how long to QT after successful treatment?

[LM]

Hi,

I have two SAE's in a 10G quarantine tank. fortunately, they were
cured and seem healthy now (lost 1 along the way, but the two survived,
and no symptoms for the past 2-3 weeks now). they had some sort of
bacterial infection (dropsy and bleeding under the scales) that cured
after two back-to-back courses of maracyn-II.

however, the QTank is quite bare (few plastic plants, two mugs for them
to hide in/around, bare bottom), and the fish are quite stressed. any
little hiccup their black stripe turns pale... most of the day they
stay hiding on the shadow of the two mugs I put in there. they're
eating and pooping ok. (easy to see with bare bottom tank). QTank is
going through a cycle process now, so I'm using Amquel to keep ammonia
toxicity down, and keeping an eye on nitrite (still pretty low, but
definitely not zero), but I'm sure that's causing them further stress.

so... I'd like to return them to the main tank soon (very lush and
green with live plants, 37G tank). but whatever disease they had
killed two of my gouramis, so I'm a bit leery about being premature in
bringing them back into the main tank and re-infecting the whole tank.

how long should I keep the seemingly cured SAE's in quarantine after
visible signs of illness has been gone?

one sad thing is that I found out that my smaller loaches (zebra and
dward loaches) seem much happier without the SAEs around. so, it's
going to create some havoc in the main tank when I re-release the two.
may be I should trade at least one to the LFS for some other less
rumbunctious species. I guess the SAEs are too active when there are
more than 1 in the tank (I had three.. right now there is one left in
the main tank, and 2 in the Qtank. at least one of the most
aggressive/alpha one is the one that died, so.. may be it will be
better?)

linda

[Koi-Lo]

*NOTE: There are two Koi-Lo's on this NG*

"LM" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi,
>
> I have two SAE's in a 10G quarantine tank. fortunately, they were
> cured and seem healthy now (lost 1 along the way, but the two survived,
> and *no symptoms for the past 2-3 weeks now).* they had some sort of
> bacterial infection (dropsy and bleeding under the scales) that cured
> after two back-to-back courses of maracyn-II.

Just my opinion but 2 weeks without symptoms is long enough. I would return
them to their home tank.

> one sad thing is that I found out that my smaller loaches (zebra and
> dward loaches) seem much happier without the SAEs around. so, it's
> going to create some havoc in the main tank when I re-release the two.
> may be I should trade at least one to the LFS for some other less
> rumbunctious species. I guess the SAEs are too active when there are
> more than 1 in the tank (I had three.. right now there is one left in
> the main tank, and 2 in the Qtank. at least one of the most
> aggressive/alpha one is the one that died, so.. may be it will be
> better?)

I always had a rule to remove any fish that harassed or stressed the other
fish in the tank. I believed that stress would lead to disease and tried to
avoid that as much as possible. It also stressed me to watch the victims of
the bullies as there is no escape for them in a tank as there is in nature.
I was always able to sell or trade them for something less aggressive.
--
Koi-Lo....
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
I do not post from Earthlink.net
~~~~ }<((((*> ~~~ }<{{{{(ö> ~~~~ }<((((({*>

[Frank]

LM wrote,
>how long should I keep the seemingly cured SAE's in quarantine after
>visible signs of illness has been gone? ....

With a parasitic problem, a week - two at most. With a bacterial
infection, 2 to 3 weeks.

> they had some sort of
>bacterial infection (dropsy and bleeding under the scales) that cured
>after two back-to-back courses of maracyn-II....

Dropsy is really hard to cure, and takes 30 days of treatment. Heat,
Epsom Salts and Erythromycin laced food seem to work the best. Fish
being bloated doesn't mean it's dropsy unless their eyes are bulging
also. A bloated fish could be due to constipation or internal
parasites. If the bloated fish will not eat, it's likely internal
hexamita (Malawi Bloat), best treated with Metronidazole. If the
bloated fish does eat, then it's more likely to be due to internal
parasites (likely worms) and is best treated with something like
fluke-tabs or praziquantel mixed into their food (1/4 tsp per 100 grams
of food) for 3 to 5 days.

Bleeding under the scales can be caused by a couple of different
things. Could be a wound from fighting, or a parasitic problem called
Costia. QuickCure or any other formaldehyde/malachite green medication
should cure it in 3 to 5 days......................... Frank

[LM]

Hi All,

thanks for the replies. I just moved them back to the main tank and
sterilized the Q-tank.. we'll see if they start harassing other fish
like before, and if so, one of them is going back to LFS!

linda