How to Quarantine Discus Fish
You went to buy discus fish from your trusted discus seller in your area. You checked each fish displayed and was amazed on how they looked. Then you immediately concluded that they looked great and should already be healthy for you tank. This is a common mistake every discus buyer commits. Unfortunately, judging the fish just by looking at it is not enough to determine that it is healthy or does not have the potential risks in your current discus population.
Viruses, parasites and bacteria come in many forms. Not everyone has the ability or tools to find and remove these unwanted biological organisms from the fishes you bought in that trusted discus store. What to do then? You quarantine them. This is the most crucial part of owning a discus fish. Skipping this step will jeopardize not just your new fish’s life but also every living thing in your tank.
Quarantine – something new to be isolated so that you can prevent it from contaminating something else. This is the part where the new discus fish is placed in a separate tank to give them a chance to settle and adjust to its new environment. Most importantly, this gives you a chance to observe your fish’s behavior and health.
How to Quarantine?
Upon receiving your fish from us we HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you do your own quarantine on the fish. First start by setting up a separate tank in a different room than your current tank.
Set your temperature to 82-86 degrees. Also make sure you have aeration.
Remove the fish from the shipping box and cut the top of the bag with scissors or a blade. Then GENTLY pour the fish into a separate bucket or container. Avoid reaching into the bag as you can damage the fish trying to pull them out.
Then remove the fish from the shipping water bucket and then place them in a separate bucket with water from your quarantine tank. Allow the fish to sit in this bucket for a couple of minutes.
Then remove the fish from the second bucket and place in your quarantine tank. Discard the water from both buckets.
DO NOT put any of the shipping water into the quarantine tank.
Avoid using any strong lighting on the fish for the first few days of quarantine. Try and keep the noise and traffic low around the quarantine tank to allow the fish to rest.
If your fish are laying down on the bottom of the tank do not panic. Fish that get stressed during the shipping process will need to rest for a few hours. After a few hours the fish should upright itself.
DO NOT FEED your fish during the first 24 hours of the quarantine process. Feed on the second day of your fish being in the quarantine tank. Remember to not over feed!
Keeping your water quality good is very important during the quarantine process. Do your water changes and make sure that you keep your tank clean and free of any uneaten food and fish waste.
We recommend that you keep your new fish in quarantine for at least 4 weeks.
Remember when it comes to quarantine the longer the better! We encourage all of our customers to feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. You can reach us at our facility via phone or email. We love to help our customers in any way we can. So again feel free to give a call anytime.
