Advice on introducing new fish. Quarantine or no?

[Denise T]

I am curious on he opinion of experienced fish pond owners about introducing new fish to a pond which already has fish. Do you quarantine the new fish? If so, for how long? Do you do any preventative treatments of the new fish (whether or not you quarantine).

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[mrsclem]

I quarantine for several weeks. Don't do any treatment unless I see a problem.

 

[Denise T]

Can you help me understand what that might look like? I would only be introducing one or two fish at a time, 3 to 4 in long. Not sure what kind of a setup I would need for that?

 

[Tula]

I haven't added any new fish in a long time, but if I did I absolutely would quarantine them.

 

[JamieB]

I was stupid and introduced new fish, ended up with anchor worms. Lost most of my fish. A quarantine set up is anything that will hold fish for an extended period of time, in your case, it could be a 10+ gallon aquarium, with a filter, airstones, and maybe some plastic plants. No gravel on the bottom. You watch the fish for any problems, ich, clamped fins, red spots, infections.

 

[mrsclem]

I use a 100 gallon stock tank but JamieB is right, just need to look for signs of illness.

 

[Denise T]

Thank you for the input!

 

[j.w]

I used an old bathtub to quarantine some new fish I wanted to add to my pond. I had an air stone hooked to a small aquarium aerator pump in there. Instead of a filter I just added some clean well water now and then while allowing some old water to run out through the holes in the top edge of tub where the faucet handles used to go through. Took some fiberglass screen and wrapped in over the end hole of a cut in half plastic film container to stop fish from flowing out w/the water. Oh and my hubby plugged up the big faucet hole and the bottom drain w/some kind of goop that hardened.

 

[Tula]

LOVE your tub @j.w !!

Last year I had a deck pond. Only thing in it were tons of plants and a small pump moving the water. Any koi fry found in the big pond, went into the deck pond until later in the summer. All survived and thrived....things were huge !

 

[Mmathis]

I always quarantine, and for a minimum of 2 weeks. Before they go into the QT, I give them a salt dip, but after that, I don’t add or treat for anything (except dechlorinator). My current QT is a 300 gal Rubbermaid stock tank, but depending on what fish you have, it doesn’t have to be that big. Some people recommend using kiddie pools, but I have tried that and found that it was hard keeping the pond cool and shaded enough. I also had trouble keeping my water parameters at adequate levels with the kiddie pool — it just took constant measuring and adjusting. Not impossible, but a PITA! Larger volumes of water are easier to keep in good condition.

Quarantine is totally up to you, but we hear from people with sick fish all the time! When we get information from them, I would bet that 75%-80% of the time, they had recently added new fish — and didn’t quarantine them. They had (maybe) parasites that made their original fish get sick, as well.

Some dedicated koi owners will keep their fish in QT for up to a month or longer. The main reason we quarantine our fish is to watch them for parasites or fungal/bacterial issues. The “waiting period” is to give any parasites or diseases a chance to go through a complete life cycle. If your new fish “has something,” you probably won’t see it right away, so you want to keep it separated from your other fish. It’s not a good idea to randomly treat or use prophylactic treatments....just in case.

I haven’t had my coffee yet, so hope that makes sense.

 

[Denise T]

I used an old bathtub to quarantine some new fish I wanted to add to my pond. I had an air stone hooked to a small aquarium aerator pump in there. Instead of a filter I just added some clean well water now and then while allowing some old water to run out through the holes in the top edge of tub where the faucet handles used to go through. Took some fiberglass screen and wrapped in over the end hole of a cut in half plastic film container to stop fish from flowing out w/the water. Oh and my hubby plugged up the big faucet hole and the bottom drain w/some kind of goop that hardened.

View attachment 130069

View attachment 130070

View attachment 130068

Love the tub!

 

[Denise T]

I always quarantine, and for a minimum of 2 weeks. Before they go into the QT, I give them a salt dip, but after that, I don’t add or treat for anything. My current QT is a 300 gal Rubbermaid stock tank, but depending on what fish you have, it doesn’t have to be that big. Some people recommend using kiddie pools, but I have tried that and found that it was hard keeping the pond cool and shaded enough. I also had trouble keeping my water parameters at adequate levels with the kiddie pool — it just took constant measuring and adjusting. Not impossible, but a PITA! Larger volumes of water are easier to keep in good condition.

Quarantine is totally up to you, but we hear from people with sick fish all the time! When we get information from them, I would bet that 75%-80% of the time, they had recently added new fish — and didn’t quarantine them. They had (maybe) parasites that made their original fish get sick, as well.

Some dedicated koi owners will keep their fish in QT for up to a month or longer. The main reason we quarantine our fish is to watch them for parasites or fungal/bacterial issues. The “waiting period” is to give any parasites or diseases a chance to go through a complete life cycle. If your new fish “has something,” you probably won’t see it right away, so you want to keep it separated from your other fish. It’s not a good idea to randomly treat or use prophylactic treatments....just in case.

I haven’t had my coffee yet, so hope that makes sense.

yes, thank you. This was very helpful.

 

[Denise T]

yes, thank you. This was very helpful.

Can you tell me more about the salt dip?

 

[Mmathis]

@Denise T First, let me say that the use of salt with our fish is a controversial topic. Some people religiously add salt to their ponds. Some don’t, so it depends on your philosophy. I like to look at science and question the “why or why not.” Koi and goldfish are freshwater fish, so I am one of the non-users — except as a treatment! Salt will stimulate the fish’s slime coat, which can possibly help them get rid of some parasites. But it’s not a cure-all.

I honestly don’t recall the “recipe” I have used in the past, so don’t want to lead you in the wrong direction. There are “dips and “baths,” and the concentration of salt and length of time to keep them in the salted water will differ for each one. I would recommend that you do a Google search to find the information — you are going to find various “recipes,” as everyone has his or her own opinion. It’s recommended that you keep an air stone in the container...and remove the fish if it shows signs of distress.

Hope that helps.

 

[EricV]

Can you help me understand what that might look like? I would only be introducing one or two fish at a time, 3 to 4 in long. Not sure what kind of a setup I would need for that?

I seem to add a fish or two every year and usually about that size. I use a 35 Gallon preformed above ground "pond". I picked a few of them up at a big box store for under $20 each. (Also great for cleaning filter material and repotting plants).

Here's what I do:

1. Fill container with pond water
2. Install a small pump with fountain attachment. Embed that in a plant container filled with lava rock
3. Rinse filter brush or something like that in the new "pond" to seed the filter with bacteria
4. Run until clear
5. Add fish
6. Add melafix which is a tea-tree thing supposedly good for general fungus, scrapes, whatever. No other drugs
7. Cover
8. Wait 2-3 weeks feeding new fish lightly.