First Fish Quarentine Questions

[FaintingGoats]

Hi All!

I have a lightly planted 29 gallon tank that has been "cycled" (aka the plants are growing, algae is showing up, no ammonia or nitrites) and I am going to the Co-Op to hopefully get my first ever fish this weekend (and some more plants)!!!

I have some questions about the process though.  If I don't have any other fish in my tank (just plants and an incredible amount of bladder and ramshorn snails), do I need to set up a quarantine tank for the new fish?  Would the answer to the previous question change depending on if I got more than one type of new fish or they came from different tanks at the store?

My thinking is if I get one type of fish to begin with and they come out of a single tank, then I might not need to set up a quarantine tank.  But if I get fish from two different tanks at the Co-Op then would I need to quarantine them?

I just want to make sure I have everything prepared before I go get them!

Thank you in advance for your help and I hope my rambling made sense!

[PineSong]

Congratulations on getting your tank ready--what an exciting part of the process you are getting ready for!

Quarantining in a seperate tank is to protect your current fish/tanks from contagious things new fish might be bringing in by keeping new fish away from your established fish until they have been observed for symptoms and medicated for whatever you want to medicate against. Since you don't have any pre-existing fish, you can add your new fish to your 29 and medicate them there, if your plan is to medicate your new fish e.g. for parasites.

One caveat to this may be that if the cost of meds is an issue, since larger tanks require more medication, a person might want to QT in a smaller tank. I would medicate fish in a 10g rather than medicate them in a 55g, even if there were no other fish in the 55, to save on the cost of the meds.

Another caveat may be that if you end up using salt to cure a fish illness, salt can be hard on plants, so you might prefer to do that in a QT tank rather than your display tank.

 

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Firstly, you're lucky to live within their radius so the fish you get has already been through the med trio- if I were you that's great and I wouldn't treat. So, what you have to consider- you don't want to crash your new tank's cycle. What are your stocking plans? Generally I'd say start with your middle dwellers and make sure they're settled in- then go with your bottom dwellers if you have any on the list as most need a more established tank. You can put them in the tank if you want (I would take that chance having gotten them from Co-op) and set up a small QT for what you bring in later. However like @PineSong said, by doing that you take the chance of having to medicate a 29 gallon tank. Up to you!

Edited January 7, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[FaintingGoats]

On 1/6/2022 at 4:32 PM, PineSong said:

Congratulations on getting your tank ready--what an exciting part of the process you are getting ready for!

Quarantining in a seperate tank is to protect your current fish/tanks from contagious things new fish might be bringing in by keeping new fish away from your established fish until they have been observed for symptoms and medicated for whatever you want to medicate against. Since you don't have any pre-existing fish, you can add your new fish to your 29 and medicate them there, if your plan is to medicate your new fish e.g. for parasites.

One caveat to this may be that if the cost of meds is an issue, since larger tanks require more medication, a person might want to QT in a smaller tank. I would medicate fish in a 10g rather than medicate them in a 55g, even if there were no other fish in the 55, to save on the cost of the meds.

Another caveat may be that if you end up using salt to cure a fish illness, salt can be hard on plants, so you might prefer to do that in a QT tank rather than your display tank.

 

 

Thank you!  I am pretty pumped!!  It has been a long journey already but I have learned so much!
 

That totally makes sense about the size of the tank and the amount of meds to put in!  Thank you for that tip!

On 1/6/2022 at 4:33 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Firstly, you're lucky to live within their radius so the fish you get has already been through the med trio- if I were you that's great and I wouldn't treat. So, what you have to consider- you don't want to crash your new tank's cycle. What are your stocking plans? Generally I'd say start with your middle dwellers and make sure they're settled in- then go with your bottome dwellers if you have any on the list as most need a more established tank. 

I was thinking about doing some Sunset Gouramis and panda corys (bottom layer).  I don't really have a middle, "schooling" fish picked out yet.  I was thinking some rummy nose tetra's or maybe some neon tetras but I was going to wander around the store and see what caught my eye.

I also am having some issues with the Bladder snails and ramshorn snails that came in on my first plants.  There is one big bladder snail that we really like and have named but we now have hundreds of little bladder and ramshorn snails everywhere.  So I was thinking of doing some dwarf chain loaches or zebra loaches but haven't really settled on those as I do like the panda cory's more.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Well I will caution you and say, make sure you know all what you ultimately want to add to your tank before getting them- important that they have similar needs- don't want you to be disappointed when you end up wanting a fish you can't have because another fish isn't going to work with them. Enjoy the process- patience is one of the most important things to have in this hobby- take your time- planning is part of the fun!

[Chad]

For your specific case, I wouldn't worry about a quarantine tank. If your tank is 55 gallons, sure, but 29? Go ahead and use it since you've never kept fish in it. Also, since Aq Co-op med trios their fish I wouldn't medicate right away either but I would buy those meds since they really are important to have on hand. Regarding adding fish from different Aq Co-op tanks? Again, I wouldn't sweat it. As long as all the fish were bought at once and added to your tank at once, from the same store, especially Aq Co-ops, you're best off adding them all together. That said, @xXInkedPhoenixX gave very good advice about overstocking and I'm sure a few q's you ask at the store and they'll help you get a group for your tank that doesn't crash from overstocking. What are you thinking you want to add? Just personal curiosity.

Patience sucks, it screws with all the impulse buys that can be so exciting. Of course, I learned the hard way that while patience sucks it's an absolute necessity. My lack of patience caused pain for me and death to fish. You're off to a far better start than I was, well done!

[FaintingGoats]

On 1/6/2022 at 4:51 PM, Chad said:

What are you thinking you want to add? Just personal curiosity.

Thank you for the advice!!!!  I really like the Panda Corys and Sunset Gourmis!!  The panda's are like little blimps and the gourmis look so great in planted tanks.

I haven't really settled on a middle layer or schooling fish yet.  I was hoping the Co-Op peeps would have some suggestions when we go in and can see them!

Thank you again!

[Chad]

I think @xXInkedPhoenixX again gave great advice about finding a mid-dwelling fish first. Fyi, I just added Panda Cory's to my main tank (yes, I quarantined) and dang if they aren't a fantastic addition to the aquarium. I've never kept Gourami's so I'm no help with experience there. Personally, I'm not sure the Cory's would have been the most interesting "first" fish to my tank (a 33 gallon long) but they made for a truly great last add. 

[FaintingGoats]

On 1/6/2022 at 5:02 PM, Chad said:

I think @xXInkedPhoenixX again gave great advice about finding a mid-dwelling fish first. Fyi, I just added Panda Cory's to my main tank (yes, I quarantined) and dang if they aren't a fantastic addition to the aquarium.

I agree!  it makes sense that that middle layer would be more "interactive" and go around a lot more area in the tank.

Congrats on you Pandas!!!  That is really awesome!