A Guide to Quarantine Procedures

A Guide to Quarantine Procedures

A good quarantine procedure has three equally-important components:
-the quarantine tank setup,
-maintenance of the tank,
-and medications.
All three components work together for a successful quarantine experience. 

The Quarantine Tank
The Tank
The quarantine (QT) tank should provide at least 10 gallons of space per fish.  Sufficient space is always important for goldfish, but it becomes especially important in quarantine.  Quarantine should be a time for new fish to de-stress and get used to their new surroundings, but they can’t de-stress if they’re crowded.   Accumulated toxins from waste will increase their stress, and that’s why providing at least 10 gallons of space per fish is so important. 

The tank does not have to be a traditional glass aquarium, but it should be a container with clear sides to provide a good view of the fish.  It will be important to notice any signs of disease, and that’s difficult to do without a clear side view of the fish.  Sterilite brand storage bins are always food-safe, and thus are a good option for a QT container.  Not all brands of plastic bins are food-safe (and thus, safe for fish) so do your research before buying a container.  For larger plastic tubs, it’s a good idea to use some sort of brace in the middle to keep them from bowing out too much when filled with water.  You can easily make your own brace out of plywood (see photo below). 

The Filter
The next consideration is filtration for the QT tank.  It’s very important to have at least 10x filtration for sufficient water flow through the filter media.  This means that for a 10 gallon tank, you’ll need a filter with a flow rate of at least 100 gallons/hour.  I prefer to use Aquaclear filters for quarantine tanks because they provide a lot of space for filter media, and they’re highly customizable.  You can essentially use whatever type of filter media you want in them.  The filter should have a thin bottom layer of sponge (cut the large Aquaclear sponges in half lengthwise).  On top of the sponge layer, the filter should be filled to the top with biological media (ceramic beads and rings, bioballs, etc.).  All of this biological media should be taken from a healthy and well-established (cycled) tank of yours.  Ideally you should add the cycled media to the QT filter immediately before adding your new fish to the QT tank.  This way the beneficial bacteria living on the filter media won’t starve by being placed into a tank with no fish for a few days while you wait for your new fish to arrive.

If you find that the filter output is too strong for your fish, you can cut a long strip of filter floss (a cheaper option is 100% polyester quilt batting) and secure it to the sides of the filter using small clamps (see photo below).  This allows you to maintain a high flow rate with your filter while keeping the strong current from pushing your fish all over the tank.  For very small or weak fish, it can also be a good idea to cut out a small cube of sponge, cut a hole in the top of it, and place it over the filter intake.  This will keep small and/or weak fish from getting stuck onto the filter intake.

Other Components
Lastly, an air stone is always a good addition to a quarantine tank.  It’s important for the water to be well-oxygenated to decrease stress on the fish.  Don’t forget a thermometer too! 

The video below shows my QT tank as an example.  It’s a 27 gallon Sterilite storage bin with an Aquaclear 110 filter, an air stone, a glass thermometer, and a brace (made from a wood clamp) across the middle.

Maintenance
Diligent tank maintenance is always important for goldfish, but especially so during quarantine.  Once again, proper tank maintenance will help the new fish de-stress in its new environment rather than adding to its stress.  Even though the filter is full of biological media that should be full of beneficial bacteria, you will still need to test the water daily for at least the first week of quarantine.  You’ll be testing for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and checking the temperature.  The best test kit to use is the Freshwater Master Test Kit by API; it contains all the tests you’ll need at a reasonable price.  Ammonia and nitrite should always be zero, while nitrate should be less than 10.  The pH should be stable, and somewhere between 7.2 and 8.4 (goldfish tolerate a wide range of pH, as long as it remains stable).  If at any time ammonia or nitrites register, a water change should be done immediately.  Your test kit and Python water changer will become your best friends during the quarantine process!

It’s a great idea to do a near 100% water change for the QT tank every day for the first week or so.  Keep in mind that the fish is stressed and very susceptible to disease at this time, and fresh clean water is the best prevention against many goldfish diseases.  After the first week, water changes can be gradually scaled back as long as the water parameters remain at acceptable levels.  I recommend using Seachem Prime to remove chlorine and chloramines.  Prime is very concentrated, so you don’t have to use a lot of it, and it’s great because it also provides temporary protection in case of a sudden ammonia or nitrite spike.  It detoxifies ammonia and nitrite (up to a certain ppm) for up to 24 hours.   

Medications  
Salt
Hopefully you had the benefit of seeing your fish (photos, video, or in person) before it arrived so you could be sure to pick a fish that seems healthy.  But it’s important to remember that even if a fish seems healthy at first glance, it could have issues that may eventually be transferred to your main tank.  And that’s why quarantine is so important!  Typically, it should be assumed that all new goldfish have some type of parasites, and they should be treated accordingly.  The most typical medication used on new goldfish arrivals is salt.  That’s right, just plain old NaCl!  It must be pure salt with no additives though, so your average table salt won’t cut it.  I typically use and recommend API Aquarium Salt, which can be found at most pet or fish stores.  The purpose of the salt treatment is to kill an assortment of external parasites, and to do this the salt concentration must be brought up to .3%.  .3% is 3 level teaspoons per 1 gallon of water.  It’s best to bring the salt concentration up slowly to avoid shocking the fish.  First add 1 teaspoon per gallon.  12 hours later, add another 1 teaspoon per gallon.  Then after another 12 hours, add another 1 teaspoon per gallon of water, and the salt concentration will be at .3%.  The salt should always be dissolved in a bucket of tank water before adding it to the QT tank.  Never add salt to the tank without dissolving it fully first.  Keep in mind that with each water change, you’ll need to add back the amount of salt you took out.  For example; if you change 90% of the water, you will need to add back in 90% of the salt that was in the tank before the water change.  A salt concentration of .3% should be maintained for about three weeks to be sure any possible parasites are killed off.  During this time salt creep is a very real danger, so if in doubt, err on the side of caution.  As time goes on, it’s a good idea to use a little bit less than 1 teaspoon of salt each time you measure, in an effort to offset salt creep.
* You can also use Morton Canning and Pickling salt.  This is much cheaper than using API aquarium salt, and it is just as effective and pure.  Keep in mind that because the grain size of Morton salt is so much smaller, .1% is 3/4 teaspoon per gallon (instead of 1 teaspoon per gallon).

Praziquantel
Prazi is the other medication typically used in quarantine, and this treatment kills gill and skin flukes.  Flukes are so common in goldfish that all new fish should be treated as if they have flukes.  Prazi is a relatively “safe” medication to use as it’s difficult to overdose.  The most common type of prazi used by goldfish keepers is a liquid form, called PraziPro.  It’s not as common to find this in local stores and you may need to order it online, so plan ahead!  The prazi treatment must be done in several repeated doses, because it only kills adult flukes, and does not touch fluke eggs.  The fluke eggs will not hatch with prazi present in the water, so each dose must have a couple days in-between with no prazi in the water to allow the fluke eggs to hatch so they can be killed.  I prefer to keep prazi in the water for 3 days, followed by 2 days with no prazi, and repeat this cycle 4 to 5 times.  In a QT tank, you’ll be changing the water daily, so the prazi should be added after each water change for three days.  For two days after that, do the water changes like normal, but do not add prazi.  Then repeat this cycle through 4 or 5 more treatments.  The prazi treatment can be done at the same time as the salt treatment.  

Here‘s my video explaining how to dose the Aqua-Prazi:   

Observation
Some people choose to wait a few days before beginning any salt or prazi treatments.  I actually think this is a really good idea, because it gives the fish a chance to settle in and de-stress, and it gives you a chance to observe the fish’s behavior before starting treatment.  If you’re in no rush to get the fish out of QT quickly, then waiting up to 1 week before beginning any treatments may be a good idea.  Regardless of when you decide to begin treatments, be sure to carefully observe your new fish for the duration of their quarantine so you can detect potential problems early on.

And last, but not least, enjoy your new fish!  If you follow the steps for proper quarantine, it’s very likely that you will have a happy and healthy new fish that won’t introduce diseases into your main tank!

12 Comments

  • Jade Wilsonx Posted January 17, 2023 10:50 pm

    what is the best way to desolvesalt?boilit orlet it sit over night?

  • Chatchawan Sukkha Posted March 23, 2023 4:26 am

    Hi I have a question about the salt.
    During the first three week of salt, do you do water change every day, and how much?
    Should I take the carbon out from my already established filter?

    Thank you

  • Jennie Posted March 24, 2023 11:48 am

    You should test the water daily and do water changes as needed.So basically, if ammonia and nitrite combined are 1 ppm or more, you should do a big water change (60-90%).If not, then you don’t need to change the water until nitrate reaches 10 ppm or more.However, especially in the first few weeks of quarantine, it actually is a good idea to change the water daily regardless of the water parameters.Keeping the water extra clean is really important while the new fish settle in.The amount of salt removed at each water change will need to be replaced after adding the new water.

    Yep, any time you’re using a treatment in the tank carbon should be removed.If you have one of those filter inserts that has the carbon inside of the filter pad, you can cut a slit in the filter pad and just dump out the carbon.This way you can still preserve any beneficial bacteria that’s on the filter pad part.

  • Xena Magnolia Posted April 19, 2023 5:49 am

    Common goldfish and Comet goldfish get over a foot long and will surely die in your tiny 10 gallon. One Commet/Common goldfish needs at least an 80 gallon aquarium to itself. For all of them, you would need at LEAST a 100 gallon, a 150 would be better, though. Fancy Goldfish, for instance, a fantail, black moor or an oranda, need 20 to 30 gallons for one, and an additional 10 gallons per goldfish you have. I suggest canister filters for goldfish, just because they are so messy. Good luck.

  • Terrenae Posted May 3, 2023 11:55 pm

    A sponge is a biological filter:)

  • Alec Sniff Posted June 24, 2023 8:24 pm

    Mix it in a 5 gallon bucket for a minute or so

  • Alec Sniff Posted June 24, 2023 8:25 pm

    Will a cycled sponge filter work just as good for biological filtration?

  • Unknown Posted August 6, 2023 9:11 pm

    Howdy,

    I purchased a Goldfish and when I received him he is sick. I can send him back but I don’t want him to be killed. His fins are in tact along with his scales however his eye seem to be eroding away. He is in quarantine at the moment and I was just wondering if you had any advice to give.

  • Martina Pincione Posted September 23, 2023 4:17 am

    I need some help! I admit for the sake of my goldfish that I keep 2 commons and 1 comet in a 10 gallon aquarium. Though 1 of my commons is sick so she is in a 5 gallon hospital tank. I would like to know some ideas for a cost effective upgrade. Please respond as soon as possible! I want to do what’s best for by babies(goldfish)! Thank you!

  • Paola Montes Posted October 19, 2023 10:11 pm

    How to treat aka ich? Two days ago I bought new plants to my goldfish aquarium and now their body is covered of white little spots!

  • msjezztic Posted December 14, 2023 3:23 am

    Thank you! This is really helpful! Unfortunately, I just started, so any BB has yet to be established, and learning about this process (and the fishless cycle) before buying any fishes is great information. So here are my questions: (1) since I have no established BB, should I do that in the main tank then transfer some BB into the QT or just develop the BB in both? (2) before moving the fish into the main tank, do you use any carbon filtration after medication treatment? Thanks!

  • Jennie Posted December 22, 2023 1:59 pm

    1. If you have no established cycle to take media from, you can do a non-cycled QT.You’ll need a large enough container to dilute the ammonia produced by the fish (at least 15 gal. per fish) and you’ll need to do daily 100% water changes, testing the parameters before each water change.Add Prime at each water change; it is a good dechlorinator and 1 dose also detoxifies up to 1 ppm ammonia for 24 hours, tiding you over until the next day’s water change.It’s good to do large and frequent water changes in QT anyway, but a non-cycled QT makes things a little more difficult because you need to add back the salt and prazi after each water change.And there is no leeway, these 100% water changes have to be done every day, or the fish suffers from the build-up of ammonia.
    2. Carbon is not necessary. All it does is remove medications from the water, and that won’t matter since you’re moving the fish into new water anyway.

    Hope this helps!Good luck with your fish!

Add Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *