Quarantine - Clown Loaches

[Laura Jager]

I have currently placed (3) 2.5" clown loaches in my cycled 12 gallon quarantine tank. They are all doing great. My question is do you believe it's beneficial to add any conditioners or products that can help them fight off any bacterial infections or leave them alone? I would like to give them the best of care before I place them into my show tank in about 3 more weeks.

Laura

[Ashleigh]

As long as the fish are looking healthy and active and are feeding well, the only thing that I would mention to treat them for is internal parasites. Prevention is better than cure and it could take a few months for signs to show if they are infected and by that time its a lot more difficult to treat successfully.

I usually use kusuri discus wormer with good results....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Kusuri-Wormer ... 286.c0.m14

As for bacterial meds/ich, I wouldn't touch those unless the fish are showing signs of infection.


Ashleigh

[chefkeith]

IMO, if you don't treat new fish prophylactically for ich while in quarantine then your fish are more at risk. With some types of fish (like tetras), you can quarantine them for a few months and never see any signs of ich.

Generations of Ich can stay hidden in the gills for a very long time,while each generation of ich gets stronger and stronger. Some time, like 3 months down the road, an ich strain might finally be able to penetrate the weakest fishes slime coat. If that fish is a loach, it probably won't be seen until it's too late. By then the entire tank may be infested and every fish inside may be fighting for it's life.

Unfortunately I learned this the hard way about 3 years ago. Lost about 30 clowns to ich even after doing standard quarantine treatments. I guess everyones luck varies if they don't treat for ich. Best just to take luck out of the equation.

If you have many fish in your main tank and have made a huge investment in them not just financially, but emotionally, then don't take any risks. The more loaches you have, the more devastating ich can be. Treat the new fish the one time while in quarantine, then you'll never have to worry about ich again.

A prophylactic ich treatment is the only way to guarantee that your main tank will remain ich free.

[Laura Jager]

This is just GREAT GREAT information. Thank you so much. What type of product do you recommend for me to use for the three clown loaches I have in quarantine right now?
Laura

[Diana]

http://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/l ... chloride-1

[chefkeith]

Use whatever remedy you think you can administer properly. There are many ich meds to choose from. That's a choice each person has to make on their own.