health
Quarantine
Almost every disease outbreak in an established aquarium arrives with a new fish or a new plant. Quarantine is inconvenient, unglamorous and by far the most effective preventive measure available.
Short answer
Holding new arrivals in a separate tank for two to four weeks so that any disease they carry does not reach the established tank.
How to do it
- A bare tank with a cycled sponge filter, a heater and some pipes or pots for cover.
- Two weeks minimum, four is better. Observe feeding, breathing, faeces and behaviour daily.
- Do not medicate prophylactically. Observe first — most arrivals need nothing.
- Quarantine plants too: a bucket or spare tank for a fortnight removes snails, and reduces the chance of introducing pathogens.
Why it is worth the trouble
Shop tanks are frequently on shared systems, so one infected fish exposes the whole shop. A quarantine period also lets a stressed, freshly transported fish recover somewhere it will not be harassed, which improves survival even when no disease is involved.