- So, you brought home a new fish.
Congratulations. Now what?
Well, hopefully you did a bit of research
before your purchase.
It's really helpful to know ahead of time
what you're getting into.
A quick Google search of the fish in the store
will give you a whole wealth of information
and your new fish should live for years- decades, even-
and it's up to you to provide
the very best care you can for that time.
Fish are living things, after all.
Hi, guys and girls. I'm ReefMan.
And this time we're going over the steps and care
that you should provide your new fish when you get them.
Now, I recently purchased a net-caught
copperband butterfly fish from liveaquaria.com.
Species like the copperband butterfly fish
are very sensitive to poor conditions in transit.
So, a net-caught specimen from a quality vendor
is just going to set you up for better success.
You can usually request fish like this-
net-caught, special fish like that-
in person from your local fish store.
But, this being a pandemic and all,
online shopping is just safer these days.
So, assuming you already have a quarantine tank-
And it can be anything, right?
An aquarium, a Rubbermaid bin, a brute trashcan.
Step one should be to have it ready
for your fish's arrival.
Call the store ahead of time
and have the salinity in your quarantine tank
matched to the salinity
that your new fish is going to be in.
This will save you from having to do anything other than
match the temperature of the water when your fish arrives.
You should float the bag in the water
of your quarantine tank for a few minutes.
I like to use 10 or maybe 15 minutes.
And that gives it time to adjust
to the temperature of your tank.
Don't actually open the bag at this time.
The vendor probably used oxygen to fill the bag
so don't worry about air.
Your fish is actually safer
without the air being exchanged with open air
due to ammonia and other chemicals
that may have built up during shipping.
Now, once the water in the bag
has reached the temperature of your tank,
you can simply open the bag and let the fish swim out.
Remember, you did match the salinity of your quarantine tank
to the salinity of the water in the bag.
If you didn't do that, you should slowly exchange
some water from the bag to the tank and so forth
over the course of a half an hour to equalize the salinity.
Now that your new fish is swimming
around in your quarantine tank,
it's time to step back and just let it settle down some.
It's been through quite an ordeal getting to you
and it's normal for the fish to be stressed.
Maybe turn out or dim the room's lights if you can.
Give it several hours just to unwind
and get accustomed to your tank.
Often, they're not going to eat right away
and I think the stress is part of the reason for that.
Sometimes it's hard to get a fish to eat.
You should watch their behavior.
Are they picking at things in your quarantine tank?
Maybe some Masstick like this would help.
It actually is just a sticky food.
It sticks to rocks and it lets fish that pick at rocks
eat naturally over time.
The beauty of a quarantine tank is you can easily clean it.
So, go wild.
The sky is the limit for what you could try to feed it
and to help coax a fish to eat.
Worst case, you just remove the uneaten food.
I don't like to start medications right away,
though I do give my fish around a PraziPro
just to combat any parasites that they might have.
I give the fish several days to a few weeks even
to relax and start eating
before stressing it with any medications.
That said, if you do notice maybe fuzzy spots
or white spots or red or something like that on your fish,
I would recommend starting medication earlier.
Giving your fish some time before that, though,
will let them gain some body weight
and let them get used to your routine and your food
before you start stressing them
with tank transfers or medications.
The most common medication that people might use
for new arrivals is copper.
Copper fights marine ich
and chelated copper medications like Copper Power
are generally safer than ionic copper medications
like Cupramine.
You should look for medications containing chelated copper
if you need to treat ich
and don't want to use the tank transfer method.
I do recommend the tank transfer method, though,
as it works very well
and doesn't expose your fish to any chemicals.
Wrasse, mandarins, pike fish, and lionfish
are all sensitive to copper in general.
Anthias should also be watched very carefully,
as a few species of them are also very sensitive to it.
Those fish are going to be better candidates
for the tank transfer method during quarantine,
as using copper will likely harm, if not kill, them.
Chloroquine phosphate is another common medication for fish
and it's useful against a variety of parasites and maladies,
including and even velvet.
This drug is very hard to find right now, though,
because a couple of people died,
thinking that it could be a cure for COVID.
It's not but it is a great medication
for use in quarantine tanks,
though wrasses and anthias cannot tolerate it
and you shouldn't use it on wrasses or anthias.
The tank transfer method is a great way
to prevent marine ich from getting into your tank.
You just need two aquariums and then you move the fish
from one into the other aquarium every third day.
Do that for four transfers
and you can be pretty certain
that the fish will not have ich anymore.
You can check out my very old video-
it's linked there- on the topic
if you want more information on it.
I highly recommend these little ammonia alert badges.
Water quality is your highest priority in quarantine tanks,
just like in your display reef.
And these little badges can help you spot trouble
before it gets to a point that actually hurts your fish.
I like to do water changes by mixing fresh saltwater,
adding it to my display,
and then taking water out of my display
and using that for my quarantine tank.
This brings over bacteria and that sort of thing
from my main tank
and helps keep the quality of the water
in my quarantine tanks high.
After a few weeks,
when you're ready to add the fish to your display,
remember that your existing fish might be territorial
and aggressive to the new addition.
I like to tape a mirror onto the glass of the tank
while adding new fish.
The most aggressive fish
are gonna attack their reflections
and then they'll leave your new fish alone.
Good luck with your new fish.
Reef fishes all have their own personalities
so take the time to get to know your fish.
They'll reward you with years of interest.
I hope the video was helpful.
If you have any new fish tips and tricks
that I didn't cover,
feel free to drop them in the comments below
and we can all learn.
If you liked the video, give it a thumbs up.
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I hope you have a good day.
Stay safe and I'll see you next time.
Bye!