Should I feed during quarantine?

[flossy]

Hello, I currently have 7 corydoras in quarantine and am treating them with the med trio. None of the videos I have watched mentioned anything about feeding during quarantine. I heard some people say not to feed at all because the parasites will just eat the food. Any tips?

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Personally, I don’t feed for 4 days, and then I start to feed very lightly. 
 

I think for most, it’s that quarantine tanks aren’t usually seasoned, so you want to avoid ammonia spikes. I think another school of thought is that meds can crash your cycle, but I’ve never personally seen it. 
 

I always bring fish home on Thursdays, and I’ll start feeding very lightly on Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday I do a 50% water change to get rid of the meds. I quarantine for a total of 6 weeks, so I’ll gradually up the feeding throughout those 6 weeks. 

[Tony s]

You’ll have to feed eventually as quarantine works best for at least a 4 week period. In which observation is key. I’m not a fan of adding meds unless it’s required. Just watch parameters constantly though 

[Guupy42]

It depends on what your goal is when you isolate the fish. I am not sure, but people will probably quarantine their fish sometimes when they are too weak or can't get enough food, so the fish can eat or get food easier. However, for people who are looking to treat disease like I am right now in This post, it is probably better to fast the fish.

There is an article explaining how to do this method for guppies. https://www.aquariumnexus.com/natural-method-cure-almost-any-guppy-disease/

Edited April 29 by Guupy42

[Tony s]

On 4/28/2024 at 9:46 PM, Guupy42 said:

It depends on what your goal is when you isolate the fish

Very correct, my advice was based solely on new fish purchase. Had actually not thought about an isolation period as I generally treat the whole tank. Can be expensive that way, but it eliminates the issue that others might have but are not showing.

 

[flossy]

On 4/28/2024 at 6:46 PM, Guupy42 said:

It depends on what your goal is when you isolate the fish. I am not sure, but people will probably quarantine their fish sometimes when they are too weak or can't get enough food, so the fish can eat or get food easier. However, for people who are looking to treat disease like I am right now in This post, it is probably better to fast the fish.

There is an article explaining how to do this method for guppies. https://www.aquariumnexus.com/natural-method-cure-almost-any-guppy-disease/

My goal is to finish off any diseases as they are new fish purchases.

[Tony s]

On 4/28/2024 at 11:40 PM, flossy said:

My goal is to finish off any diseases as they are new fish purchases.

This generally takes a bit of time. As they may have a disease/parasite and not show it for a few weeks at least. That’s why observation is key. Then, if you see a problem, hit it with full strength meds. 

[sumplkrum]

I usually leave new fish in a quarantine tub and feed them for about a week. That way I'm sure they've got some food in them beforehand.
• Then I'll start meds and stop feeding.
• That's one week for the med trio. Then water change and feed them for a couple days.
• After that I do another week of deworming (especially for guppies) to make sure they are clean. 

You mainly stop feeding to avoid ammonia spikes. I use a seasoned sponge filter in a separate tub.

If you have an outbreak in an existing aquarium, you can follow the same routine, but watch your water parameters closely in case the cycle takes a hit.

[jwcarlson]

I usually feed (lightly) during QT, but also change a lot of water.  It depends on how "ready" your tank is for that bioload.  But it also depends on the circumstances.  If you buy a group of well cared for, plump fish then feeding can take a back seat.  But lets say you had some fish shipped and they might have been basically in transit from various fish farms and transhippers for many days or a week or more... it might be more important to feed them ASAP.  Eating is also a good indicator of overall health as well as what I am most worried about in QT, which is internal parasites.