Bringing in Wild Caughts...

[fischfan13]

I'm wondering what everyone here uses against the possible onslaught of parasites when they receive Wild Caught fish that have only been in the States for a few weeks or a few days.
I have had a bit of a problem with some WC Labidochromis sp Hongi that I received. In the past four days I have given their tank 90% water changes with heavy amounts of Epsom Salt (2 tsp per 5 gallons) and double the amount of the recommended amount of Metro.
I had them for 3 weeks and then had one death.
Two weeks later 3 more deaths.
The only sign that I saw from them that something was wrong was excessive hiding...other than that they swam, ate and even looked fine.

[chc]

Count on wild caughts having internal parasites, and they can take hold as the result of stress. Certainly collection and shipping is tough on them, and malnourishment is an issue since wild fish often don't eat readily around this time. I feed new fish, even herbivores, primarily PE Mysis due to its palatability (getting them eating quickly is key), and I soak it in metro to deal with the parasites. Metro is only really effective if ingested. After a few days I switch off the PE and onto whatever will make up "usual" meals.

All the other stress reducers are important too. Lots of small, harmless dithers are necessary in my view (I like small livebearers). Certainly cover is important too.

Even with all the preparation in the world, sometimes you'll still lose some new arrivals. Who knows what they went through on their way to our tanks? ; )

[jgentry]

I treat any wild caught fish that I get with parasite clear before it goes in with any of my other stock. Better safe then sorry. I've never had issues with this medication and it is cheap. You can even get it a walmart. Any parasite med with prazi will work though.