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Hi, i was just wondering what the fastest way to quarantine feeder gold fish or another type for my oscar. i dont really want to do a 2month quarantine and was wondering on speeding up the process.i was going to have a 20 G in the bottom of my 55G stand. Also i do not want to do guppies or a fast breeding fish because i went that route once and they bred to fast and i became overwhelmed.

honestly you will need to QT fish for at least two weeks... and to be honest try guppies again and when there is too much fry throw a betta in to eat some or most of the fry... the guppy way is way cheaper and probably a bit better for your Oscar anyways... they will be healthier, and be less likely to pass some sort of disease to your Oscar. if you do decide to go with goldfish you should divide the tank (with a solid divider that will not allow water passage between the two sides) and do batches of quarantine so as not to put sick or potentially sick fish in with the potentially healthy. the other problem is goldfish need more space than guppies or any tropical for that matter. you could also try small barbs or another live bearer if you wanted... you should look into something other than just goldfish though as they tend to carry the most disease and produce a lot of waste.

-Brandon

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

well i know when i had my old oscar i fed then this fish called ruby red minnows or something.they did well and can grow somewhat large but are small like a guppy or even smaller, would this be a good choice.i want a fish that i do not need a heater for because im restricted on outlet and possibly no filter or a small one

if the room is kept at room temp (around 74F) the guppies or most inexpensive fish will do fine. however the ruby red minnows I had for a while seemed to be worse off than the gold fish. I fed them to my turtle... half of them were always dead when i got home. I'm sure you probably had better experience than me though with them. whatever you do get though make sure you have a good filter for them. you are planning on making them nice and plump/healthy for your Oscar and similar pet store conditions wont or probably wont suffice for this. give a good filter and a light... you wont need live plants but certainly give some sort of decorations or rocks/etc for them to hide and provide a safe haven.

-Brandon

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

ok now my next question is will my ten gallon tank im using for the guppies or rosy reds be ok under my 55galon tank's stand, i do not want the moister from the 10G to ruin the 55G stand from moister or something, or possibly make the wood weeak. the stand has an open back. so would the moister just evaporate out the back or would it rise and come in contact with the stand

It woudl rise and collect under the 1st shelf. Couple options include using a bathroom paint under the top shelf and/or using a good tank cover.

Just my 2 nickles ( I believe my opinion is worth more then 2 pennies ) but feeders arnt healthy really of any kind. The nutritional value is a drop in the bucket when compared to todays fish food like Hikari pellets. Blood worms make a better treat, can be frozen for convience, and take up far less room. Just had to say it.

well i do know this i just like to change it up.it would even still collect if the underside is like painted(the actual board that the tank rests on is painted or coated but the legs are that stick on finish that peels off if it gets wet?

maybe install a small computer fan or small desktop fan to push the humidity created by the small tank elsewhere. although, that is just one more plug to add into the limited outlet equation...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

With an open back to the stand, I doubt that moisture would get trapped inside the stand.

Quarantining fish occurs faster under higher temperatures, when the life cycle of the diseases are quickened. Thus, to effectively minimize quarantine time you actually want to raise temperature.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

well my room is about 72-75F would that be good?and is there away to make the feeders more nutritious for my oscar, maybe feed live or frozen foods such as brine shrimp

when quarantining the feeders aand treating with melafix or pimafix would it be ok to add aquarium salt or would this alter the medicinal value?