Husbandry is what you're paying for; it's what we do better than anyone else. Collectively, we have over 30 years of experience in the hobby and over a decade in the professional industry. Every fish we quarantine is hand picked, slowly acclimated, meticulously treated, and packed with care by our small elite team. Our eye for detail, as well as ability to pick fish, has been fine tuned for quality and is always improving.
Over the years, Marine Collectors' founder and owner, Elliot Lim, has run an exponential number of tests, brainstormed with some of the best marine biologists in the industry, and has designed a proven and practically impenetrable quarantine procedure. While some fish may require a more catered quarantine style, the results don’t lie. The process begins with the fish; we hand pick the very best specimens with educated decisions. This is based on the particular livestock supplier, region of collection, and of course how the fish itself looks. From there, fish are brought back to the shop and then drip acclimated for 3-4 hours before going into the quarantine systems. The methodology behind the way we operate is to always continue progressive quarantine. Everyday that passes, the fish will become healthier.
After acclimation, fish are given a freshwater dip dosed with Praziquentel for 3-5 minutes. This does two things: 1.) It removes all water from our suppliers that may contain pathogens or undesirable medications. 2.) It will kill any external flukes prior to being added to our systems. From there, the fish go into an interim bath of 50/50 fresh/saltwater solution. Not many people know this, but saltwater fish can be moved to lower salinity water without acclimation. This is done with minimal to practically zero stress and can actually alleviate some strain on the fish’s body. However, the same cannot be said for the other way around. A saltwater fish’s body has the function to maintain osmotic pressure while in solution. What this means is that the fish is constantly working to keep salt out of its' body. By moving a fish from low salinity back up to regular levels, the fish can go into shock and on rare occasion even die. This interim bath helps to mitigate that shock.
Once added to the QT systems, the fish are treated with Chelated Copper Sulfate and Nitrofurazone 24/7. Copper is run at a concentration of 2.5ppm to 2.8ppm, gravitating more towards 2.8ppm. The typical recommended dosage for chelated copper sulfate is between 1.5ppm to 2ppm. The copper levels are maintained at high concentrations to continue the methodology of progressive quarantine. At that level, which is beyond therapeutic, the protozoan parasites we are treating for(ich and velvet) die once they exit the body of the fish. There's a nonexistent chance for reinfection. There's a running theme in hobbyist level quarantine: 30 days or more is the duration for sufficient quarantine. However, we don’t believe this is true. Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) has the longest infectious stage out of either parasite (maximum of 8 days on the body of the fish). Therefore, why would we need to subject our fish to prolonged exposure to poison(copper based medication)? In most cases, hobbyist level quarantine procedures aren’t performed with enough competency; this results in a wider margin for error. That being said, our quarantine is a minimum of 14 days. To be clear, we perform a 14 day clean quarantine; as in, for 14 consecutive days the fish has to be clean and not show any signs of infection. Nitrofurazone is a mild antibiotic, and it's present in our QT systems at all times to counteract any potential secondary infections that commonly afflict fish. These infections can be caused by irritation in the gills from the copper or any breaks in the slime coat barrier caused by uronema or ammonia burn.
Moving forward, the fish will periodically receive freshwater dips (usually every other day for the first week). This is to ensure that flukes cannot take hold. If necessary, on alternating days fish will be given a 30-60 minute bath in formalin to treat or prevent uronema and brooklynella. This is usually based off of the livestock supplier, or if we know we're treating an especially susceptible species. To keep the QT systems clean, on alternating nights we dose Formalin and Prazi directly into the QT systems. This is to ensure that nothing is given the chance to take hold and potentially reinfect our fish. Moreover, it's a secondary precaution to further solidify our biosecurity protocols.
