Waiting a day to use med trio on new fish?

[Marden]

Hey there,

I was curious if anyone waits a day or so to start the med trio in their quarantine tank for new fish? I wonder if that would offer any benefit in allowing them to acclimate a bit before putting the meds in and stressing them further. 
 

Zack

[Brandy]

It depends on where they are from and how healthy they are. If they were shipped I sometimes don't wait, because they are already so stressed I assume they could be sick already. If I find them locally from a hobbyist or trusted fish store and they look healthy I will give them overnight to settle in.

[Skroob]

So...the med trio....i can see using it in a business setting. Not so much for home use. 

Here are my reasons for this. 

1. I don't deal with tons of people coming to look at and buy my fish. So medicating external complications that are not presenting seems a waste of money and time. 

2. I can't see inside the fish so I treat for internal parasites. 

3. Over medication can create issues with resistant strains of bacteria and other illnesses. 

4. Things like using the med trio are kind of blanket solutions. For the home aquarist, I feel it can retard new hobbyists from actually trying to figure out what symptoms go with what disease. Instead...just throw the med trio at it. 

 

[ChefConfit]

It depends on the fish. For example when I buy Ottos they are typically wild caught and are notorious for being under fed from the time they are caught until you bring them home. They get fed for a few days to get their strength back before they go into quarantine since it's recommended to not feed while you're medicating. If there is not issue that needs to be dealt with first though they go straight into the meds

[Andy's Fish Den]

For me it depends on where i got the fish from. When I get from a local hobbyist or certain LFS I just put the fish in the quarantine tank and observe for a few days, then I treat if I notice any problems. If I get fish shipped in and have been in transit for a couple days, I observe and treat if needed. If I import fish in from other countries, whether wild caught or not, I acclimate and treat with med trio. I treat for a week, do water change, and treat again. If they're wild caught I always deworm as well. 

[Nataku]

So my quarantine process is somewhat of a longer one, but I am just a hobbyist, not a store who needs to move product, so I take my time with new fish coming in.

They go into the quarantine tank day one, and I observe. I'm  looking for spots, redness, swelling, damaged fins, etc etc. I dont feed the first day, just watch. Do I see something that indicates we have some kind of infection? Begin the med trio the second day.

If I didn't  spot anything on the first day, the second day, I continue to watch and observe, and I give them their first meal.  Do they eat it? Do they spit it back out? Do they not show any interest? Is everyone eating or is someone getting left out? I watch later for poop, is there any? Whats it look like? Observe vents closely for the dreaded little red worm (camallanus). If stringy or otherwise abnormal poops happen? Begin med trio. Spot camallanus? Hold off on the med trio. Begin levamisole treatment. Make note to self that a week after second round of levamisole is completed to start the med trio because I am SO not playing around with camallanus and I figure if the fish had camallanus they've got other things hiding in there too.

But if I don't observe anything abnormal? I just keep watching. And that's what I do, for three weeks. If nothing manifests in that time? Cool! Into the main tank they go. But if I spot anything in that time? Begin meds. After meds, observe for at least two weeks to make sure everyone is good. Good? Into main tank. Problems pop up? Treat with meds. And continue this cycle until I'm happy that the fish are free of whatever they came in with. Most fish make it through the quarantine time without issue and don't  need meds. But I've had some groups come in that have stayed in quarantune for two months or more because they're just riddled with issues.

[Mmiller2001]

57 minutes ago, Nataku said:

So my quarantine process is somewhat of a longer one, but I am just a hobbyist, not a store who needs to move product, so I take my time with new fish coming in.

They go into the quarantine tank day one, and I observe. I'm  looking for spots, redness, swelling, damaged fins, etc etc. I dont feed the first day, just watch. Do I see something that indicates we have some kind of infection? Begin the med trio the second day.

If I didn't  spot anything on the first day, the second day, I continue to watch and observe, and I give them their first meal.  Do they eat it? Do they spit it back out? Do they not show any interest? Is everyone eating or is someone getting left out? I watch later for poop, is there any? Whats it look like? Observe vents closely for the dreaded little red worm (camallanus). If stringy or otherwise abnormal poops happen? Begin med trio. Spot camallanus? Hold off on the med trio. Begin levamisole treatment. Make note to self that a week after second round of levamisole is completed to start the med trio because I am SO not playing around with camallanus and I figure if the fish had camallanus they've got other things hiding in there too.

But if I don't observe anything abnormal? I just keep watching. And that's what I do, for three weeks. If nothing manifests in that time? Cool! Into the main tank they go. But if I spot anything in that time? Begin meds. After meds, observe for at least two weeks to make sure everyone is good. Good? Into main tank. Problems pop up? Treat with meds. And continue this cycle until I'm happy that the fish are free of whatever they came in with. Most fish make it through the quarantine time without issue and don't  need meds. But I've had some groups come in that have stayed in quarantune for two months or more because they're just riddled with issues.

How do you determine camallanus? What are you looking for? Should I worry about this?

[Nataku]

7 minutes ago, Mmiller2001 said:

How do you determine camallanus? What are you looking for? Should I worry about this?

Camallanus can be identified as one or more red/bright pink 'spikes' or very thin 'threads' protruding from the fish's anus. The key factor is the color, they will always be red/bright pink. And they are not always present 100% of the time even in an infected fish because they can pull themselves back up inside the fish. This is why I watch closely after the fish eats, because as the fish poops, they will usually be visible for a bit. The poop falls away from the fish, the camallanus worms do not.

I do not have any good clear pictures on hand of camallanus but a quick Google search will show you exactly what you are looking for - beware, its pretty gruesome. What your gupoy has does not appears to be camallanus, wrong color and shape/texture.  I'd treat that with the med trio, its some other intestinal parasite. 

[Mmiller2001]

2 minutes ago, Nataku said:

Camallanus can be identified as one or more red/bright pink 'spikes' or very thin 'threads' protruding from the fish's anus. The key factor is the color, they will always be red/bright pink. And they are not always present 100% of the time even in an infected fish because they can pull themselves back up inside the fish. This is why I watch closely after the fish eats, because as the fish poops, they will usually be visible for a bit. The poop falls away from the fish, the camallanus worms do not.

I do not have any good clear pictures on hand of camallanus but a quick Google search will show you exactly what you are looking for - beware, its pretty gruesome. What your gupoy has does not appears to be camallanus, wrong color and shape/texture.  I'd treat that with the med trio, its some other intestinal parasite. 

Thank you. Does Paracleanse even work on Camallanus?

[Nataku]

2 minutes ago, Mmiller2001 said:

Thank you. Does Paracleanse even work on Camallanus?

Paracleanse contains metronidazole and praziquantel, neither of which works on camallanus.  

If you want to kill camallanus, you need levamisole. Now, camallanus is thankfully fairly rare in the hobby. You are going to run into other parasites far more commonly than these bastards. Which is good, because camallanus absolutely will wipe an entire tank if you don't get it taken care of. And paracleanse will work on all those other internal parasites you run into far more often just fine.

Its also why having a good quarantine protocol is so important. Its is way WAY easier to deal with camallanus or any other internal parasite for that matter, if you get to it in a bare quarantine tank before it gets a chance to get into your main tank.