Quarantining new misbar maroon clown

[tebstan]

A few months back I got an ORA mis-bar gold stripe maroon clown. It wasn’t ordered as a mis-bar, she just showed up with the rest of the boring normal ones. Dubbed Ms. Barr, she been in my tank for a few months now. She has grown some, but is still small for a maroon clown. (Maybe 2”)


I’d intended to get her a mate, but I really wanted a mis-bar. I put the word out at a few LFS but no one has seen one - or no one remembered me asking. Today while window shopping at a store I don’t normally buy from, I saw a tank full of tiny baby mis-bar maroons!
I picked out the healthiest and smallest of them, and brought Mr. Barr home to a hastily set up quarantine tank.

Honestly, I’ve never quarantined a fish before. When I was first stocking the tank, I didn’t have so much invested that I worried about treating the DT. Luckily, I never had to. Now, it’s a thriving reef so I don’t want to take any chances.

I’m not worried about ich. Not because I don’t think it would happen, but because I know how to identify and treat it. I’m worried about the things I don’t have experience with – brookynella, velvet, etc.

The fish came from a tank that had overall healthy fish. There was one other maroon in his tank that was questionable – he may have been beat up on by the other fish, or may have been getting sick. It was too early to tell. The store was overcrowded because they had received the wrong order, and gotten their own plus another store’s fish.

The quarantine tank is a bare bottom ten gallon with a heater, an airstone, a chunk of pvc pipe and a fake plant.

I plant to leave him in quarantine for two weeks. Too long, too short?

Do people normally do preventative medication, or simply observe the quarantined fish?



Ms. Barr:


Quarantine:


Mr. Barr:

[00Warpig00]

Two weeks is generally considered not long enough of a QT period by at least half or even a third to most. Four to Six weeks seems to be the general accepted period of QT, and if the fish has a health issue while in QT even longer. Possibly allot longer. And it's worth EVERY day they are in there.

Nick

[tebstan]

I was afraid someone would say that. I feel so sorry for the lonely little guy.

I've heard of 30 days for ich, but what about other possible ailments?

[MuffsAbby]

I QT for about 6 weeks, give or take a few days depending on when my next fish is on the scene. I would recommend at least 4 weeks. Whether or not you use preventative medication is a personal decision. I treat only if necessary. Otherwise, I simply observe the fish, not just obvious indications of disease (spots, etc.), but also feeding habits, breathing rates, behavior (lethargy, scratching, etc.), and so forth.

[EllieSuz]

Don't go to the trouble of quarantining and then quit too early. Keep him in there for six weeks. There is a real difference of opinions on treatment. Personally, I do not expose a fish to medication unless I see signs of a problem.

[dnsfpl]

just wondering, if QT for too long, will he turn female?

[kidkams]

Originally Posted by dnsfpl

just wondering, if QT for too long, will he turn female?

no he wont turn to female that quickly it takes a pretty long time for that transformation to take place, there are also other factors that need to be taken into consideration with the process

[tebstan]

He's way to small to worry about his gender switching. I've had the 'female' for months and she's nowhere near full grown, I just call her the girl knowing that's what will happen in the long run.

I don't like the idea of medicating if its not necessary. This fish was captive bred, so *should* be in relatively good health. It spent a day or two in tanks at a store that I don't trust. (I don't trust them because I don't know them, not because they've given me reason not to.)

I wouldn't mind spending the next 6 weeks bulking him up. The female isn't big, but huge compared to him. I'm worried after all the trouble she'll just destroy him. If you've got any tips on pairing, please check out my other thread:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2118035

[tebstan]

Is there any issue with pulling a piece of rock from my sump to put in the QT with the little guy? I wouldn't return it to the sump until it had dried out on the back porch for a few months.

All he has to look at is that sad plastic plant. It's like a cot in a prison cell. Supposed to provide comfort, but sadly disappointing.

It would be nice if it would help a little with the water quality from the tad bit of fish poo so I don't have to worry about water quality in a bare bottom QT.

[US27inKS]

I always thought gold stripes and regular maroons were incompatible. Is that not true?

My female gold stripe is a mis-bar. She started out with a full set of bars. She grew but her stripes didn't.

[tebstan]

I was hoping someone would chime in on that. I was concerned about it too, but they are the same species, just different colors. It'd be the same as someone mixing a black ocellaris and a regular ocellaris. The maroons are more aggressive, so pairing may be more difficult, but not because of coloration just because they're mean.

I don't plan on breeding, so there's no worry of diluting a gene pool. Although in the case of clownfish, that's a moot point anyway.

It seams the misbar is more common in the white stripe. I waited months to come across a gold stripe misbar, and I'm afraid if wait too much longer the girl will just get too big/strong.

Can you post a pic of your GSM misbar?

[US27inKS]

I took a few pics today for you. Don't make fun of the tank. I just got it from a friend, and moved the tank, rock, and water "as is" so I didn't get a cycle. As soon as I put MH lights on it started with a nasty dino outbreak. So it looks nasty right now. Hopefully I can get it straightened out soon. I'll fire up my very old computer to see if I have any old pics of her with full stripes. The clowns are about 10 years old.

The tank is at work, and I don't have a decent camera here, so this is as good as it gets for now.



For scale, this is a medium size Yellow Tang a couple of inches from the glass. The clowns are about 10 inches from the glass.

[US27inKS]

Baby Pics. Almost anyway. I think these were taken a couple of years after I got them.

[tebstan]

That is so cool. She's a big girl! Thanks for sharing Mine have a long way to go.

[tebstan]

I can't seem to find a large natural sponge anywhere in town, so I decided to make a cheap filter entirely from supplies I already have.

Thanks to OregonReefer for the idea:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2117649


I used a cheap tupperware, some scraps of filter media I always save, an old extension tube from a HOB filter, and an air stone. I think I'll drill a lot more holes in the bowl, but it's a good start.