Thursday, January 31, 2008
Quarantine
There is always discussion about the practice of quarantining fish the hobbyist has purchased prior to adding the fish to the pond. Some folks say that is definately necessary while others say it is a waste of time. I am a true believer in the practice, IF it is done correctly. The following is an article written by Dr. Erik Johnson and is used with his permission. I hope this will help answer some of your questions.
Quarantine-by Doc Johnson
Quarantine is the best method to reduce disease introduction. Let me outline a quarantine facility and protocol as if the fish we are discussing were quite valuable.
First, a large facility is required, 100-150 gallons is good.
It should have a fully cycled filter sponge or other type of effective nitrification system, fully operational.
A quarantine with bad water is infinitely worse than no quarantine at all.
Temperature should be 72 to 78 degress in the quarantine. People heat their fish to 86 degrees to kill Ich and it ends up accelerating bacterial overgrowth and decreasing oxygen capacity of the system. pH should be supported with a neutral buffer dosed according to label instructions.
You should dose the quarantine with 0.3% plain uniodized salt (3 tsp per gallon) The quarantine should be completely covered or you can float some foam on the surface. Koi like to jump out, and that can be costly. You should check the ammonia and pH in the quarantine daily. Ammonia should be ZERO. pH will normally crash in quarantine unless buffered.
You should feed antibiotic food during the stay in quarantine.
Finally, the quarantine should be of a 14-21 day duration, so long as the water quality can be supported with changes, ect. as needed.
Quarantine-by Doc Johnson
Quarantine is the best method to reduce disease introduction. Let me outline a quarantine facility and protocol as if the fish we are discussing were quite valuable.
First, a large facility is required, 100-150 gallons is good.
It should have a fully cycled filter sponge or other type of effective nitrification system, fully operational.
A quarantine with bad water is infinitely worse than no quarantine at all.
Temperature should be 72 to 78 degress in the quarantine. People heat their fish to 86 degrees to kill Ich and it ends up accelerating bacterial overgrowth and decreasing oxygen capacity of the system. pH should be supported with a neutral buffer dosed according to label instructions.
You should dose the quarantine with 0.3% plain uniodized salt (3 tsp per gallon) The quarantine should be completely covered or you can float some foam on the surface. Koi like to jump out, and that can be costly. You should check the ammonia and pH in the quarantine daily. Ammonia should be ZERO. pH will normally crash in quarantine unless buffered.
You should feed antibiotic food during the stay in quarantine.
Finally, the quarantine should be of a 14-21 day duration, so long as the water quality can be supported with changes, ect. as needed.
posted by PondRX News @ 6:58 AM
