# Quarantine recommendations for Discus



## seanyuki (Apr 22, 2010)

Just sharing.......with the permission of my good friend Kenny Cheung and procedures how to quarantine them.

Hello all,

Many Times I have been asked by my customers about Quarantine and how they should treat their new discus from me so I thought I would write down my thoughts and recommendations here.

First let me start by saying that I always carefully acclimate all my newly imported fish and try to the best of my ability to get them all eating and well rested for the journey from my tanks to yours. You should expect that you will receive these discus from me in a healthy condition.

*But, once you get them it is your responsibility to ensure that they stay healthy and have a chance to get acclimated to your water, maintenance routine, and eventually, your existing stock...this is one reason why Quarantining new arrivals is so important...it gives you the opportunity to inspect your fish and be sure that they are healthy and well rested after their travel, and it allows the fish to get used to you and their new environment.*

How to quarantine is something that is debated often, and there are no hard fast rules but some general suggestions based on what is often recommended here at SimplyDiscus by experienced hobbyists:

1) Never introduce new fish to existing stock without quarantine first. We suggest setting up a separate tank, with all separate equipment and maintaining separation from existing stock for 4-6 weeks.

2) Carefully observe fish for any problems in that time frame and deal with any issues as they arise...some will recommend prophylactically treating new fish for worms or other parasites...that is a personal choice...but we do not recommend any prophylactic treatment for possible bacterial issues...only treat these when they are confirmed. Seek qualified advice if you are not comfortable with dealing with medications.

3)MAINTAIN QUARANTINE... be careful not to accidentally break QT by using the same equipment and hoses between existing stock and QT tanks...thoroughly wash hands as well.

4) If possible, your QT tank should be in a separate room and be set up with a cycled biofilter that is derived from a fishless cycle...or at least from a tank that you know has not had any issues in the last few months.

5) *When introducing new stock, take one of your least favorite existing stock(this might sound mean but there's no other way to accomplish this without adding at least one "old" fish to your new additions), and add it to the QT tank...observe for the next 2 weeks...if there is no issues that develops in the QT, then you may try to mix the groups of fish.
*
*You can never predict what will happen when you mix two groups of fish...one or both groups may get sick, even if they looked fine before the introduction...the above are suggestions to minimize potential issues.
*
Although I will always strive to provide healthy stock, should you have any issues I would like to hear from you as soon as possible. I can not control what happens if you do not quarantine new stock or what happens when you mix new stock, but I want you all to know that I will do my best to help you resolve any issues that may arise.

We are also blessed with an excellent group of experienced hobbyists here at SimplyDiscus.com that can offer advice and suggestions on Quarantine and health issues.

Thank you for all your past support and patronage and I truly look forward to working with all of you.


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