The most troublesome thing for novice fish keepers is the handling skills before and after new fish are introduced into the tank. Those goldfish that are jumping lively in the hands of merchants will appear depressed when they arrive at your home, or they will sink to the bottom of the pond, or refuse to eat, and some even die the next day. After careful investigation, the reason is mostly due to the failure to do the four tasks of overheating, watering, disinfection and quarantine.

These four steps are indispensable before entering the new fish into the old tank. At the critical stage, especially in spring and autumn, the water temperature fluctuates greatly. In addition, our country has a vast territory and online shopping is now popular. The life and death of new fish depends on this. If not handled properly, not only new fish will not escape bad luck, but even the existing old fish may be affected, leading to annihilation.

For novices who are new to fish farming, they often lack clear preparation steps after receiving the goods, and often put new fish directly into the fish tank to raise them. Little do they know that this approach is extremely harmful to goldfish. Therefore, after receiving a new fish, do not rush to put it into the fish tank, but carefully follow the following steps:

1. Overheating

Overheating is generally divided into two steps . The first is the movement of fish bags. When encountering a large temperature difference between inside and outside, a gradual movement can be adopted. That is to first move the bag containing the new fish from outdoors to indoors, from outside the home to indoors, and from other places in the home to near the fish tank. If you have air conditioning in your home, you need to be more careful when operating it.

Then we use the common method is the floating bag method, that is, put the fish into the tank together with the packaging bag. It can make the water temperature in the bag gradually become consistent with the water temperature in the fish tank. This process usually takes more than 1 hour. It is recommended to use a thermometer for measurement. Ideally, you should perform your float bag operation in a pre-prepared isolation tank rather than in a larger tank.

2. Passing water

After the over-temperature is completed, the next step is to pass the water. The core purpose of passing water is to adjust the differences in water quality in different places and allow fish to gradually adapt to the water quality in different places to avoid adverse conditions such as colds, sinking to the bottom, and sluggishness. The length of time it takes to cross the water mainly depends on the type of fish you raise. Generally speaking, longer is better, and for most goldfish, about 2-3 hours of water time is enough.

During the specific operation, you should slowly open the bag mouth and gradually replace 1/3-1/4 of the water in the bag with water from the fish tank (see the picture below). Some aquarists also choose to slowly release oxygen by punching holes in the transport bag to release air, so as to avoid discomfort caused by the fish suddenly changing from a high-oxygen environment to a normal environment. This situation is commonly known as oxygen halo.

Next, continue to float the bag in the fish tank. For safety reasons, you can tie the bag mouth slightly lower. Then, add a small amount of fish tank water to the bag every ten minutes. After repeating this step for about an hour, gently remove the fish and place it in the isolation tank. The purpose of this is to allow the fish to gradually adapt to the water quality in the fish tank. It is important not to pour the water from the bag into the fish tank, as doing so may introduce parasites or pathogens from the fish store or fishery into the tank.

In addition to the floating bag method, there is another method of passing water called the bucket method. Its basic steps are similar to the floating bag method, except that instead of floating the bag directly in the fish tank, the bag is placed in a clean bucket, and then the bucket is floated in the fish tank. The advantage of this is that it can effectively prevent the water in the bag from accidentally entering the fish tank.

There is also a very detailed water passing method called the dripping method, which can provide a gentler and more stable water passing environment. Especially suitable for higher value goldfish, such as original or high-priced varieties.

When implementing the drip method, you need to prepare the following tools: a bucket, a clamp with a suction cup, and an air tube long enough to connect the fish tank and the bucket. First, fix one end of the air pipe on the clip, and then attach the clip to the inner wall of the fish tank. Next, control the flow of water in the trachea by tying a knot to ensure that the water flows out slowly in a trickle. Insert the other end of the air tube into the bag placed in the bucket. Using the siphon principle, the water in the fish tank will slowly drip into the bag.

Ideally, the rate should be one drop of water every one to two seconds. If you find it difficult to precisely control flow by tying knots, consider using strong clamps, such as flat clamps or C-shaped clamps, to assist with adjustments, see the video above.

The third step of disinfection

After the water flow is completed, the fish should be allowed to rest in an isolation tank or tank, and oxygen should be continuously supplied for 2 to 3 hours. During this period, avoid excessive disturb. During this period, you can carefully observe the appearance and swimming posture of the fish, and check its activity by tapping the wall of the container. If the fish appears sluggish, there may be a problem with the water and temperature process. At this time, the fish should be allowed to rest for 2-3 days to avoid further tossing.

If the fish is found to be active, you can enter the next step of the disinfection process. Each aquarist may have their own preference for disinfection methods. Common disinfection methods include the use of potassium permanganate, chlorine dioxide or concentrated salt water. You can read related articles on the public account video account.

4. Quarantine

After the new fish have been warmed and watered, the risk of putting them directly into the original tank for polyculture is very high, and there are too many lessons learned. The correct operation is to prepare an empty tank for the new fish to be raised separately and carry out isolation and quarantine work, which usually takes half to a month.

1. Size of the isolation tank

Generally, the size of the water tank used for isolation should be at least 45×25×25, which may be adjusted depending on the size of the fish. The number of fish put into the isolation box must also be controlled. Generally, it is better to have less than too much, because we have to consider that the newly purchased fish may be injured due to restlessness or long-distance transportation, and there will be a lot of secretions on the body surface. If there are too many, , water quality will soon deteriorate.

2. The facility settings of the isolation tank

should have heating devices, filters, lights and oxygenation facilities. It sounds complicated but is actually very simple. The isolation box can be equipped with a small heating rod, a filter, and a small hanging lamp for lighting.

After new fish enter the isolation tank, it is recommended to turn off the lights of the fish tank or use sunshades to block direct sunlight to reduce the new fish's nervousness in the new environment. If it is an adult fish, it must not be fed within 3 days. Young fish will start eating according to the situation, and generally stop eating on the first day. The first 3 to 5 days after a new fish enters the tank is a dangerous period that determines whether there will be a sudden pathogenic infection. In the early stages of this quarantine, it is recommended to reduce the amount of water changes and control the amount of feeding, with maintaining stable water quality as the top priority. Once abnormalities are discovered, appropriate treatment measures should be taken immediately.

The three key steps of quarantine are as follows:

The first step is water quality adaptation

After the initial 3 to 5 days of danger period, we can gradually increase Change the amount of water each time until you reach your accustomed water change frequency. In order to ensure that pathogens brought by new fish are completely eliminated, adequate water changes are indispensable. In this way, new fish can gradually adapt to the water quality in the tank and reduce health problems caused by changes in water quality.

The second step is to adapt to the bait

This step requires patience and cannot be rushed. If the new fish is not interested in the bait at the beginning, it is recommended to focus on the bait it is willing to eat. Prolonged starvation may cause the intestines of new fish to shrink and their health to decline, which in turn increases the risk of loss. If you encounter difficulties during the bait training process, you can consider using a feeding net. Put the food that the new fish likes and the new bait into the net at the same time to help it gradually adapt to the new taste. Healthy new fish usually tame bait successfully in a short period of time. It is recommended that the first meal of the day be used to tame bait, because at this time, new fish are more hungry and more willing to seek bait. As long as the new fish adapts well, the bait training process should be relatively smooth.

The third step, disease prevention

If the new fish is in good health, has good adaptability, and has no signs of infectious diseases, then the disease prevention step can be omitted. However, if the condition of the new fish has been poor, it is recommended to perform external deworming first (most fisheries are kept in the open, and various parasites are inevitable), mainly targeting protozoa on the gills or body surface. After deworming, please quickly stabilize the water quality, and then you can safely deworm internally without the threat of external parasites.

After passing these three steps in the quarantine tank, new fish with good health and normal appetite can be considered for moving into the polyculture tank. For new fish that have not returned to normal, it is recommended to continue to stay in the quarantine tank for treatment.