Quarantine New Additions to Your Fish Pond
Quarantining new goldfish and koi before introducing them to your pond is a critical practice that is often overlooked by many pond keepers. This precautionary measure helps ensure the health of both existing fish as well as your new introduction.
By isolating new koi and goldfish in a separate quarantine tank for a designated period provides an opportunity to closely observe and address any health issues they may carry before introducing them to your already beloved pond fish.
Reputable fish dealers go to extensive lengths to ensure they are providing healthy fish before they go to their forever home but even still anything can happen. And if your fish are coming from a less than reputable supplier all the more reason to do everything possible to safeguard the pond.
By keeping new fish in a separate quarantine tank you give yourself the opportunity to view the fish closer and by keeping them for a period of time you allow the chance to see signs of potential pathogens that may have been microscopic.
Additionally new fish may be under extreme stress when you receive them, this is especially true if they were shipped to you. Stressed fish have a weakened immune system making them more susceptible to pathogens that may already be in your pond. Your quarantine tank provides time to de-stress the new arrivals.
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Start with a clean tank of suitable size. For a couple of small goldfish, this could be a small aquarium. For bigger koi or a larger number of fish this will need to be bigger. Plastic stock tanks are a popular choice, these are often 100-300 gallons. Remove chlorine if using municipal water.
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Set up equipment. The quarantine tank should be equipped with an adequately sized pump and filter. If you have planned ahead then you can add established filter media. Using some filter media from the pre-existing pond that has already been seeded with beneficial bacteria will make it much easier to maintain good water quality in the quarantine tank. Good aeration is also important, so adding a small air pump will be a big help.
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Have supplies on hand. You will want to be ready before the fish arrive. Some of the supplies you are likely to need are; test kits, medications, a thermometer, pond netting, dechlorinator, pond salt, salt test, and possibly an aquarium heater depending on the ambient temperature.
Begin the Quarantine
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Salt the tank. Bring the salt level of the tank water to a 0.3% salinity level.
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Ensure water temperature is 65F+. This allows the fish to have better immune function. Note: some infections such as the very serious KHV will not show unless the water is even warmer. 78F+ is recommended.
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Add the fish. Acclimate your new arrivals into the tank by floating the bag. This gets them adjusted slowly to the new water temperature. Once you have released the fish and made any initial observations, cover the tank with pond netting, this is especially important for koi who may quickly decide to jump out.
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Regularly test the water chemistry; pH, ammonia, nitrite. If the ammonia or nitrite rise, perform partial water changes to dilute. After water changes, you will want to add more salt to keep the salinity at 0.3%.
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Monitor and treat as needed or treat to be safe. We like to use MinnFinn during any quarantine set up to help kill any bacteria, parasites, or fungal infections the fish may already have. 2 weeks is considered the minimum quarantine time.