Quarantine tank, how big do you need?

[wild_amazon]

I like to know what the size of your quarantine tank? Will 2'x18x18" big enough for 3 - 4 adult discus without having to change water everyday?
Since medication can be quite expensive, the bigger the tank the more expensive it will cost. But will 2'x18x18 be big enough?

[Merrilyn]

The tank will be big enough, but you will need to change the water every day.

Two fish would be better, but you could manage four, although they probably won't like it.

[wild_amazon]

My understanding is that some medication need to be applied for certain number of days. If I change the water daily wouldn't I need to redose the medication daily?

[sunshinediscus]

LOL wild amazon, submit button get away from you mate!!

Yes you will need to add more meds after each daily waterchange.

[kalebjarrod]

(wild_amazon i fixed your triplicate posts :wink: )

[wild_amazon]

Oops sorry for the multiple posts.
I bought 2'x18x18 today and now it's running with an internal filter, some gravels (in stocking) and old water my other tank. Now I going to the some wild discus.

[DR.V]

for quarantine tank try not to use gravel

[flukes]

Yeah leave your QT tank as bare as you can.. Alot easier too see if there are any problems..

[wild_amazon]

I can simply remove the gravels in the stocking. The reason I put the gravels was to help with bacteria production in the new tank. Would this be good for the tank?

[Merrilyn]

It will certainly help to seed the new filter in the quarantine tank. But remember, if you use medications in there, it will wipe out you bio filter anyway.

Quarantine tanks can be run with out bio filtration, so long as you change about 50% of the water every day.

[wild_amazon]

I was hoping that I didn't have to change water everyday for 6-8 weeks. That's a lot of work and water (and medication).

[Merrilyn]

What sort of medications did you have in mind using in the tank. Most of the time you only need to treat for 3 to 5 days with medication, then once the treatment is over, you change the water and put your bio filter back in there for the remainder of the quarantine period.

[wild_amazon]

Prazi and metro. Might use broad spectrum too.

[sunshinediscus]

Wild Amazon, When you treat with the prazi 48 hours is enough time in the water for it to work. No tapeworms after that period of time then your fish likely don't have worms. If you get a few worms out of the discus with the 1st treatment then retreat a week later to kill any newly hatched worms.

I'm not sure why you would treat with metro unless you have a confirmed case of flagellettes, besides in mild cases heat will be enough to eradicate them. Adjust your heater to 33/34c for a week and only use metro when it is nessasary. It is a prescription drug and should not be used willy nilly.

HTH

Rod

[wild_amazon]

Rod,

I've been reading discus forums and they said all wild discus should be treated with prazi and metro. Many suggest quarantine period of 6-8 weeks so not to infect other fish . How is your experience so far with wild?
Metro is difficult to get too but this time I want to get it right.
What is your suggestion?

[Merrilyn]

Aaaah now it all makes sense. Yes, I would definately be treating wilds for both worm and fluke infestations. Medicate first, change the water after the required treatment time, and then add your bio filter for the remainder of the quarantine period.

And I do agree with the 6 - 8 weeks time frame. Even then, I would be reluctant to mix wilds with domestic discus.

[flukes]

Who are you getting the wilds off??
Have only seen true wilds a few times and they come with a nice price tag. They are a sight too be seen though. Wouldnt mind setting up a tank of wilds one day..

[Trebs]

If you think daily water changes is a lot of work I'd seriously reconsider getting wilds. You won't find any short cuts just dead fish and wasted money.

Ladyred I don't agree that you can run that tank uncycled with daily 50% w/c.

With that size tank and that number of fish it is imperative you have a well cycled filter. Fishless cycle on another tank and then transfer it to the q tank.

[DiscusMan]

I would personally get two smaller tanks. 1 * 18 * 18 and stick them in the same spot.

For the reasons that there is less Volume so when you wanna treat only one fish or have two fish with different problems you can treat them at the same time.

I would be suggesting that the suggestion lady red made about the water changes would need to be tested by checking water conditions after the first day and see how its going. Perhaps going to 70% or 80% if parameters like ammonia are bad. In the end fresh water does wonders to any sick fish and no amount of filtering replaces a water change. Perhaps even two %50 changes a day.

Depending on the treatment your doing the filter will be wiped out anyway especially if using our mate formalin. I only run a filter in my sick tank as i cant be bothered buying another air stone. makes more work to clean but oh well things we do hey.

Wayne

[Merrilyn]

Thanks for pointing that out trebs. Sorry if you found that confusing. You can run the tank without bio filtration whilst you are medicating. The meds will destroy the bio filter anyway.

Daily water changes will hold down the ammonia till the meds are finished and then the bio filter can be added to the tank for the remaining quarantine time.

Naturally, in the meantime you need to keep the bio filter running in a cycled tank, till you are ready to use it.

[sunshinediscus]

Wild Amazon,

My suggestion is when you first get the wilds in your Q tank let them settle for a few days and just observe them. I assume you will be buying discus that are already in relatively good condition so let them settle in and start to eat and become acustomed to your tank. After a week or so i would then treat 2ppm praziquantel, if any tapeworms come out within 48 hours then treat another week later as well. A week after the praziquantel dose is finished adjust your heater to 33/34c to eradiacate internal flagellettes and keep it warm for another week. All that is assuming there is nothing overly wrong with them, obviously if they have gill flukes or other diseases then they should be taken care of first. Praziquantel will not kill your bio filter, nor will heat treating so setup your tank with a cycled sponge from the begginning to help avoid water quality issues. If you have to use formalin or an antibiotic ( metro is actually an antibiotic, but does not harm the bio filter )then they will fry your bio filter so have a spare on hand.

HTH

Rod

[wild_amazon]

Thanks guys for the advise.
Rod, I will follow your instructions step by step. I am getting 3 wild Heckels medium size (8cm) tomorrow (on hold for me). They have been in the shop for 6-8 weeks. The quarantine tank just been setup since Sunday with old water, gravels, small driftwood with plants and a smallist internal filters. I am a bit concern with this since it has not been cycled properly. I also have another established tank 3x18x18 and has baby peppermint BNs that I can use if I have too. Most likely will have to do daily water change until I move them to 4x2x2.
The three fish look healthy, one of them looks skinny though. No sunken stomach and readily eat life black worm. I am hoping that they will eventually take frozen blood worm and breeder premium or other dried food.
I have kept a couple of Heckels around 15 years ago. I didn't deworm and medicate the fish. Also I put them with other tank bred discus and they couldn't compete come to feeding time. Slowly they wasted away, sad sight. One lasted 6 months the other 12 months. They got so skinny. No interned that time to ask people and LFS had limited experience with advise too. Hopefully I can do it better this time. My aim is get them to grow healthy to adult size and to enjoy them. Heckels has been my favaurite for a long time. PS: this is the common heckels not the blue face.

[flukes]

Dont think it would be cycled in 8 days.. Ive done just under 2 weeks with fishless. But that was with alot of seeding from established tanks...

Better too use the 3fter that is established with bio filtration, at least you know they dont have too worry about ammonia/nitrite...

Precious cargo like that, you want too give them the best chance..

[Dee]

Hi Rod,

Thanks for posting the Q process, very informative.

Cheers,

Dee :)

[wild_amazon]

I have another important question, what test kits must I have? I only have PH and conductivity testers. I have not checked other parameters for many, many years. But now I am getting discus what test kit must I get? If I do 30-50% water change every 1 or 2 days will I be able to avoid amonia, nitrite & nitrate spikes in my new Q tank? How often do I need to check the water considering that a test kit can only do around 15 tests.

[Dee]

Hi Wild Amazon,

I may be stating the obvious, but you should get the parameters of the tank they are currently in at the LFS and match those. As for test kits I would say the basics would be ...

1. PH
2. Amonia
3. Nitrite
4. Nitrate
5. Hardness

I would check the Amonia and Nitrite each day with that tank size and fish load. Good luck with the Wilds, post some pics when they settle in. :)

Cheers,

Dee :)

[wild_amazon]

I just ordered test kits, colourbits & medications. You guys probably think why am I rushing into this with tank that has not been cycled properly. Well the availablity of wild discus is not that good and sometimes the prices are just way too much. Anyway wish me luck. I'll post some pictures soon. The fish are coming home with me tonight.

[ctvu]

Then Good Luck !!! and we are waiting for the pic. Pls don't forget

And Thanks Rod for very good tips

ctvu

[Merrilyn]

That's so exciting. We've all got our fingers crossed for you. Keep doing those water changes and you will avoid most of the problems.

[wild_amazon]

Got the fish home last night and this morning they are still hiding. Hopefully they will come out and take frozen BW soon. I will be doing frequent WC and will medicate them with Prazi once they look better. I set the temperature at 29C, ph 7.2 on conductivity 270. Test kits have not arrived yet so I can't check other parameters.

[Trebs]

Keep a close eye on their breathing rate while you're waiting for test kits to arrive. Should be the best indicator of your water quality.

[wild_amazon]

Rod, can you tell me if formalin and metro does the same job? Metro is a pain to get. I am treating the tank with Prazi (2nd day) and I will do big WC today and slowly increase the temp. I found prazi don't dissolve in water very well even after I made it into powder form and mixed it with water in a container I still can see some granulars at the bootm of the tank. They are still eating well but shy. Have not been able to take good pictures of them, the position of the QT also makes it difficult to take photos.

[ctvu]

Hi Wild Amazon

Prazi disolves in the water what you see is the filler I think, like the other tablets. Like Tetracycline I did exactly what you did but still can see some thing left. HTH

How are they going now?

ctvu

[wild_amazon]

Thanks for the info.
I feel better knowing that they are getting full doze of prazi. They don't seem bothered by the treatment.
So far they are doing well and been eating frozen BW. I bought 3 packets of Hikari BW but they don't look as red as previous ones. More like brown colour, don't look to fresh anyway. But my fish still eat them.
Like what people advised me here 6 fish would be better than 3. I can see that one fish gets picked on by the other two but not too serious. My lfs only had 3 Heckel anyway so it wasn't a choice to get 6. Would have bought more since it was a pretty good price.

[sunshinediscus]

Rod, can you tell me if formalin and metro does the same job? Metro is a pain to get. I am treating the tank with Prazi (2nd day) and I will do big WC today and slowly increase the temp. I found prazi don't dissolve in water very well even after I made it into powder form and mixed it with water in a container I still can see some granulars at the bootm of the tank. They are still eating well but shy. Have not been able to take good pictures of them, the position of the QT also makes it difficult to take photos.

No, metro and formalin do not do the same job. Metro is generally used for flagellettes of the intestines and can also be used for oodinium parasites of the skin where copper does not work. Formalin is generally used for skin and gill parasites ( although not usually effective against oodinium) like flukes and whitespot.

If you need metro try your vet , the first time i showed up there looking for it he was a bit hesitant but after i showed him the problems (stool) and showed him my fish disease book he gave it too me without a problem. Some vets still won't do it but don't despare, there is another vet right down the street.

ctvu is right, that powder you are seeing is just filler.

Rod

[wild_amazon]

Rod, thanks for the explanation.
I will give my fish the high water temp treatment for few days while looking for metro.

[mtchye]

Congrats on the new fish Hendi. I know you've been after them for a while. I'll be keen to see how you go with wilds. Are you going to pop them into a planted tank or is it a bare bottom breeding sort of affair?

[wild_amazon]

Thanks Vince, they will be housed in a BB tank with driftwood and java fern and anubias nana. I am going to get few more fish when I have a chance but wild discus or original strains are rare here in Perth as you know.