[bguile]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

Lee, first off thank you for all the insight you continue to give on the subject of fish nutrition and diseases. Your posts have helped me personally in bringing fishes back to health.

I have seen several posts in the past of people that have spoken about treating fish for several ailments prior to witnessing any symptoms and sometimes ( I believe) even you Lee have recommended against this to avoid unnecessary stress for unsick fishes.

You have stated in other posts that you treat certain fishes immediately if they are prone to a certain disease (ie. Tangs and Ich) and that if one fish in a system has ich, they all do even if they show no signs. I'm sure you know where I'm going with this .

My question is, if I purchased a fish from a supplier why not just treat the fish since:

1. the fish is probably wild caught and has internal parasites, and
2. the fish was probably in a system with Tangs which means it probably has ich.

What is your position in this case which I believe almost all of us face?

Thanks.

[leebca]

I get a lot of questions about this. People want to take a 'short cut' to getting healthy fish into their display. But there is no by-passing the quarantine process.

What will you treat the fish for? You say Marine Ich (MI). MI is one of a hundred maladies. While you are treating for MI one of those others show up. Now you can't treat it because you've either got copper in the QT or the QT is hyposaline. Simple you think to change out the tank and start the other treatment. But what about the fish? The fish is being put through a wringer. Netted from the sea, bagged, boxed, vibrated on an airplane in the dark, flashes of light when the box is opened, etc., etc., etc., until the last person starts putting it through a medication of poison and more hoops.

Be patience. Monitor the fish during quarantine. Treat only when necessary.

I know this is a bit harsh, but put it in human terms. Let's take the little girl out of class and treat her for malaria. I mean. . .She could have been exposed to it from the other children in school.

The risk of one or both Marine Ich and Marine Velvet in certain Tangs is high enough to warrant a treatment as a matter of standard acclimations. The risk of brooklynellosis is so high in Anemonefishes that it also warrants a treatment for this.

If you think the fish you are acquiring may have been exposed to disease, all the more to either not buy the fish or put it through a normal quarantine.

Lastly, like antibiotics, we shouldn't be using medication randomly and without purpose. I would hate to have a strain of MI show up that is resistant to copper and/or hyposaline solutions!

Happy Thanksgiving to you too! Thank you for your compliments.

[bguile]

Thank you. Great explanation!