Hey guys,
I wanted to post an informational thread on my current quarantine process and hopefully make it an ongoing thread where everyone can share their quarantine and treatment procedures that they have had success with
So a little background on me for those who don't know me.
I got my start in this hobby 20 years ago at the ripe young age of 12 years old. I've met so many awesome people in that time and have learned so much through trial and error
My approach to quarantine comes from a strong background in combat trauma medicine and emergency medicine. I was a Navy Corpsman (combat medic) with Marine Corps Infantry for 5 years. Hence my busniness' name, Doc's Aquatics. I then went on to work as an EMT for San Bernardino County Fire. So I have a rather aggressive treatment approach with saltwater fish lol
So now on to the important stuff, my QT process!
All of my fish undergo 30 days in copper power. I maintain therapeutic levels of 2.0-2.5 ppm by monitoring with the hannah copper checker as this have given me the best results
Fish are given freshwater dips throughout the first 3 weeks to control any flukes, then on approximately day 24 and 29 they are treated with general cure to completely eradicate them
I feed the fish foods soaked in seachem focus, metroplex, kanaplex, furan 2, and vitachem for the first 14 days of treatment. Alot of people lose their fish to secondary infections or internal parasites without even knowing it. You can completely get rid of ich, velvet, or flukes but the fish could still easily develop an infection from one of the microscopic injuries left behind by parasites
I will also give my fish 45 minute baths in ruby reef rally. That stuff can really help to provide relief to fish infected with brookynella or velvet
I run UV sterilizers throughout the entire quarantine process (minus the two days of general cure treatment) to prevent bacterial blooms and maintain water quality. It also does help keep parasite populations down but of course does not completely eradicate them. It is often believed that you cannot run UV while running copper as the UV will breakdown the copper into toxic levels. This only applies to ionic copper such as cupramine. Chelated copper like copper power or coppersafe are ok to run with UV
I would like to add that this is only how I run my quarantine tanks. Much like medicine in humans, there a so many proven methods to treat fish. Many people like to observe and only treat what they see, and there is nothing wrong with this approach. People experimenting with new methods of treatment will make the survival rate of these fish skyrocket. I am very interested in playing around with hydrogen peroxide treatment. It is still very much in its experimental phase right now but I know people like @mattyzang have had alot of success with it
I'd love to hear any questions or criticisms you guys have of my process. Also, please share your own quarantine process if you have one, or if you've had success with some kind of disease management system. I'd love to hear everyone's experiences on how they've been able to beat these diseases that can cause major headaches for us hobbyists
I wanted to post an informational thread on my current quarantine process and hopefully make it an ongoing thread where everyone can share their quarantine and treatment procedures that they have had success with
So a little background on me for those who don't know me.
I got my start in this hobby 20 years ago at the ripe young age of 12 years old. I've met so many awesome people in that time and have learned so much through trial and error
My approach to quarantine comes from a strong background in combat trauma medicine and emergency medicine. I was a Navy Corpsman (combat medic) with Marine Corps Infantry for 5 years. Hence my busniness' name, Doc's Aquatics. I then went on to work as an EMT for San Bernardino County Fire. So I have a rather aggressive treatment approach with saltwater fish lol
So now on to the important stuff, my QT process!
All of my fish undergo 30 days in copper power. I maintain therapeutic levels of 2.0-2.5 ppm by monitoring with the hannah copper checker as this have given me the best results
Fish are given freshwater dips throughout the first 3 weeks to control any flukes, then on approximately day 24 and 29 they are treated with general cure to completely eradicate them
I feed the fish foods soaked in seachem focus, metroplex, kanaplex, furan 2, and vitachem for the first 14 days of treatment. Alot of people lose their fish to secondary infections or internal parasites without even knowing it. You can completely get rid of ich, velvet, or flukes but the fish could still easily develop an infection from one of the microscopic injuries left behind by parasites
I will also give my fish 45 minute baths in ruby reef rally. That stuff can really help to provide relief to fish infected with brookynella or velvet
I run UV sterilizers throughout the entire quarantine process (minus the two days of general cure treatment) to prevent bacterial blooms and maintain water quality. It also does help keep parasite populations down but of course does not completely eradicate them. It is often believed that you cannot run UV while running copper as the UV will breakdown the copper into toxic levels. This only applies to ionic copper such as cupramine. Chelated copper like copper power or coppersafe are ok to run with UV
I would like to add that this is only how I run my quarantine tanks. Much like medicine in humans, there a so many proven methods to treat fish. Many people like to observe and only treat what they see, and there is nothing wrong with this approach. People experimenting with new methods of treatment will make the survival rate of these fish skyrocket. I am very interested in playing around with hydrogen peroxide treatment. It is still very much in its experimental phase right now but I know people like @mattyzang have had alot of success with it
I'd love to hear any questions or criticisms you guys have of my process. Also, please share your own quarantine process if you have one, or if you've had success with some kind of disease management system. I'd love to hear everyone's experiences on how they've been able to beat these diseases that can cause major headaches for us hobbyists