Let’s be real for a second. You just spent a lot of time, energy, and money setting up the perfect reef tank. The water is crystal clear, the lights are tuned perfectly, plus your current fish are swimming around looking super duper healthy and happy. After this, you visit a local fish store, see a stunning new Tang or Angelfish and you just have to buy it. You bring it home, float the bag for twenty minutes then drop it straight into your display tank.

Congratulations!! You might have just ruined your entire setup.

It sounds harsh but it is the truth. Adding new fish directly into your main display is basically playing russian roulette with your pets. The ocean is full of parasites and holding tanks at retail stores are too. If that new fish is carrying a disease, it’s gonna spread to every single fish you already own. And once a parasite like Marine Ich or Velvet gets into a reef tank, getting it out is an absolute nightmare.

You probably ended up on this page because you heard a horror story or you’re looking up quarantined marine life and supplies. Today, we are going to break down exactly why you cannot skip this step, how to set it up without losing your mind, and also how BPK can step in and handle the hard work for you.

Why Separating New Fish is Non-Negotiable

A lot of people think their display tank is so healthy that a new fish will just naturally fight off any sickness. That isn't really how it works, if a fish has been caught from the ocean, shipped from across the world, put in stores, and bagged up for your house, the stress it undergoes ruins its whole immune system. This is why isolating new aquarium livestock is one of the most important parts of keeping marine tanks. You put them in a separate and safe environment where they can relax, eat food without competing for it, and show if they have any diseases before they touch your main water. If they get sick in the separate tank, you can treat them easily. However if they were in your main tank, treating them is almost impossible because the medicine could kill your corals.

Setting Up the Hospital Room

You don’t really need a proper aquarium for this. A quarantine setup is supposed to be basic, it doesn’t have to be all pretty too but it has to be functional. When you are gathering your quarantine tank accessories, make it simple. All you need is a bare-bottom glass tank. No need to put in sand or rock in there because if you have to use medicines that have copper, sand and rock will absorb it which will make the medicine useless and will ruin the rocks forever. For your marine fish quarantine equipment, you can grab a standard heater, a basic filter or sponge that can hang on the back, and some cheap PVC pipes from any hardware store. The PVC pipes will give your fish a place to hide and will feel secure without absorbing meds. Also, you need an ammonia badge to stick on the glass so you can make sure the water isn't becoming toxic.

The Step-by-Step Process

A lot of fish owners mess things up because they put a fish in a separate box for three days, it looks fine so they move it. Diseases have life cycles and sometimes you won’t be able to see the white spots of Ich for 2 - 3 weeks. The proper aquarium quarantine process suggests that you stay patient and keep your fish isolated for at least 4 to 6 weeks in order to find out about any diseases.

• First, you let them settle in for a few days and just focus on getting them to eat frozen food or pellets. 
• Once they are eating and strong, you start the observation. If you see them scratching their bodies against the PVC pipes, breathing really heavy, or getting tiny white dots on their fins, you have to step in and give them meds. 
• Even if they look perfectly healthy, many experts treat them with a mild de-wormer just to be safe.

You Need the Right Tools on Standby 

You can't wait until a fish is dying at midnight to start looking for meds. You have to be prepared with the right quarantine tools and supplies in your cabinet to be capable enough of saving your livestock. There should be a medical kit specifically for your marine tank with your important quarantine aquarium supplies which should include:

• Copper based medications (this is the only real cure for Marine Velvet and Ich).
• Praziquantel (this gets rid of internal worms and flukes that you can't even see).
• A high quality copper testing kit (because guessing the dose will either fail to kill the parasite or end up killing your fish).
• Good quality frozen foods soaked in vitamins to boost their immune system.

Corals and Inverts Bring Pests Too

This can be a big blind spot for a lot of people. They quarantine their fish perfectly but then they buy a new coral frag and put it straight into the reef. Boom!! Now you have Ich everywhere. This happens because fish parasites have a stage where they drop off the fish and stick to hard surfaces like rocks or coral skeletons to multiply. You have to quarantine marine fish and corals separately but equally. Corals bring their own annoying pests too like flatworms, red bugs, and zoanthid eating spiders. These can literally eat your expensive corals overnight if they get loose. You should use coral dips to stop this. 

• Take the new coral 
• put it in a container with tank water and the chemical dip 
• Blow the coral with a turkey baster. You’ll be shocked at how many creepy bugs fall off. 
• After the dip, put them in a separate frag tank for a couple of weeks to make sure no pest eggs hatch later.

Don't Mix Your Gear 

This is a stupid error that has the potential to destroy everything. Assume you are changing the water in both your quarantine and main tanks. You simply contaminated both of your waters by using the same items if you use the same filter hose. Quarantining aquarium equipment is a matter that requires careful thought. The sick tank needs its own buckets, algae scrubbers, and nets. Never allow a wet net from your quarantine setup to get into your actual aquarium. You must exercise caution when purchasing used equipment, such as a protein skimmer or wavemaker, as parasites may be present in the water trapped in the pump. 

For this, you'll need the right aquarium disinfection equipment. Soaking the used equipment in a bucket of water and white vinegar is, in our opinion, the best method. Clean the equipment, give it a thorough wash, and allow it to dry completely in the sun for two days. If the environment becomes very dry, parasites have a very slim chance of surviving.

Let the Pros Handle It 

Us at BPK Global are aware of your needs and wants. We get that it is really tiring to set up a second tank, change water twice, measure toxicity every day, and also spend a month staring at fish. We get it, it’s a lot of work, takes a lot of your space, plus it can be very stressful when you have to take care of a sick fish. For this reason, B.P.K. Global Trading provides an improved method. We get that the people of Dubai want healthy and safe aquariums without having to manage a hospital for fish too. We take great pride in providing our customers with superior marine quarantine services. Instead of you buying a fish and crossing your fingers, we do the heavy lifting. We source the healthiest livestock, and then we run them through a strict, professional quarantine before they ever reach your door.

Our supply of quarantined marine species is essential if you want peace of mind. We make sure they are eating prepared foods properly, treat internal parasites, and run them through safe copper levels to get rid of any kind of disease. A fish from us is ready to flourish in your display tank by the time you purchase it. What BPK contributes is as follows:

• Comprehensive marine life quarantine services to avoid jeopardising your current configuration.
• Access to high quality supplies for aquarium quarantine if you would rather do it at home.
• Guidance from our professional employees who are really good at maintaining tanks and can identify illnesses at an early stage.
• Fully conditioned livestock, good maintenance, and custom setups; all in one place.