Adrienne Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 How long do you think you should keep new fish isolated for before you add them to your tank? I had some new fish arrive last Thursday and really need the space for some more arriving soon so are keen to add to my existing tank. Love to hear your thoughts on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 The popular opinion is to always quarantene, about a week. I personally dont bother unless the fish looks sick. If a fish looks in full health, the chances of it carrying sufficent levels of bacteria or parasites to infect my healthy fish are very unlikely. You shouldn't buy sick fish to begin with really. I do have spare tanks to use if an individual looks sick though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billaney Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 for me it all depends on what i want it to go with or is it going in a species tank by itself , and also where i got it from , some shop who will remain nameless i'd Q for at least two weeks , on the other hand i got a fish today from a very well known fish breeder and am quite happy to put it strigt in with mine. Another factor is how far did it have to travel to get home , a fish is going to be far more likely to get something like whitespot from a long trip than it is just going home from a local place, even if it was healthy when you set out Bottom line is your call, whats the risk and what are you risking if it does get sick ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Thanks for all your imput - I had pretty much taken most of that into consideration and given that my new fish look great, are not from a shop and seem to have travelled really well nearly a week ago I'll probably put them in their new tank tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 i quarentine every single new fish i get. if i cant quarentine the fish for at least a month i wont get it. you may whole heartedly trust the person you are getting them from but their fish may still have something that is very hard to pick up on and may have been missed. i had a battle for months with camallanus, it takes around two weeks for a mature nematode to show so if you dont quarentine you can bet all your fish in that tank will now have it and it can have devestating effects. many illnesses will take over two weeks to show, especially things like flukes etc. the way i see it is can you warrent risking every single fish in your tank for the new addition? because thats what you are effectivly doing by adding a new fish from a different source, if you think you can risk it then dont quarentine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billaney Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 i quarentine every single new fish i get. if i cant quarentine the fish for at least a month i wont get it. you may whole heartedly trust the person you are getting them from but their fish may still have something that is very hard to pick up on and may have been missed. i had a battle for months with camallanus, it takes around two weeks for a mature nematode to show so if you dont quarentine you can bet all your fish in that tank will now have it and it can have devestating effects. many illnesses will take over two weeks to show, especially things like flukes etc. the way i see it is can you warrent risking every single fish in your tank for the new addition? because thats what you are effectivly doing by adding a new fish from a different source, if you think you can risk it then dont quarentine. Sharn is spot on, the perfect and correct answer and what we all SHOULD do .In reallity almost no one does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Okay, I'll change my mind and wait at least another 2-3 weeks. Have another 2-3 tanks I can borrow off my husbands science department. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 As Sharn said.... Most fish here are quarentined for 2 weeks before they hit the shops. The problem is fish can carry diseases without showing symptons. With some diseases may be up to 6 weeks. I personally dont bother unless the fish looks sick. If a fish looks in full health, the chances of it carrying sufficent levels of bacteria or parasites to infect my healthy fish are very unlikely. You shouldn't buy sick fish to begin with really. The problem with that is sometimes the fish dosen't look sick, & you also have to check every fish in the shop for that to work. Most shops have systems, or use a few nets & don't use an iodine drip, same for gravel vacs.....transfer of diseases in shops is very high. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 Just a by, guys and gals The Q word is spelt Quarantine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 30, 2007 Report Share Posted January 30, 2007 whoops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2007 The fish I got are not from shops - lately I haven't seen anything decent that doesn't have something wrong with it - too fussy I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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