Quarantine and First-Time Med Trio Advice

[Troy328]

I plan on picking up some Cherry Barbs today! I have their quarantine tank all set up (10 gallon quarantine for a 20 gallon display), and I also purchased the med trio from aquarium co-op. I am very excited to get these little guys, but I wanted some advice first because I have never actually used the med trio before!

I am getting the Cherry Barbs from a reputable fish store, but they also have a massive selection of fish, and things are constantly changing in the tanks, so I'm honestly not too trusting of what they will have been exposed to prior to me picking them up, which is why I want to quarantine. That being said, I'm not too sure how long I should quarantine the fish for and if/when I should start them on the med trio.

How long do you guys usually quarantine your fish for? For those of you that have used the med trio, did you put the meds in right away, or did you wait a little while? And if you decided to wait, did you wait because you were looking for symptoms to appear or did you wait because you wanted to give the fish time to acclimate first? And did you dose the meds one at a time or all at once? I would like to know what method people have found the most success with!

I know Cherry Barbs are known to be pretty hardy, so I imagine they could take all three medicines at the same time and handle it pretty well, but I'd like to hear more from people who have actually gone through it. I am ashamed to admit I have not been the best with quarantining fish in the past, but I want to try and do everything right this time. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

[Zenzo]

When I get new fish, I immediately put them in a quarantine tank. I usually either add meds that same day after a few hours, or the next day.

I would say a minimum of a week in quarantine, but longer if you can. I like to observe the fish for a few days after the meds have been cycled out with water changes before adding them to another tank. 

[procyg]

I qt for 4 weeks but I don't medicate unless i see something alarming. Look on the coop's youtube channel they have great vids on how to use the med trio and setup a qt tank.  

[Troy328]

Thanks for the info! I like to know how other people go about these types of things.

Another quick question: If quarantining for a week or longer, when do you begin feeding the fish in quarantine? I know fish can go a good while without food, but if I end up quarantining these guys for let's say two weeks, when should I give them their first pinch of food? Should I feed them during the med trio?

[Torrey]

On 1/24/2022 at 2:50 PM, Troy328 said:

Thanks for the info! I like to know how other people go about these types of things.

Another quick question: If quarantining for a week or longer, when do you begin feeding the fish in quarantine? I know fish can go a good while without food, but if I end up quarantining these guys for let's say two weeks, when should I give them their first pinch of food? Should I feed them during the med trio?

I feed my fish in QT for a week before I start any meds. No way to know what they have been through on their way to me. I want to give them the best chance at survival (only exception is a local breeder).

I deworm in QT, and follow the instructions for deworming.

I use salt during QT.

 

Once they have been through 2 rounds of deworming, and after I do the water changes to eliminate the salt, I start lowering the temp in QT 1° each week, until the fish are acclimated to our living temp / the fish demonstrates that it can't tolerate our temps (most of my tanks are not heated, so range from 68° in the winter, to 76° in the summer).

Total QT takes me 6 weeks in the summer, and up to 4 months in the fall/winter. 

[1moretank]

On 1/24/2022 at 2:50 PM, Troy328 said:

Thanks for the info! I like to know how other people go about these types of things.

Another quick question: If quarantining for a week or longer, when do you begin feeding the fish in quarantine? I know fish can go a good while without food, but if I end up quarantining these guys for let's say two weeks, when should I give them their first pinch of food? Should I feed them during the med trio?

I put new fish into QT and observe and feed for 1-3 days, if they are fish that I generally have issues with (like cories) or that I haven't had before, I dose the med trio one a week until I've done all 3 - no water change.  If they are fish I know, then I dose all 3  meds at the same time.  During QT I usually feed lightly once a week - usually 2-3 days after dosing until QT is complete.  After all treatments are complete, I usually leave all fish in QT until I want to get new fish or I am tired of taking care of the extra tank.

Good luck

[procyg]

On 1/24/2022 at 4:50 PM, Troy328 said:

Thanks for the info! I like to know how other people go about these types of things.

Another quick question: If quarantining for a week or longer, when do you begin feeding the fish in quarantine? I know fish can go a good while without food, but if I end up quarantining these guys for let's say two weeks, when should I give them their first pinch of food? Should I feed them during the med trio?

Depending on the age of the fish I try to not feed for 1 week after adding to QT...

If they are very young, I may start feeding after 3 or 4 days instead of waiting a week.  i will space out feeding to every other day until week 3 when i start feeding daily.  Everything to keep the QT water quality as good as possible.