Not feeding during initial quarantine?

[rydin4life]

I juat got some long fin white cloud minnows and I have them in a quarantine tank with the med trio.  Can they really go a week without eating after a day traveling ... so 8 days total?

 

I'm new to this but it seems linke a long time to have them go without food.  What is the reason behind not feeding during this time?

[Tony s]

On 8/29/2024 at 7:33 AM, rydin4life said:

Can they really go a week without eating after a day traveling ... so 8 days total?

Short answer. Usually not going to be much problem. But, it depends on the condition of the fish. If they come in hungry looking with sunken bellies, I would feed them. There is a risk for underfed animals. They could further deteriorate and you could lose them. 
 

the theory on not feeding during quarantine meds is to keep ammonia down with meds in the tank. Keeping them safer. 
now in all honesty, I never use quarantine meds unless I see there is a problem. But I keep them in quarantine for about a month. Observation is better to me than just using meds prophylactically. And when I see an issue, then I treat. 
 

as for fasting fish. For a week with no food. I haven’t had any issues. I usually do that for vacation. Much better than having an inexperienced person feeding your fish 

[rydin4life]

Thanks @Tony s - I do have a filter in my quarantine tank that I set up with some filter "squeezings" from an established tank so there should be some bacteria in there.  I also have Seachem Prime in there as well....hopefully that will handle any ammonia issues.  Of course I'll monitor and test the water, but just wanted to be sure that feeding wouldn't cause any complications with the meds.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I QT with the med trio. Personally, I don’t feed for the first 4-5 days. Then I feed lightly, and increase that over the remaining weeks (4-6 total) they are in QT. 
 

For me it’s less about the ammonia (my QT tanks are either QT or fry grow out depending on what I’m doing) and more about it’s just not necessary. In that same vein, if the fish are sick, they’re probably not as active as they normally are, so they don’t need the normal amount of food. 
 

Honestly, you can do what you want. All arguments are valid as to whether or not you feed, don’t feed for X amount of days, don’t feed for Y amount of days, whether you do medicate, or don’t medicate, or save meds until you actually see something, etc. It all comes down to what you’re comfortable with. 

[Tony s]

On 8/29/2024 at 12:52 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

It all comes down to what you’re comfortable with. 

This, right there. @rydin4life do what you feel is comfortable. There are so, so many ways to do this hobby. Most of them are correct for the set-up and the keeper. As long as the animals stay healthy and happy. That's the goal

[redmare]

Personally… I like to feed during qt. It makes the waiting more bearable if I at least get to feed and watch the new guys! I just use cycled sponge filters from established tanks. 

[Pepere]

On 8/29/2024 at 9:05 AM, rydin4life said:

do have a filter in my quarantine tank that I set up with some filter "squeezings" from an established tank so there should be some bacteria in there.  I also have Seachem Prime in there as well....hopefully that will handle any ammonia issues.  Of course I'll monitor and test the water, but just wanted to be sure that feeding wouldn't cause any complications with the meds.

I usually feed lightly after 3rd day then not again until end of week.

in a relatively new tank, I have had quarantine meds wipe out the beneficial bacteria essentially completely.  In a more mature tank, I have seen quarantine tank cloud up overnight (all test parameters fine) due to quarantine meds to the degree the tank looked to have frosted glass…

I have taken to keeping sponge filters that suction cup to glass tank sides in tanks to keep them cycled and be able to transfer to a med treated tank to re establish beneficial bacteria as needed.    I have seen transferring such a filter clear up milky water within 24 hours..I have also seen it clear up ammonia overnight…

Edited August 30 by Pepere