QT Procedures for New Fish

[BennySings]

QT Procedures for New Fish
 
No matter who you purchase your fish from, all new fish need to be quarantined before introducing them into your new tank! Never place a new fish in with fish you already have.

People have different ways that they do this, but a fish needs to be QT'd for at least 2-3 weeks before introducing them to your main tank.  Some even QT for a month.  Here is an example of one QT'ing process:


1.  First of all, make sure you use at least a 10g tank to QT the fish and that the filtration turns over at least 100 gph, preferably 150gph.  You also may want to add an air stone for extra oxygen.  You can also use a 10g Rubbermaid container instead of a tank.

When you bring the fish home from the LFS, you cannot just dump it into the QT tank!  Your LFS probably has a different PH in their tanks than you do.  This could shock your fish.  Take the bag that the fish is in and open it.  Take a water sample and test the PH of the water in the bag.  Float the bag in the QT tank to acclimate the fish to the difference in temperature.  Take some water from your QT tank and add it to the bag every 20 minutes or so to acclimate the fish to the new PH of your water.  After about 45 minutes, TAKE THE FISH FROM THE BAG and gently put it in your QT.  Never dump the water in the bag into your QT tank.
 

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2.  Raise the salinity to no more than .3% over the course of a few days; not all at once!!!  Some fish are salt-sensitive, so you will need to watch your fish closely.  If you have a salt-sensitive fish, then raise the salt to .1% or .2% over a course of a few days.  Once you have the salt where the fish is comfortable, keep it at that level (.1,.2,or.3%) for the duration of the QT.

3.  Most people assume that all new fish have parasites of one kind or another.  You can treat with Prazi at the normal dosage on the bottle, or even double the dose if you like.  Prazi is not harmful to the fish or your cycle.  You can also treat with Dimilin if you suspect other parasites.  Dimilin is not harmful to the fish or cycle.

4.  Watch your fish closely for parasite or bacterial problems, and keep the water as clean as possible.

5.  If, after the Qt time is up, you notice no flashing or rubbing and the fish seems healthy, you can introduce it to the main tank.  If the fish becomes lethargic or develops a bacterial infection after being moved to the new tank, you can feed a round of Medi-Gold for two weeks up to 30 days.  Two weeks is the MINIMUM you can use Medi-Gold and once the med food is started it MUST be finished!!!

As stated before, QTing a new fish is very important and you will be happy you did!  It can certainly keep your other fish from being infected by the new addition.  No one wants to battle a parasite infection!  I hope this has helped!
 
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