Medicating 'New Arrivals' Options

[JayLar]

Gee I hope I got this poll form right
As a newbie have read just about everything re Tropheus I could get me hands on over last year. A lot of contradictory information regarding medicating new arrivals so I guess it's a lot down to personal experience rather than a 'standard'. Am sure all us newbies out there would appreciate guidance from those who have walked on the dark side before us!

[Jrbama]

I used Metro as a water treatment when my tropheus juvie's arrived. I lost one Dub each day for three days. I had ordered 24 but received well more than that. I have not had any problems with my dub's since; however, I've only had one colony of Troph. Dub's. I've had them since Dec 30th, 2008. So far, all are living and are about 3 to 4 inches - breeding well!

[Heather]

Great idea for a poll, we look forward to learning from everyone's experiences



Personally I do not believe in using any medications for non-symptomatic concerns, primarily because of the possibility of building immune resistance to antibiotics particularly. In short, if it ain't broke... don't fix it, because if you do... you may not be able to fix it as successfully should it actually break in the future.. LOL.

Any thoughts on this approach?

[dww-law]

I always medicate with food that is soaked with metro for 4 days (For trophs) upon arrival. This has worked for me so I continue to do it.

[billansor]

Great idea for a poll, we look forward to learning from everyone's experiences



Personally I do not believe in using any medications for non-symptomatic concerns, primarily because of the possibility of building immune resistance to antibiotics particularly. In short, if it ain't broke... don't fix it, because if you do... you may not be able to fix it as successfully should it actually break in the future.. LOL.

Any thoughts on this approach?

I think Heather is right in a purist experienced perspective. Immunity is built up toward medicine in many many ways and throughout the years it has been proven over through many different ways.

The problem as I have seen and experienced is that there are quite a few situations in which the quality of fish go downhill in a bag over a period of time.

Examples are;

Bagged fish that are triple bagged, bag buddies and oxygen in bag but the fish were fed right up to the time of bagging = poor water quality very quickly

Bagged fish that have bad water to begin with = poor water quality

Single Bagged fish = Possible punctured bag, leaky bag, water drained out

Bagged fish that have many fish in it = poor water quality

There are so many variables in the quality of the fish and until you get to know the person shipping, it almost becomes mandatory to do the following.

#1 Quarantine the fish in a tank for minimum 3 weeks to 5 weeks

#2 When the fish arrive, smell the water in the bag, look to see how much detritus (poop and other stuff), look at the condition of the fish -- If water smells foul, lots of poop, fish breathing hard and looking uncomfortable.
((for above situation, use drip method into the bag (s) and when water temperature is similar to tank and bag is filled mostly with tank water, gently net the fish out into the tank. Do not use add the bag water))

#3 When the fish are in the quarantine tank, Cover tank with blanket, make sure no light can get through, DO NOT FEED!! Cover tank for 24 hours, Do check to make sure fish are not dying or in stress

#4 After 24 hours, uncover and add light and see how the fish behavior looks. Active, curious fish with some caution is normal but still swimming and checking out their new home should be the best clue that your fish are doing well.

#5 After watching.... Feed just so very little that some fish may not even get to eat. What you want to see is no spitting out, a somewhat aggressive approach to finding food.

#6 If the fish are doing well and you gradually increase the feeding and things continue to look good.... GREAT... No medication needed!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going back to #2

If the bag stinks, poop all over, fish lethargic, white stringy poop, many fish in the bag, bag deflated...

You drip into the bag, gently net the fish out and observe... and over the course of a couple of hours... just have that gut feeling that the fish are REALLY stressed and not doing well.

#1 Do consider adding metro... should be twice per day as it has a short medicating effect

#2 Do not FEED, KEEP TANK COVERED FROM LIGHT

#3 Check several times per day just observe...


Heather is right... its not a blanket invitation to medicate... but with good observation.... you can know the difference when and when not to...

My two bits and am sorry it's long

Bill

[JkdJedi]

I read an interesting article years ago about how some hobbyist dunk their salt water specimens in fresh water before introducing them to the main tank. This somehow caused the parasites (if any) to pop and die. They mentioned that freshwater fish dunked in saltwater would have the same affect. I have never tried this though, anybody out there hear of this technique?

[salaCzar]

I read an interesting article years ago about how some hobbyist dunk their salt water specimens in fresh water before introducing them to the main tank. This somehow caused the parasites (if any) to pop and die. They mentioned that freshwater fish dunked in saltwater would have the same affect. I have never tried this though, anybody out there hear of this technique? :)

Freshwater organisms/cells dunked in saltwater will just shrivel a bit; probably not to the point of doing permanent damage unless of course you hurt the fish as well.

[swk]

About the only thing I do as a preventative is to add some quickcure to the bag while floating if the fish have been shipped. Other than that I try to keep a variety of meds on hand and at the ready when new fish arrive especially if wild caught.

[geost]

Think 3 steps ahead and be prepared. 3 words to live by, Quarantine, Quarantine and Quarantine; applies to new additions to your established tank(s) animal or vegetable.

Unfortunately, extra tanks does make the hobby more expensive, however the grief some members have posted is truly real and can is avoidable. All the time people spend researching and obtaining their stocks (some really rare variants) and cost of stocks, it is worth while to Qurantine.

[Larry Johnson]

Long distance travel involves a lot of bumping and rubbing each other or the sides of the bag.
In order to prevent fin rot problems which if left untreated to stressed fish can be a real problem so I treat with a sulpha based treatment.
I have found that fish not having this treatment can sometimes suffer from a bacterial gill infestation and once the treatment was started deaths immediatley stopped the next day.
After all the fish are eating and doing well I give them a one day treatment of Clout,this seems to give them a "spark" over the next few days and the result is a better appitite.
Occasionaly I mix in some metro based food with their Veggie flakes, once a week for 4 weeks if they are still here, and pass on the concoction to anyone who buys them.
I have not lost one fish to bloat.
All fish are kept in their own tanks, Troph's are never mixed here.

Cheers,Larry






This post has been edited by Larry Johnson: Jul 29 2010, 02:12 AM