Question regarding quarantining fish

[HotTunaCartel]

I ordered 10 harlequin rasboras from aqua huna and just got the notification they were shipped last night and delivery is saying Friday. 

I want to try Cory's trio method he talked about in several videos. 

My question is if the package gets here Friday, that would mean the fish have been sitting unfed for 4 days.  In the videos Cory states to feed them lightly on day 3/4 if necessary.   So if they have been unfed for 4 days and then I add another 3-4 days on top of that will that be ok for the fish.  

I do have a fully cycled sponge filter but not sure if the meds might kill the bb.  If I do notice an ammonia spike I obviously don't want to do a water change that would dilute the meds.  So would it be ok to either add prime or stick another seeded sponge filter in there? 

Its funny that they fish literally just shipped last night and I'm asking this but I always like to be prepared for the worst case scenario that way I can quickly attend to what is going on.  

[Mmiller2001]

I would feed them lightly after they settle in for a few hours. The best way to avoid any BB problems, is to feed the antibiotic mixed into food. I would grab some Seachem focus, and use that to combine the Maracyn to a pellet food. So you would hit them with Paracleanse/General Cure, Ich X and the Maracyn mixed into the food.

You will have to search for a recipe to mix Maracyn with Focus, but if you can find Seachem Kanaplex, I would use that over Maracyn. Maracyn is good, but Kanaplex is a bit better. If you get Kanaplex, It's 1 scope Focus and 1 Scoop Kanaplex mixed into 1 table spoon of pellet or frozen food with a bit of RO/ Distilled water or garlic guard. Mix it real well and let it sit in the fridge for 20 mins or so. Then you can freeze it in serving portions. Feed per direction on the Kanaplex label.

If you go with Maracyn directly into the water, the BB will take a hit. You will just have to monitor Ammonia often, I would over dose prime every 24 hours if you find a spike. After the 5th day, if Ammonia is still there, I would start large water changes to control ammonia.

Once things stabilize, I would dose General Cure/Paracleanse again at the start of week 2 per the directions on the box.

@Colu may have a Maracyn recipe.

From my experience, survival rate jumps up when dosing antibiotics into food.

Hope this helps!

[HotTunaCartel]

@Mmiller2001  Thanks for the quick reply.  I already have the trio here at home but was able to order focus and will be here tomorrow.  That totally makes sense to bind the meds with food.  I do have xtreme nano food so that should be small enough for the new fish.   I'll look up into mixing it with the focus.  

 

Edit: was able to get Kanaplex delivered tomorrow as well 

Edited November 23, 2021 by HotTunaCartel

[HotTunaCartel]

Ok so I did a bit more research trying to see if I can use the Kanaplex with the fritz paracleanse.  

According to the seachem website Kanaplex and Metroplex can be used in conjunction.  I looked at the ingredients of Metroplex ( metronidazole (70%) ) and Fritz ParaCleanse ( 250 mg metronidazole and 75 mg praziquantel ) 

I can't find if praziquantel can be used with  kanamycin sulfate which is the active ingredient in Kanaplex. 

[Chad]

I faced this conundrum earlier on too. I’ve mail ordered a lot of fish and worried about starving them. I finally landed on feeding them for a week and then doing the trio of meds. Maybe it adds to the quarantine time but it seems like a good solution. Sadly, I don’t have enough experience to definitively say how well my approach actually works. In the end, I felt that the fish I get are usually underfed and respond to some quality fish food more than meds. Not saying they don’t need meds, only that maybe they don’t need them right away. 

[HotTunaCartel]

@Chad

Thanks for the reply, I was sifting through ideas and though about what you just said.  Maybe I should just wait a bit and see if anything pops up and in the meantime just feed and watch regularly.  

[Torrey]

On 11/23/2021 at 10:15 PM, HotTunaCartel said:

@Chad

Thanks for the reply, I was sifting through ideas and though about what you just said.  Maybe I should just wait a bit and see if anything pops up and in the meantime just feed and watch regularly.  

I think Cory has addressed this in a video for the store, and I wanted to validate what @Chad said as well. 

The best thing that ensures a successful quarantine is starting off with quality food. Many fish come to us underfed because they have to be fasted for 48 hours prior to shipping, and then shipping can take up to 3 days, and occasionally a monkey wrench turns shipping into fish that have fasted for 2 weeks. 

Feeding quality frozen and live food gives the fish the best chance at surviving quarantine. It also boosts their immune system for the trio, and if you follow Cory's recommendations of treat with paracleanse for a week, then feed for a week, then treatment #2 (I can't remember which order Cory goes in with the other 2 meds) for a week, then feed a week, then the third treatment, feed a week (or combine #2 & #3, to reduce QT time), and finish with a final treatment for parasites to catch any eggs left from the first paracleanse treatment and fish are generally good to go.

 

Is this a little longer than a lot of us want fish in QT?

 

Yes.

 

**AND**

All it takes is once, and my once wiped out a 120 gallon full of stock. That was an incredibly expensive learning experience. 

[HotTunaCartel]

@Torrey  lol I've been watching all of coreys quarantine videos all week.  I'm hoping the fish come today, it says they are still at a usps facility 40 miles south but saying estimated delivery today.  

 

[Guppysnail]

I always feed them and give them a week of feeding to settle in and put on some reserves. I do not medicate unless I see a need but even if I do I found the stress from shipping/not eating etc makes it harder when added to medications that do add stress they are a touch rough on fish.  The more reserves they have the better their immune system will help Fight whatever ails them in conjunction with meds. I’m not an expert nor did I do any type of testing this is just my observations of what seems to work best for me. Coop is a business so time is money hobbiest have the luxury of taking our time ( not that I have any patience to do so 😂) best of luck looking forward to pictures of your new fish family members. 

[HotTunaCartel]

@Guppysnail  Thanks for the reply and yes the more i've been reading it does seem the right way is to let them chill and watch and medicate as needed.  

I just hope the heat pack has held up from the west coast after 4 days.  Its definitely been well below normal temps.   

 

Edit:  I've actually never thought about your comment on coop being a business as opposed to hobbyists that have plenty of time.  

Edited November 26, 2021 by HotTunaCartel

[Guppysnail]

On 11/26/2021 at 12:02 PM, HotTunaCartel said:

@Guppysnail  Thanks for the reply and yes the more i've been reading it does seem the right way is to let them chill and watch and medicate as needed.  

I just hope the heat pack has held up from the west coast after 4 days.  Its definitely been well below normal temps.   

 

Edit:  I've actually never thought about your comment on coop being a business as opposed to hobbyists that have plenty of time.  

I’m east coast PA so I “try” to resist ordering during less than ideal weather. But when I have they have been fine. My impulse control is definitely lacking 🤣

[HotTunaCartel]

On 11/26/2021 at 12:14 PM, Guppysnail said:

I’m east coast PA so I “try” to resist ordering during less than ideal weather. But when I have they have been fine. My impulse control is definitely lacking 🤣

Same, I'm in the Poconos

[HotTunaCartel]

Fish are here.  Thank god my gf came home from work early.   USPS said it was still in transit from the other facility to the local post office, so I have no idea of when it was left in the mailbox today.  Opened the box and wow that water was cold.  Had one swimming upside-down for a bit but its swimming fine now in the drip bucket I have.