How to Quarantine Fresh and Salt Water Fish, and Invertebrates
by Frank M. Greco,
AnimalForum.com staff
From Frank's Aquarium.com
Copyright 1997 by Frank M. Greco. Reprinted with permission.
Aquarticles
While at first thought quarantining your newly purchased fish or invertebrate may seem to
be a royal pain, this simple procedure can, in the long run, save you from a number of
problems that could endanger the well-being of the animals already present in your system.
One should assume that all fish, either captive bred or (especially) wild are
carriers of one form of nasty pathogen or another. From bacteria to protozoas to
viruses...any or all may be waiting to cause you grief. Why take the chance of introducing
something like that into an already established system when a simple quarantine can take
care of this potential problem. I know...I know... you don't have room to set up another
tank. Well, in most cases all you need is about 240 square inches of floor space...which
just happens to be the size of a 10 gallon tank. Nor need the tank be left up and running
all the time. It can be set up at a moment's notice to hold that one of a kind animal you
have had your eye on. And, you don't need all the fancy bells and whistles you would
expect to find on a permanent set up.
In fact, all you'll need is listed here:
-10 gallon tank (or larger if need be)
- cover, preferably with light
- 2 or 3 pieces of 6" long 2" PVC for hiding places
- air pump
- heater and thermometer
- biologically active sponge filter
- net
- crushed oyster shell or calcareous gravel
- ammonia test kit (fresh and salt water)
- AmQuel or similar product
- nitrite test kit (freshwater)
- antibacterial medicated food
- anti-parasitic medicated food
- citrated copper (for marine fish)
- copper test kit (for marine fish)
- malachite green (for freshwater fish)
As you can see, not much is needed to get started, In fact the most costly item on the
list is the canopy and light. This need not be an expensive fluorescent light. An
incandescent fixture will do here.
STARTING OUT
How do you start? Quite simple. You will be setting up your tank the same way you'd set up
any tank, with the exception of painting the OUTSIDE bottom of the tank black or in some
way blocking the bottom of the tank (note that NO substrate is used in the quarantine
tank, hence the need to black out the bottom). This will give the fish the illusion of a
solid bottom, and place them more at ease (with fish, as with humans, psychological
well-being goes a long way to aiding with physiological well-being).
Next, place the tank on a nice sturdy, level surface (a stand made for this purpose,
preferably), and fill it with 10 gallons of water from your already established aquarium.
Add the heater, PVC pipe pieces, a small amount (a handful is usually good) of crushed
oyster shell or calcareous gravel in a mesh bag (to provide some buffering) and the
biologically active sponge filter, and...VOILA!...a quarantine tank is born!
"Hey!", you might say, "Where do I get a biologically active sponge
filter?" There are several options here. Perhaps your local dealer can sell you an
active sponge filter. (A note to dealers here: since it is a good idea to have auxiliary
aeration in your systems, in any event, why not utilize sponge filters? This way, when
your customer needs an active sponge filter, you have plenty on hand to sell). Failing
this, perhaps a fellow hobbyist can help you out. However, the easiest thing to do, in my
opinion, is to always have a sponge filter on hand. This is easily accomplished by placing
a working sponge filter (or two) in your sump or directly in your tank (hidden behind some
decorations so that it is not visible when viewing the tank). After 4 to 6 weeks you will
have an active sponge filter! After the quarantine period is over, all you need do is
remove the sponge filter from the quarantine tank, rinse it under hot water, and place it
back into your tank/sump for bacterial re-colonization. Really, what could be simpler?
O.K., now the tank is up and running. All environmental parameters check out (so far).
What next? You'll want to add the fish, of course. Follow whatever acclimation procedures
you normally follow (which, in my case, consists of netting the fish from the bag to the
tank while yelling "ACCLIMATE!"). NEVER dump bag water into your quarantine or
main tank. Always net the fish from the bag. Allow the fish 24 hours to settle in before
starting treatment.
FRESHWATER QUARANTINE PROCEDURE
For those of you quarantining freshwater fish, please read on. For those dealing with
marine species, please skip down three paragraphs.
For freshwater fishes, the quarantine procedure is quite simple:
First, you will want to feed your fish an antibacterial medicated food twice a day for
14 days. Feed as much as the fish will eat in 2 minutes or so at each feeding. Bacterial
disorders are the most common cause of death in fishes, and it pays to give a preventative
treatment here. If you are dealing with wild-caught fishes, you will also want to
supplement this with an antiprotozoal medicated food (antibacterial diet at one feeding
and antiprotozoal at the other) to rid these fish of whatever intestinal parasites they
may be carrying. There are antiparasitic diets that contain both an antiprotozoal and an
antibacterial, and this type of food can be substituted in place of the two separate
diets.
Next, you will want to treat the fish with malachite green. I know some of you must be
shaking your heads, saying that malachite green will kill some freshwater species.
NONSENSE! When dosed correctly, malachite green is safe for even the most so-called
sensitive species.
The dose I use, and have been successful with, is 0.05 PPM malachite green for three
treatments, one every other day. At this level, your fish should not experience malachite
sensitivity. Of course, dosing at 0.05 PPM means doing more than adding one drop per
gallon. To figure out the correct amount of liquid to add, you take the concentration of
malachite green listed on the bottle (in percent), and convert it to milligrams per
milliliters (10 percent = 1000 milligrams per 100 milliliters of water). Divide the
milligrams per milliliters by the final concentration. This will give you the results in
milliliters/liters. To convert to gallons, divide the number of liters by 3.8. For
example, we have a 10 gallon tank, want a final concentration of 0.05 PPM (or 0.05 mg/l.
It's interchangeable for our purposes), and we are using a 0.75% malachite green solution.
So...0.75% = 7.5 mg/milliliter. 7.5 mg/ml divided by 0.05 PPM (or mg/l) = 1 ml per 40
gallons. Since 1 milliliter is about 16 drops, we will need 1/4 of that, or 4 drops per 10
gallons of a 0.75% malachite green solution.
Now for the kicker: most malachite green based medications advise ONE DROP PER GALLON
of a 0.75% solution. This works out to 2.5 times the amount actually needed. No wonder
some hobbyists lose fish when using malachite green: they have severely overdosed!
Anyway..to continue...
You want to dose at least three times, once every other day for three treatments, all
the while feeding the medicated food(s). While the malachite treatment will last only six
days, you really want to continue the quarantine for another eight days. If after this
time period no obvious signs of disease are present, you may safely add the fish to your
established tank.
If obvious signs of another illness show themselves (for example, a lesion caused by an
external bacterial infection), you will need to treat that as well, in conjunction with
the malachite treatment. Nitrofurazone, or any of the furan-type antibiotics will usually
effect a cure.
Please note that malachite green, being an organic dye, will stain clothing, skin, the
silicon sealant in your tank...almost anything! If fabrics or silicon have become stained,
you will need to live with it since this stain is not removable. Malachite green
inadvertently gotten on skin should be rinsed off as soon as possible. The stain left
behind will wear off within a few days.
During this 14 day period, you will want to monitor both the ammonia and nitrite levels
in the tank, and take appropriate actions if you notice an increase. If the ammonia level
is slight, the addition of AmQuel or similar product will take care of it. Just be aware
that AmQuel will lower the pH of the system, and constant use can bring about pH readings
of 4 or lower! Hence the use of crushed oyster shell or calcareous gravel in the tank: it
will help in maintaining an acceptable pH range. If the ammonia level continues to rise, a
water change (up to 50%) is in order. Remember to re-dose the appropriate amount of
medication after the water change. If the nitrite level begins to climb, the addition of
aquarium salt at one teaspoon per gallon will negate its toxic effects.
MARINE FISH QUARANTINE
If you have a marine system, the process is a bit more complex.
First, the acclimation of the new fish is the same, but you want to give the new
arrival at least 24 hours to recuperate from bring moved before you begin medicating. If
the animal does not begin to eat within 24 hours, hold off treatment until it does begin
to take food.
Next, you will want to add enough citrated copper to bring the level up to 0.15 PPM
(you can really go as high as 0.20 PPM, but no higher, please). I know many of you use
heavily chelated (or bonded) coppers, but I advise against their use. First off, in order
for copper to be truly effective, it must be in its ionic state. Heavily chelated coppers,
by definition, are not in that state, and so are less than useful. The fact that, in my
experience, crabs and shrimp can live in systems treated with heavily chelated copper
attests to its ineffectiveness in most cases. (Try that in a system treated with an ionic
copper. The inverts do not live very long). Secondly, the level produced by some chelated
coppers may be far higher than is actually needed to control the disease organism (which
should also tell you something. At as high a dose as some of these chelated coppers
produce, the fish should be dead). This higher-than-needed dose is actually detrimental to
the fish in the long run in several other ways: gill degeneration, liver shutdown, anemia,
compromised immune system..the list goes on. There is absolutely NO need to subject the
fish to levels far above what is needed to treat the condition.
How do you know how much citrated copper is in your system? You'll need to get a good
test kit in order to measure the level. Personally I advise the powdered reagent kits over
tablet or dipstick based kits, as they are far more accurate. (I have checked many a test
it against atomic absorption readings, and many are consistently are off, especially when
testing marine water).
In the beginning, you may find it difficult to maintain a 0.15 PPM level due to the
calcareous material in the system. This is to be expected as the carbonate reacts with the
copper, forming copper carbonate. At first, you will need to check the level twice a day,
and add copper as needed to maintain the 0.15 PPM level. Once you get two consecutive
readings of 0.15 PPM, you can consider that day one, and you can begin monitoring the
level once a day, adding copper as needed.
You will want to continue this regime for 14 days. During this treatment period, you
will also want to feed the fish an antibacterial medicated food. Doing so does help the
fish fight off systemic bacterial problems since the copper treatment does tend to
compromise the immune system to a degree. After 14 days, do a 50% water change (to bring
the copper level down), and wait 24 hours after that before adding the fish to your
established tank.
As with freshwater fishes, if obvious signs of any other diseases show up, treat with
the correct proprietary medication for the appropriate period of time. For copper
sensitive species, you can use malachite green at 0.10 PPM (which ends up being 8 drops of
a 0.75% solution per 10 gallons). Treat every other day for three treatments, wait two
days, and repeat. As always, monitor water quality and take appropriate action if it
degrades. Please note that this treatment is NOT as effective as copper, and will not
result in the same kill rate of parasites. There are other non-copper based medications
that can be used (such as chloroquine phosphate, pyrimethamine,quinacrine and other
proprietary medications. In my experiences with them, most are FAR less effective than is
copper, and should be used only as a last resort. Also note that I have not mentioned the
use of formalin as a viable treatment. There are MANY chemotherapeutic mixtures that
contain formalin. However, IMO and IME, formalin should NEVER be used as part of a
mixture. If one is to use it (and there is no reason why one should), it should be dosed
separately, and at its correct therapeutic dose. The fact that, if dosed incorrectly, you
can kill your fish quickly and that it can be injurious if gotten into ones eyes is reason
enough to stay away from formalin.
QUARANTINING INVERTEBRATES
As for invertebrates, there really is no set procedure for quarantine. Luckily, few
inverts can be considered carriers of pathogens. A simple 14 day quarantine without any
chemotherapeutics is your best bet. It is important though, to fully quarantine all new
corals, both stony and soft, before introducing them into an established tank. With all
the new epizootics occurring on the reef, there is a great chance of introducing these
pathogens into your tank, thereby wiping out your coral collection.
NOW WHAT?
O.K., your fish are through quarantine, and there are no new fish on the horizon. Now
what? Simply break down the tank. Rinse everything (except the sponge filter) out with
warm (NOT HOT OR BOILING) water into which a little bit of bleach has been added. (Please
wear eye protection and gloves when using bleach in this manner. Also realize that bleach
will eat some fabrics, and cause color loss in fabrics not intended for bleaching). The
sponge filter should be rinsed in HOT water, with no exposure to bleach (some sponge
material used in sponge filters reacts poorly to bleaching). Allow everything to dry, and
put it away until it is needed again.
So you see, setting up and using a quarantine tank is not difficult or complicated.
Remember, it is better to control a disease in a smaller tank, treating beforehand, than
it is to treat in a large system. A little preventative medicine is your best bet.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
The information and procedures contained within are based upon techniques (with minor
modifications) that have been used for many years at the public aquarium at which I work.
I am not saying that this article contains the final word on the subject. Far from it.
However, it does contain what I consider a practical quarantine procedure which any
hobbyists can utilize to the benefit of their hobby. All opinions expressed herein are my
own, and are based upon my experiences with particular products and/or techniques.
Comments regarding this article are appreciated, and should be sent to franksaquarium@hotmail.com
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