Treating new fish

**jaysee** · 05-29-2009, 07:18 PM

If you were going to blindly treat new fish in a quarantine tank, what would you use? Lifeguard? pima/melafix?

**mrs fishpatrick** · 05-29-2009, 07:30 PM

melafix can be used
we have a product called esha 2000 that can be used for this also

**Taurus** · 05-29-2009, 07:34 PM

melafix'em

**PostalPenguin** · 05-29-2009, 07:35 PM

Why are you looking to blindly treat fish? For blind treatment I would use a UV sterilizer and a bare bottomed tank.

And remember every exposure to an anti-bacterial/anti-fungal is a chance for a bacteria to develop resistance.

**jaysee** · 05-30-2009, 06:25 AM

melafix is for bacteria, pimafix is for fungus - I think. I was more thinking along the lines of treating for parasites.

**Mvjnz** · 05-30-2009, 09:11 AM

I wouldn't medicate unless there was something wrong with them, I'd just put some IAL in there to prevent diseases in the first place.

**tetra_danio_girl** · 05-30-2009, 10:10 AM

I just put new fish in my QT for a few days and observe them. Now, my QT is salted with aquarium salt, so that any new bacteria and fungus won't grow in there inbetween fish.

But I don't just blindly treat the fish I get. I just watch them to see if they develop ich or something before putting them into my community tank.

**Jaster** · 05-30-2009, 03:46 PM

I wouldn't treat at all unless there is an issue. You could end up doing more harm then good. By not letting fight off illness on their own you weaken their own imune system. 3-4 weeks in QT will let you know IF there is an issue or not then you can act if you need to.

**jaysee** · 05-30-2009, 04:19 PM

I was thinking of this for if I get anymore petsmart fish. As I said in another post, I have had great difficulty keeping petsmart fish alive, no matter what kind. My petsmart is the best I've ever seen and rivals a good LFS. The water in all my tanks is the same, and everyone is happy and breeding, petsmart fish included. Then they just die one day without warning, regardless of what tank their in.

I'm going to do an experiment with my extra 10G. I'm going to get some petsmart neons and the same number of LFS neons and I'm going to keep them in exactly the same conditions. Exact same tank, same filter, same EVERYTHING.

**Jacko** · 05-30-2009, 04:27 PM

Never treat a fish if it doesn't have anything wrong with it, the best treatment for a fish in QT straight from the store is time, just watch them and make sure they don't develop anything. Salt would be an option if they permit it (I wouldn't use it on cories or any scaleless fish).
Get the meds anyway, they're good to have on hand in case the fish do develop anything, you won't have to run out to get them meds. Just don't use them untill there's a need.

The experiment sounds interesting, but I've got to ask, how do you plant to tell them apart? If they're in the same tank... I have issues telling my cichlids apart, let alone tetras. Are you dividing the 10?