Preparation tips for imported fish??? Any tips.

[harzan]

I have my fair share of losing fish recently or immediately imported. I have tried both starting "new" by bleaching everything out to just hosing everything down (tank and filter)and adding a little salt.

With all the stress the fish go through I want to know if there should be plenty of water changes, full or partial, medications to add...?

Any tips?

Thanks!

Harris

[joe]

You should have a quarantine tank that is cycled and large enough for the new fish. I recommend investing in a microscope and do both gill and body slime scrapes to see what pathogens you are dealing with. Are you buying from a good source. Most vendors, dandy orandas, goldfish uthopia, goldfish net, xxxxxxxxxxxx, rain garden, usually do a good job of ensuring that they send healthy fish to the customer.

[suphi]

I use Prazi on all of my new fish (including babies), it's very safe and gets the flukes.

New fish requires quarantine, typically a month, although sometimes I cheated but you really do have to observe them closely for a month. They can take up to a month to settle down in a new environment and during this time immune system goes down so anything can happen. Most fish are colonized with bacteria, parasites, etc. but if they're healthy it won't pose a problem as their immune system can keep the problem at bay.

I'm still watching my big ranchu I got from Paul last month (only QT for 2 weeks because he was going nuts in our small QT tank), plastering my face to the tank daily to make sure there's no external signs of problem (dots, spots, streaks, abnormal poop, sulking behavior, etc.).

When I QT my fish I do 90% daily water change to keep the water pristine, probably excessive but that's me.

[Veil Gal]

What form of Prazi have you found to be best; where do you buy it?

[Cincy Ranchu]

I tend to isolate the fish, even in a differnet room if possible. I like to not medicate, but change water frequently and tend to only use frozen brine shrimp for the first week or so, as it is easily digested in bruised fishes. Often fish coming form Asia have never been in a glass tank and I tend to have a low light level for the new fish for a week or so.

Additional suggestions:

no plants or gravel
a mop should be present
if I decide to treat for flukes I use Trichlorcide instead of Prazi.
Always take the eggs if they spawn for it is better to have fry rather than nothing at all

[flaringshutter]

I have used PraziPond many times and found it very effective and gentle on the fish. It's not cheap but I like it for its low-impact treatment and ease of use.

[suphi]

I've been using the powder-type Prazi (e.g. Aqua Prazi), have not tried the liquid type. You mix it with water in a small container and then pour into the tank. It causes thick white poops the following day but that's normal.

As Gary said, fish from Asia aren't used to being in the tank. My big chu that I got from Paul a month ago still needs to be fed separately in a floating basket else he wouldn't have enough to eat.

[harzan]

Thanks! Is there a particular reason you do not prefer Prazi for recently imported?

[bekko]

The trouble with prazi powder is it is hard to get the dose right without a really good analytical balance. For aquarium use, you need accuracy to two decimal places. Measuring prazi powder volumetrically (for example by the teaspoon) is misleading. The powder is very fluffy but can be compacted in the spoon. The liquid stuff makes life much easier.

-steve

[Guenther]

Maybe it is helpful:

In Canada and in Germany I use Prazi from https://ssl.webpack.de/koimed.de/en/shop.php

The Prazi's medication name is WORMEX. WORMEX have 50% Prazi and 50% mineralic. That mineral component makes the Prazi soluble. You can use WORMEX for a long time over weeks in the water without changing the water after 1 day. So you can kill all live worms and all the new worms from the worms eggs too!
I weigh the dose with a small scale like this, it's easy:

http://www.shubunkin.de/temp/futtermenge04.jpg

Also you can finde liquid Prazi products. But...!
These products sometimes have *** in it. This *** product in the Prazi liquid can produce a bacterial bloom after 1 day, so you have to change water after 24 hours. If you don't change the water maybe your tank looks like this tank after 36 hours:

http://www.shubunkin.de/temp/aq_prazimittel.jpg


And if you change the water, you can not kill the new worms from the worm eggs!
Read the lable of the liquid product!!

[eros]

>Suphi: with the daily 90% h20 changes, do you re-dose the prazi?

I use Prazi on all of my new fish (including babies), it's very safe and gets the flukes.

New fish requires quarantine, typically a month, although sometimes I cheated but you really do have to observe them closely for a month. They can take up to a month to settle down in a new environment and during this time immune system goes down so anything can happen. Most fish are colonized with bacteria, parasites, etc. but if they're healthy it won't pose a problem as their immune system can keep the problem at bay.

I'm still watching my big ranchu I got from Paul last month (only QT for 2 weeks because he was going nuts in our small QT tank), plastering my face to the tank daily to make sure there's no external signs of problem (dots, spots, streaks, abnormal poop, sulking behavior, etc.).

When I QT my fish I do 90% daily water change to keep the water pristine, probably excessive but that's me.

[suphi]

Of course, when you do WC you have to redose the medications. You want to maintain a constant level of drug for optimal therapeutic efficacy. Another point is that most medications won't last all day long, they all have half-lives and will degrade over time (especially antibiotics).

[suphi]

BTW, I started Prazi on my new TVRs today. They already got a day of rest, now it's disinfection time.>:)

[eros]

I understand the concept of maintaining therapeutic levels. What I was thinking was, "dang! thats a lot of prazi." Well, ive been using prazipro and have had luck with it. The 16oz bottle lasts me a while w/ the dosage being 5ml to 20gal.

I missed out on the ebay auction for six 16oz PraziPro for $60+ shpg:youtellme:


Just got mine today and theyre swimming around already in the Qt tank.

[Ranchumaniax]

I understand the concept of maintaining therapeutic levels. What I was thinking was, "dang! thats a lot of prazi." Well, ive been using prazipro and have had luck with it. The 16oz bottle lasts me a while w/ the dosage being 5ml to 20gal.

I missed out on the ebay auction for six 16oz PraziPro for $60+ shpg:youtellme:


Just got mine today and theyre swimming around already in the Qt tank.

PraziPro 16oz for $60.00+shipping? wow..that's unreal!
I only sell 16oz for $35.00 with free shipping when you order fish(coz you already pay for shipping.. >:))

[suphi]

eros, mine are now very active. Don't know if it was the resting or prazi or blood worms that did the trick, but anyway...it's all good!

Paul, I would've ordered Prazi from you with these fish if I knew you had it.

[eros]

Suphi, are you just going to do frozen BW for now along w/ their daily water chgs? How are you doing that anyways? Seems like your 40g tank is in the middle of a room- do you use a pump to drain it 90% or the bucket method?

[suphi]

The 40G is in a bathroom right now. I use a pump to do daily WC (quick and painless), with 2 fish I only do 50% change. Their current diet includes blood worms followed by soaked pellets (a mixture of lionhead and saki hikari).

[johnatoranchu]

Surprised that no one has mentioned temperature as I believe that, next to water quality, that is the most important factor when quarantining goldfish, whether they are imported or not. I keep them at 82F for 3 weeks and if all seems well after that I gradually reduce temperature to whatever is the appropriate temperature for the time of year. I also use salt at 5-7 grams/litre and prefer to use medications which are suitable for both freshwater fish and marines, then I consider it safe to use the medication in the salted water. I am told that many medications react adversely when used in conjunction with salt but have no personal knowledge of this, maybe I'll experiment with a few culls one day.
John

[bigbettadan]

temp and salt are the most important factors to me as well. While goldfish do fine in temparate temps, those fish raised in tropical temps need time to adjust......

Dan

[WakinAZ]

I've used PraziPro in the past with good results. Now that I've found a breeder with good, disease-free stock (Rain Garden :worship: ), I only use isolation (quarantine), observation and salt at 1 tablespoon (15ml) per 5 gallons for the first couple of weeks just to help ease the transition.

Keeping the temp high is good also, as it speeds up the life cycle of any parasites, allowing you to more quickly notice and treat them. Not a problem for me, with tanks currently at 84 F from ambient room temp of 82 + 1-2 degrees of heating from filter equipment.

[There *was* very a good article on proactively medicating all new quarantined fish on the Koko's Goldfish site, but now I cannot find it. It was a bit on the extreme side, but good if your fish came from questionable environs. I have a copy of it printed out; if someone wants a copy, I'll scan it and send them one. It was basically two stages: 1) 14 days of salt @ 0.3% concentration, high temp >78 F, & medicated food; 2) 7 days of Prazi Pro treatment, treat tank twice.]