feeder goldfish

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I have never been lucky with feeder fish, but others swear by them. It seems to me that they are always carring some sort of disease or bacteria. I would keep them separate as long as possible. Maybe a month? The worse part is when the 19 cent feeder gets your favorite fish sick.
 

Mmathis

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Do you already have fish in your pond? If not, and these will be the only ones, it usually isn't necessary to QT them. But if you are going to add these to waters with fish, yes.

I'm not going to answer exactly HOW you should treat them, 'cause answers vary so much. The main thing is that you want the new fish separated for a period of time [an incubation and observation period] that gives you a chance to make sure they aren't carrying anything that would harm your existing fish [bacterial infections, parasites......]. I QT for a minimum of 4 weeks. Some go longer, some less.

Some treat their water; some add salt; I don't do anything special. But you do want to be sure you are checking water parameters in your QT just like in the regualr pond, esp. since the fish will be in a smaller space [wastes will build up faster]. I have a DIY trickle tower filter. I keep a few fish in the tank all the time to be sure the bio-filter stays active. Then I just do water changes as needed. Many folks will just do frequent or daily water changes to keep the toxin levels in check and not bother with having a "mature" filter. Either way works. But remember that the more fish in a smaller space means very frequent water changes!

The question of "feeder fish" comes up a lot. I started out that way, and the few that I ended up with turned out to be very nice fish! Feeder fish tend to come from crowded tanks which makes them more prone to illness. Not that they will be, just a risk factor. I have adopted the policy that I only put fish in my pond that I want to keep -- not expensive, but nicer fish. But hey, if you're doing this as a way to "rescue" a few fish, then go for it!
 
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At the very least I would treat for flukes with Prazi & QT them for a minimum of a month before I would want them in my pond. That goes for any new fish, no matter where it came from. A salt bath would be worth trying too, although salt has been overused so much it's effectiveness is in question. You could do a search around on the net for salt bath to see what concentration to use for a few minute high concentration dip that may be devastating to some parasites or other nasties.
 
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I have never been lucky with feeder fish, but others swear by them. It seems to me that they are always carring some sort of disease or bacteria. I would keep them separate as long as possible. Maybe a month? The worse part is when the 19 cent feeder gets your favorite fish sick.

I started a pond this year with some bait minnows, they did well so I added some fancy goldfish. They did very well, so I put some mosquito fish and cory cats in, they did well, so I though I would add a bag of little cheap goldfish so there was a bit fish action. Big mistake. they must have been carrying a diseases. Wiped out all the goldfish in two days. The mosquito fish and cory cats seem to be unaffected.

Unless it was heat related. I have a thermometer and the water temp got up to 75 the other day but I do not think that would have taken them all out, I also have two air pumps.
 
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I like the idea of rescue and if you have the space to add some new fish then go for it (y)

As suggested treatment for flukes at the very least would be a good idea. Flukes are so common in goldfish and the prazi is not a harsh treatment for the fish. The salt bath would more or less knock off some of the parasites and strip the slime coat so that the medication can work better. I'm not so sure I would use it on very young or small fish though.

Since the fish would be coming from a feeder tank I would opt for the longer quarantine period and go with at least 6 weeks (maybe even longer if the fish don't seem to be doing well)

Looking forward to your updates :)
 
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I like the idea of rescue and if you have the space to add some new fish then go for it (y)

As suggested treatment for flukes at the very least would be a good idea. Flukes are so common in goldfish and the prazi is not a harsh treatment for the fish. The salt bath would more or less knock off some of the parasites and strip the slime coat so that the medication can work better. I'm not so sure I would use it on very young or small fish though.

Since the fish would be coming from a feeder tank I would opt for the longer quarantine period and go with at least 6 weeks (maybe even longer if the fish don't seem to be doing well)

Looking forward to your updates :)
I concur but I would extend that QT period to longer 8 weeks

Dave
 

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