The Wild Fishing Forum

Quote from: Wildfisher on Yesterday at 10:34:20 AMI have PMd you Jon.

Got it. Will post you some out later this week.

Quote from: Wildfisher on Yesterday at 08:47:46 PMHow long do you quarantine new fish for?

I used to have a rack of super cheap  rough and ready 18" tanks kept for various purposes, one being quarantine. Think I used to isolate new arrivals for about a week. Was that enough?

Honestly? If I were a professional aquarist looking to add new fish to a tank containing critically endangered species at a zoo etc it would take three to four months.

In the real world shops and wholesalers don't really bother because of the costs involved. Guppies swimming in brackish water in Sri Lanka one day can have been caught, shipped to a UK wholesaler, resold to a retailer and sold to a hobbyist within a week.....

It's good you're thinking about this though. Buy yourself a cheap and crappy air driven sponge filter and air pump. Remove the sponge from it and place it in the power filter coming with your new tank. That way it will cycle and you can immediately set up a quarantine or hospital tank whenever you need to. Obviously you'll need a spare hater too, but this may make life easier in the future.

Check the fish you want to keep thoroughly in the shop. If they, their tankmates or any other fish in the same centralised filtration system show signs of disease then you might want to rethink your purchase. If all looks healthy, take your first fish home an enjoy.

Two weeks as stated above should do.

Things to bear in mind :-

Removing physical waste from the tank via a gravel vac and by replacing the pre filter media regularly in your power filter will massively reduce the chances of bacterial and fungal infections. As well as increasing it's efficiency.

Keep the mechanical filter media as physically clean as possible by gently washing it in tank water. Do not under any circumstances wash in tap water. You will immediately kill the nitrosomonas and nitrobacteria (good bacteria) immediately because of the chlorine or chloramine in your domestic water supply.

Monitor the nitrate level every week after you set it up an record weekly for the first three months or so. While this isn't essential you'll see the amount of NO3 build up over time and you'll then have an idea as to how good your water quality is. Rams are not the hardiest species out there and keeping this reading under 30ppm would be a good idea (under 10ppm) is better. 

This extra bit of effort should reward you with healthy fish, more spawning activity and higher survival rates of any subsequent fry.

You can do if you want, I don't. I still keep checking them though even when I put them in the main tank because they might be carrying something that will affect the resident fish, that is why I keep treatments in the cupboard.

Do you medicate new fish as a preventative?

I would say two weeks to be on the safe side. You will only need to do that when adding fish to an established tank with a new tank they can all go in the tank at the same time. For treatment I keep a White Spot and Bacterial treatment handy.

For White Spot I have always used King British WS3.

https://realaquatics.co.uk/products/king-british-original-formula-ws3-white-spot-control-50ml?variant=38194965119170&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&srsltid=AfmBOopn0s2iNi9AkqTqxrxnqvERpwhqDTozvvlRx9op0-7tg-sGXgeCHmE

When I got White Saddle Back on new fish a few years ago I used Interpet Anti Bacteria Treatment which worked great.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Interpet-Anti-Bacteria-Aquarium-Treatment/dp/B01FH2K2GM/ref=asc_df_B01FH2K2GM/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241051912230&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17223096135586711631&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007312&hvtargid=pla-420142522986&mcid=1d397680a75e3b559f5a3a5df2157693&th=1

How long do you quarantine new fish for?

I used to have a rack of super cheap  rough and ready 18" tanks kept for various purposes, one being quarantine. Think I used to isolate new arrivals for about a week. Was that enough?

Good stuff, success!

A few better pictures of the small Corry.

Quote from: Jon on May 04, 2024, 03:32:57 PMIf you DM me your address when you're ready I'll post you some suitable species gratis.

I have PMd you Jon.

Quote from: Jon on May 04, 2024, 05:14:59 PMThe colour difference is probably due to them being different species. There are at least three sold as 'rummynose tetra' found in the hobby. These are Hemmigrammus bleheri, H. rhodostomus and Petitella georgiae.

I found that out after I had bought them

As to the Corydoras I can only go by the, now four, Corydoras I have at present although I have seen the same over the years. The gravel I am using is sixty years old at least and some of it even has some shell fragments in it