Every fish store intends to sell healthy fish.
No one intentionally sells sick or dying fishes.
Shop
Quarantine.
Every fish store also varies in their ability to spot and diagnose
fish diseases. At
Aqualand we quarantine unhealthy fishes – and even fishes that look
unhealthy. We
refuse to sell you sick fishes (even at a discount, although some
customers continue to ask that question).
On each “sick tank” we post a record of their disease and
treatment schedule to make sure no one buys or sells a sick fish by accident.
New
Fish.
Unfortunately, not all fish diseases show immediate signs.
In fact, such stresses as:
-
netting
stress;
-
bagging
stress;
-
stress
during transportation;
-
temperature
changes;
-
water
quality changes,
that
occur when taking fishes home can weaken the fishes’ immune system and
can actually trigger latent diseases.
Prophylaxis.
We recommend you give every new fish a squirt of NovAqua (water
conditioner) and treat them for ich parasites (Icthyopthirius
multifiliis) at half strength for three days.
For even better results, we recommend a home quarantine tank.
Home
Quarantine.
Saltwater fish keepers pay big bucks for their fishes, so most of
them quarantine their new fishes.
When you mix an unquarantined sick fish into an otherwise healthy
tank, you risk passing that disease (visible or not) on to your other
fishes. And vice
versa. If you
quarantine new fishes for a week or three, you prevent this problem.
No
Quarantine.
We realize that few people will quarantine their new fishes –
refer back to Prophylaxis.
LA
Pic
Here's a whole stack of economical quarantine tanks.
Quarantine
Tank.
Keep your quarantine tank as simple as possible.
Ten-gallon tanks work fine and cost very little.
Use newly aged water with a water conditioner such as NovAqua.
Filter your water with an easily cleaned sponge filter.
Change the water often, or add AmQuel to neutralize the ammonia.
If your new fish stays healthy, add it to your tank.
Cleaning.
By keeping your quarantine tank simple, you can clean it
easily.
When not using it, store it completely dry.
Fish diseases rarely survive an extended dry period.
Keep it in an out of the way place until you need it.
Treatment.
If your new fish gets sick, treat it in your quarantine tank rather
than messing up your main tank with medications.
Antibiotics kill beneficial bacteria and plants as well as the
nasty bacteria you want to assassinate.
Many of the dyes and copper treatments used to kill parasites will
also kill plants.
All medications also stress otherwise healthy fishes and can cause
new problems.
Pamper
Them.
Give sick fishes several light meals per day.
Give them some treat foods that they really like.
Add a mystery snail or three to clean up any uneaten food or vacuum the
bottom daily.
Vacuuming the bottom also removes ich parasites that multiply on
the bottom.
Other
Sick Fish.
Quarantine tanks also provide a better place to treat existing
fishes that get sick.
Once again, the quarantine tank protects your main tank.
It cost much less to treat a 10-gallon quarantine tank than a 55.
Birthing
Tank.
Most “baby savers” provide insufficient room for baby
livebearers to escape from their hungry moms.
By using your quarantine tank and adding a mass of plastic plants,
you can greatly increase your livebearer population.

Pregnant mollies like
to pick at the algae growing on the filter sponges.
Breeding
Tank.
Egglayers also need a separate place to release their eggs.
In your regular tank, the other fishes devour the eggs as soon as
they appear.
Any fry lucky enough to hatch also make tasty snacks for other
fishes.
Your quarantine tank makes a great place to breed egglayers.
Rearing
Tank.
Tasty baby fishes need their own space.
Big fishes eat tasty little fishes.
Your quarantine tank makes the ideal place to rear livebearers and
egglayers until they’re too big for the other fishes to devour.
LA.
©
2000,
© 2003,
© 2004 LA Productions

3600
Sixth Avenue
Corner
of Sixth & Euclid Avenues
Des
Moines, IA 50313
515
283-0300
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