quarantine advice

I have had some really bad quarantine results. I have a tank in place - 350
gals, I think. It has some unwanted gf in it, which I think will serve well
for 'canary' fish. I know I need to run some of the water out and replace
it before I put in this new baby. I plan to do frequent water changes,
rather than setting up a filter. These gf have lived out the winter in this
setup without it, and I have not had good results with the filtration of
this tank in the past. The total fish load will be about 18" in the 350
gals. I think two to three weeks should be enough. Any disagreements?
My past bad experiences have led me to skip the quarantine entirely, but my
last resulting disaster cured that carelessness forever. Mostly, it makes
me think hard about acquiring new fish.

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
I have had some really bad quarantine results. I have a tank in place -
350 gals, I think. It has some unwanted gf in it, which I think will serve
well for 'canary' fish. I know I need to run some of the water out and
replace it before I put in this new baby. I plan to do frequent water
changes, rather than setting up a filter. These gf have lived out the
winter in this setup without it, and I have not had good results with the
filtration of this tank in the past. The total fish load will be about 18"
in the 350 gals. I think two to three weeks should be enough. Any
disagreements?
My past bad experiences have led me to skip the quarantine entirely, but
my last resulting disaster cured that carelessness forever. Mostly, it
makes me think hard about acquiring new fish.
=============================
I lost almost every fish I had to a contagious ulcer infection back around
1998. All new fish, and they are few, are quarantined for 21 days now and
treated for parasites whether I see anything suspicious or not. I filter
even my smallest 150g ponds. What problem did you have filtering your 350g
tank?

No one goes by inches of fish anymore.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Hmmm, thanks for that info. I hate to expose any of my koi. I like them
all. I would go get one at Petco, but I thought the point was to use a fish
that has been living in your own pond. Also, how do you heat up your QT?
Are tank heaters expensive?
wrote in message
...
you need an indicator koi ... GF arent enough for the worst. and the temp
in that
tank has to get up to 80oF or so to let the heat activated virus or
bacteria out and
do its worst. anything short of a month isnt going to do it. Ingrid

"Ann in Houston" wrote:

I have had some really bad quarantine results. I have a tank in place -
350
gals, I think. It has some unwanted gf in it, which I think will serve
well
for 'canary' fish. I know I need to run some of the water out and replace
it before I put in this new baby. I plan to do frequent water changes,
rather than setting up a filter. These gf have lived out the winter in
this
setup without it, and I have not had good results with the filtration of
this tank in the past. The total fish load will be about 18" in the 350
gals. I think two to three weeks should be enough. Any disagreements?
My past bad experiences have led me to skip the quarantine entirely, but
my
last resulting disaster cured that carelessness forever. Mostly, it makes
me think hard about acquiring new fish.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up:
http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold
website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

I forgot to add that I was going to treat the water for parasites and
fungus.
I think my pump was too big for the tank, and I kind of rigged the filter
petty cheaply. The water was agitated an awful lot. I didn't want to pop
for a new one. Also, I had trouble with the fish hating the tank and
stressing out. Now that I think of it, though, those fish were big. As for
the fish load, it is about four small gf, two and a half, on up to about
six inches long. The new one is about four inches.
=============================
I lost almost every fish I had to a contagious ulcer infection back around
1998. All new fish, and they are few, are quarantined for 21 days now and
treated for parasites whether I see anything suspicious or not. I filter
even my smallest 150g ponds. What problem did you have filtering your
350g tank?

No one goes by inches of fish anymore.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
I forgot to add that I was going to treat the water for parasites and
fungus.
I think my pump was too big for the tank, and I kind of rigged the filter
petty cheaply. The water was agitated an awful lot.

I believe too much agitation does stress them. My 150g ponds/tanks have
pumps that are in the 250gph range. They're wrapped in plastic window
screen and some poly quilt batting material and stuffed in plastic pots.
There's no wild agitation. I have them at one end, not the middle so the
fish can rest or hide in the plants at the opposite side.

I didn't want to pop
for a new one. Also, I had trouble with the fish hating the tank and
stressing out. Now that I think of it, though, those fish were big. As
for the fish load, it is about four small gf, two and a half, on up to
about six inches long. The new one is about four inches.

I always figure 10g per small goldfish and 20 to 30g per adult which are
over 8" long.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
Hmmm, thanks for that info. I hate to expose any of my koi. I like them
all. I would go get one at Petco, but I thought the point was to use a
fish that has been living in your own pond. Also, how do you heat up your
QT? Are tank heaters expensive?
==========================
You didn't take a new fish from the pet shop and put it outside in cold
water did you? That can be a real shock since pet stores keep their tank on
the warm side. You can't easily heat and outdoor tank. My quarantine tank
is inside.

I don't expose anything to new fish. And watch for cross-contamination by
hand or fish nets.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

you need an indicator koi ... GF arent enough for the worst. and the temp in that
tank has to get up to 80oF or so to let the heat activated virus or bacteria out and
do its worst. anything short of a month isnt going to do it. Ingrid

"Ann in Houston" wrote:

I have had some really bad quarantine results. I have a tank in place - 350
gals, I think. It has some unwanted gf in it, which I think will serve well
for 'canary' fish. I know I need to run some of the water out and replace
it before I put in this new baby. I plan to do frequent water changes,
rather than setting up a filter. These gf have lived out the winter in this
setup without it, and I have not had good results with the filtration of
this tank in the past. The total fish load will be about 18" in the 350
gals. I think two to three weeks should be enough. Any disagreements?
My past bad experiences have led me to skip the quarantine entirely, but my
last resulting disaster cured that carelessness forever. Mostly, it makes
me think hard about acquiring new fish.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 04:57:17 GMT, wrote:

you need an indicator koi ... GF arent enough for the worst. and the temp in that
tank has to get up to 80oF or so to let the heat activated virus or bacteria out and
do its worst. anything short of a month isnt going to do it. Ingrid

I agree, I go for 6 weeks minimum. 3 weeks without indicator koi, and 3
weeks with a small koi from the pond. I use gf to keep the filter going and
move them when the koi go in. It is good to leave a gf or 2 until you can
put a small koi from your pond in with it. ~ jan

No, I didn't take a new one and put it outside. Ingrid said I needed to
have a koi as a test fish, but I don't want to sacrifice any of my own koi.
I only was saying that the only koi I wouldn't mind testing with would be
one from the lfs, but that I didn't think that would serve the purpose since
it wouldn't be from my own pond.
The new fish I just bought was in a bldg. without any climate control,
just out of the rain, sun and wind. Right now, he's indoors because I don't
want to just put him out in the somewhat neglected tank on the patio with
the goldies. I want to improve the water somewhat. We just got in from SA
this afternoon and I had too much to do and too stormy a day to set up the
tank today. We are on a well, but the tank is full of rainwater, right now.
Our highs are mostly in the mid to upper 70's now. We start most days
around 60 degrees. I don't know how I would keep him inside with enough
water to accommodate him and one other one.
"Reel McKoi" wrote in message
...

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
Hmmm, thanks for that info. I hate to expose any of my koi. I like them
all. I would go get one at Petco, but I thought the point was to use a
fish that has been living in your own pond. Also, how do you heat up
your QT? Are tank heaters expensive?
==========================
You didn't take a new fish from the pet shop and put it outside in cold
water did you? That can be a real shock since pet stores keep their tank
on the warm side. You can't easily heat and outdoor tank. My quarantine
tank is inside.

I don't expose anything to new fish. And watch for cross-contamination by
hand or fish nets.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
No, I didn't take a new one and put it outside. Ingrid said I needed to
have a koi as a test fish, but I don't want to sacrifice any of my own
koi.

I don't use "test fish" and never found that necessary. What if the test
fish has immunity to whatever the new fish has? And what do you do with the
test fish after the quarantine time is over? To each his or her own
way.......

I only was saying that the only koi I wouldn't mind testing with would be
one from the lfs, but that I didn't think that would serve the purpose
since it wouldn't be from my own pond.
The new fish I just bought was in a bldg. without any climate control,
just out of the rain, sun and wind. Right now, he's indoors because I
don't want to just put him out in the somewhat neglected tank on the patio
with the goldies. I want to improve the water somewhat.

Lots and lots of partial water changes. :-) Filtering and aeration would
also help. Get a cheap powerhead and make one of the filters like I have.
Cheap, easy and effective.

We just got in from SA
this afternoon and I had too much to do and too stormy a day to set up the
tank today. We are on a well, but the tank is full of rainwater, right
now.

Watch the hardness as rain water can make the water too soft and even acid
depending on where you live (acid rain). Also it has no buffering capacity.
A PH crash can kill all your fish.

Our highs are mostly in the mid to upper 70's now. We start most days
around 60 degrees. I don't know how I would keep him inside with enough
water to accommodate him and one other one.

Gotcha!
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö