely healthy, is eating, and swimming very actively. I was considering running PraziPro for a few days to eliminate potential flukes or other worms, but at the same time feel that it could be overkill, at least added on to Hexshield and Cupramine. Would you consider it healthy enough to move into the DT, or would you not consider it safe yet? What would you do?

Is there a need to rush it out of quarantine? If the QT is stable, and the fish is doing well, I think you should complete a full quarantine. This would extend the copper to 30 days, then Prazipro 2x 7 to 10 days apart. I then hold the fish in the QT with no meds for 14 days. You might cut the 14 days out by moving the fish right after the second prazi dose.
All this is governed by the value of the fish involved - it is always a risky mistake to cut quarantine short and then move a new fish into a tank of stable, high value fish.

Jay

 

[Sharkbait19]

Is there a need to rush it out of quarantine? If the QT is stable, and the fish is doing well, I think you should complete a full quarantine. This would extend the copper to 30 days, then Prazipro 2x 7 to 10 days apart. I then hold the fish in the QT with no meds for 14 days. You might cut the 14 days out by moving the fish right after the second prazi dose.
All this is governed by the value of the fish involved - it is always a risky mistake to cut quarantine short and then move a new fish into a tank of stable, high value fish.

Jay

Thanks Jay,
There’s definitely no rush to move the fish out, I was just uncertain on how long it would take until the meds may be dangerous. I just read the thread you made on QT protocol (thanks, @Jekyl!) and it was very helpful. I’ll continue copper until next weekend, and then I’ll begin PraziPro. I definitely want to do this right, as the last thing I’d want is to get back to square one with fish.

 

[Sharkbait19]

This weekend I’d like to do a water change, just to keep the water clean. How might I do this while keeping copper levels the same? Do I dose the new water before adding it, or dose the tank with the proper amount after the water change?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This weekend I’d like to do a water change, just to keep the water clean. How might I do this while keeping copper levels the same? Do I dose the new water before adding it, or dose the tank with the proper amount after the water change?

Typically, you mix up the amount of new seawater needed to do the water change, aerate it for an hour, then dose that water with the exact dose of copper needed for that volume of water, then do the water change as usual. Double check your math, and test the tank for copper after the change just to confirm it was done correctly.
Jay

 

[Sharkbait19]

Thanks!