How to quarantine wrasses

A guide on how to quarantine fish, with an emphasis on wrasses. I've been able to quarantine some sensitive wrasses before, including 5 leopard wrasses, 1 yellow tail tamarin wrasse, a canary wrasse, and a flasher wrasse. Here are some of my tips from how to setup the QT system prior to fish arrival to treating common diseases.
Also - do check out the Reef2Reef disease forum ... big shout out to Humblefish and others for their help!
www.reef2reef....
equipment mentioned here in include:
Aqueon Quietflow E Internal Power Filter, 10 Gallon amzn.to/2DJp2NO
Aqueon Preset Heater, 100W amzn.to/2UWUvDc
Seachem Ammonia Alert amzn.to/2TTmwLC
Seachem Cupramine, 50ml/1.7 fl. oz. amzn.to/2GxjR7s

[@sethpope2230]

Detailed. Concise. Very nice video. Thank you for not going on tangents and staying on point. Happy Reefing!

[@TheBioReef]

thanks, my pleasure

[@PnCBio]

Super helpful for us wrasse addicts

[@fostee1]

Thanks for sharing your QT process. Diseases are rampant in the wholesalers and local fish stores. Those who don’t QT will have a short time in the Hobby

[@TheBioReef]

Glad you liked it

[@ThaBiznessReefTank]

always good to see people QT'ing! Since I can only give you one thumbs up on the vid I will give you the rest in the comments! 👍👍👍👍👍

[@TheBioReef]

Tha Bizness Reef Tank thanks man!

[@7h0m4s]

Thanks for this!

[@rsmith4977]

this is a very helpful video, i learnt a lot from it. thanks very much for sharing

[@TheBioReef]

my pleasure! good luck with your QT endeavours!

[@schummelpilz]

Great video :) Always a treat!

[@TheBioReef]

thanks!

[@potomacreef1679]

I have a hard enough time staying on top of one tank! It seems like a pretty heavy workload but it’s a great practice. My LFS runs a 14 day copper that I have been relying on. Limits my fish options...

[@TheBioReef]

yeah, it does take some time for sure. Its a journey that starts out with a lot of hope but also uncertainty, and sometimes ends in a celebration. But its a good way to get to be more familiar with your new fish. I typically don't name my fish until they finish quarantine. We typically have a 'naming ceremony' once we add the fish to the display.

[@Noble_Isaac]

I must the a lucky reefer. I have 2 wrasses: one Melanurus and one Blue Star. They were both from Liveaquaria. Didn't quarantine. Been thriving for 3 months in my tank. :)

[@TheBioReef]

congrats - two awesome wrasses.

[@pelphrey]

I wonder if KZbin will suggest my video from last weekend... no qt! Hahaha great video! I’d love to do TTM, but that isn’t happening! I am thinking about qting any new fish I get.

[@TheBioReef]

pelphrey haha that would be funny. I have done ttm on a tang once. It’s effective for ich. I certainly recommend qting all new fish. You can certainly get lucky a few times, or many times, but eventually, your luck is going to run out

[@cucoclub1]

Thank you very usefull

[@TheBioReef]

cucoclub1 my pleasure

[@johnatella8498]

I bought two melanarus wrasses that died after a week (and a day apart) and used copper. I added 3 ml daily and was at a 0.5 level. What did I do wrongly? Temp was 78. Salinity was 1.020.

[@gabesreef]

Good info

[@TheBioReef]

thanks!

[@davidtran8206]

Saw that you have a Yellow Tail Tamarin Wrasse in your tank, beautiful fish. I am thinking of purchasing one, are they easy to keep in long terms?

[@TheBioReef]

i've had her for probably 3 years now... beautiful fish. the only issues that i had with her was that she wouldn't eat prepared food at all during QT and a week after the display. so have brine shimp eggs on hand - have a look at my process of having a continuous supply of brine shimp of different sizes during QT in the link below. after her QT was over, she was only eating pods in the display and ignored all frozen food or pellets... i tried a variety of food and she snubbed all my offering until i tried masstick fish food... she started eating it, and then eventually was switched into eating frozen and pellets... now, she eats everything i throw in the tank.

[@davidtran8206]

@@TheBioReef Thanks for the reply, I will keep your comments in mind if I do purchase one.

[@maurishio]

@@TheBioReef I have a tamarin wrasse and a bluestar wrasse in my DT, but i'm having an ich outbreak. Im thinking in quarantine them with cupramine. Can i do that or too risky?

[@TheBioReef]

@@maurishio I am scared of cuperamine- cooper safe is a much better alternative provided you bring the levels up gradually over 4 to 5 days and test often so you don’t over dose.

[@johnatella8498]

Can you use Prime if you use cupramine or copper?

[@sunnygoold9449]

Awesome to hear Mastick is great for Tamarins. Great video. That info on Prazi will be super valuable to me ;)

[@Chris_topher1117]

I don’t like you and nobody does

[@Chris_topher1117]

Hahahaha

[@Chris_topher1117]

You are stopid

[@skzion2]

Very helpful. I thought copper and pratziquantel (sp) could be mixed, and that the issue was the solvent used in Prazipro. But why is General Cure less toxic for wrasses than Prazipro if they have the same dose of pratziquantel?

[@TheBioReef]

thanks! not entire sure, but i got this advice from 'evolved' who is regarded as the reef expert on reef to reef and reef central. I tried prazipro early on and lost a wrasse, then i switched to general cure after that. obviously it a very small sample size and i know many who swear by prazipro, but i haven't had any issues with general cure.

[@skzion2]

AmroAzul TV Very Interesting. General Cure contains no solvent for the pratziquantel (I'm not sure why it dissolves so easily in water, assuming it does). I have read that this solvent, especially when used with Chloroquine Phosphate, can lead to bacterial blooms. THIS could be a real problem for active fish, as dissolved oxygen would be lowered. As I plan to have three small wrasses in my 65 ga AIO and will prophylactically treat in quarantine, I'm paying a lot of attention to this! Would food containing pratziquantel be a better alternative for wrasses, I wonder? I really would not want to quarantine longer than 45 days. So sequential 30 days CP/copper, then pratziquantel?

[@TheBioReef]

@@skzion2 if head of soaking food for dealing with internal parasites, but for the most part, these are easy to diagnose visually (stringy poop or excessive weight loss). The water column treatment is for external parasites like flukes. I generally do the General Cure in the water as a precaution; i would only consider soaking food if i see visual signs of internal parasites. good luck with your QT

[@skzion2]

AmroAzul TV Thanks for your advice!

[@tomithy6047]

I just picked up a Pintail as well (from NAFB). He's doing a round of prazi before transferring him to a tank with chloroquine phosphate for 3-4 weeks. I hear CP is less stressful and catches some thing that copper won't. Have you ever tried it?

[@TheBioReef]

Tomithy I have also heard good things about cp but it’s not accessible. I haven’t also had any issues with copper and wrasses (but I bring levels go up gradually). I have certainly a few fish during quarantine - most of these have either died right away before any meds were added (n=2), died of swim bladder issues (n=1) or died at the onset of prazipro (n=2). But never during copper

[@danigerzon6881]

​@@TheBioReef hey man can you tell me if you know what dose i need put to my QT of cooper for month if i want do prophylactic to my fish against ich ? thanks for advanced

[@TheBioReef]

dani gerzon it depends on the product you are using - Different types of copper have different therapeutic ranges. Please consult the package. Also i strongly recommend testing cooper levels via the Hanna checker; it’s really easy to overdo it and kill your fish

[@danigerzon6881]

@@TheBioReef i use with cupermine from seachem if i want treat the ich i need just hold the cooper on water like 0.5 copper and hold it one month and this kill the ich?

[@TheBioReef]

dani gerzon thats the dose for cuperamine. Do bring up the levels slowly over 3 days or so for wrasses.

[@philhulkes8659]

I'm still unsure as to the benefit of running copper without signs of stress and the effects it has, I agree that the fish should be observed before going into main but still need to do more research to make up my mind after watching eat sleep reefs and your videos on quarantine

[@TheBioReef]

Phil Hulkes hi Phil. a couple of bits of info helped sway my decision for prophylactic treatment. 1) I’ve heard incidents of fish carrying parasites in their gills that don’t spread to body, making them undetectable visually. 2) prophylactic treatment saves a bit of time relative to waiting to for symptoms to appear than treating. 3) treating for common diseases leaves some of the guess work and uncertainty out of diagnosing a sick fish. Back when I observed and treated as needed, I found that about only 1/3 or 1/4 of fish passed through a 30 day qt without showing any symptoms; that is to say most fish came down with something within the quarantine period and the treatment for almost of these incidents were either cooper or prazi or antibiotics; so for me, I’ve decided to cover my basis via prophylactic treatment

[@Jommybutler1234]

@@TheBioReefWith all the advances in QT techniques, have you changed your process over the years the years?

[@TheBioReef]

@ yeah I’ve been very happy with some of the hybrid ttm methods for wrasses … seems to be far less stressful on the fish

[@anthonyheng7272]

Do you have an extra set of filter pads in your sump when you transfer your Fish to a new QT after the Copper QT?

[@TheBioReef]

Anthony Heng yes I do ; also have other pvc pipes and a different 10 gallon tank. you want to make sure that nothing from the current qt is reused in the new qt without getting cleaned and dried for a day or two; essentially the 14 day of copper is enough to kill any free swimming parasites and to make sure that any crypto or velvet on the fish have detached. So the first should be clear by 14 days but there may be dormant stages on the tank surfaces; which is why you transfer fish to a new tank / equipment. If you have time for 30 days in copper then no need for transfer because the dormant stages would have eventually gone into the water and got killed by copper over that timer period

[@somebodyelse9696]

I love Wrasses...

[@TheBioReef]

Nik Marren me too :)

[@marcelrodriguez2067]

Whats your opinion on corals? Arent they a risk for ich carrier if where they came from had ich?

[@TheBioReef]

Marcel Rodriguez I have heard of stories of ich coming on corals... most of my corals come form local reefers and I always make a note of asking them if they had any fish diseases and I also look at their fish and tank and look for signs of disease. Same when I buy from a LFS... I only go to a few trusted stores and even then I still pay attention to the fish they have in their frag tanks

[@mimounaoulghazi]

👍🦅🤲

[@TheBioReef]

thanks!

[@mimounaoulghazi]

👍🦅🤲🌺

[@saibot1616]

How do you feel about tank transfer for wrasse and then quarantine for 2 weeks? Would it be too much stress for them?

[@TheBioReef]

Saibot tank transfer works too but only against ick. It’s certainly doable, may be logistically difficult for wrasses that need sand or are finicky eaters where you need to have some pods in the system