08 Bringing the Fish Home
Description
This article is from the Beginning Saltwater FAQ, by Thomas Sasala with numerous contributions by others.
08 Bringing the Fish Home
Once you get the fish home you should set the bag in the destination
tank, thus allowing the temperature to equalize. After about a half
hour or so, add a 1/4 cup of tank water to the bag. Repeat this
process once every 15 minutes for an hour, removing any water if the
bag gets too full. Any water you remove from the bag should be
disposed of. It will most likely contain parasites and other bad
things.
After you have the fish acclimated to your tank's water chemistry,
there are a couple of things you can do. You can place the fish
directly into the main tank and hope for the best, you can give the
fish a freshwater dip and then place it into the tank, or you could
place the fish into a quarantine tank.
The best scenario is to give the fish a freshwater dip and place it
into a quarantine tank. Keep the fish in the quarantine tank for 2
weeks and watch for signs of disease. If the fish gets sick, you can
medicate the quarantine tank without affecting the chemistry of the
main tank. If you are going to quarantine the fish, you should
acclimate the fish to the quarantine tank's chemistry, not the main
tank.
If you don't use a quarantine tank, then it is a very good idea to
give the fish a freshwater bath before placing it into your main tank.
The freshwater bath will cause any parasites attached onto the fish to
let go and remain in the freshwater (to die a lonely death).
Otherwise, parasites left to their own will reproduce very rapidly in
captivity and usually infect all the fish in the tank.
To give a marine fish a freshwater dip, prepare a container of
dechlorinated freshwater with a similar chemistry of the destination
tank. That is, make sure the pH and temperature are as close as
possible to the destination tank (this is critical!) . Remove the fish
from the bag and place the fish into the container for 3 to 5 minutes.
Watch the fish closely for signs of stress. If the fish stops moving
or begins to float, remove it immediately and place it in the
destination tank (either the main or quarantine tank).
In placing the fish into the freshwater bath, never pour the fish into
the container. Use a tupperware container or a net to capture the fish
and place it into the dip. The store water should never be introduced
to the freshwater bath, or any of your tanks. This water usually
contains all sorts of nasty diseases and organisms.
If you put the fish into the main tank and it comes down with an
illness, it should be removed to a quarantine tank immediately. Do not
risk spreading the illness to the other fish in the tank (although it
may already be too late).
Some more information on setting up a quarantine tank can be found in
the Archive.
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