Rush Kills Fish. Arrivals & Preventive Acclimatization Desk QM3

The mortality rate of imported ornamental marine fish is alarming and sad. Most marine fish are imported wild, caught healthy and are infected when mixed in transit aquariums. Many of them are exposed to pathogens that are not typical of their habitat, which reduces their chances of survival. The same high mortality rate triggers a vicious circle that tragically encourages the increase in trade and bad practices in marine aquariums. 

Urgency of the aquarist => commercial demand increases => import accelerates => unnecessary catch increases without seasonal control => low price due to high volume (good practices are broken) => mortality increases due to cross infections and bad practices => increases fault and emergencies of the aquarist and economic losses in aquariums => demand increases more => more mortality and pathogens develop resistance due to poorly applied treatments in transit aquariums in the process of bankruptcy => informal trade appears => the few aquariums with good practices... marine aquarium hobby stagnates in animal abuse... etc... Where did the cycle begin? Who has the solution?

Once in the method design phase, an importer answered the team "...well, I buy because they ask me..."

In sales aquariums, cross-contamination is permanent between fish that are in transit. The lack of knowledge of old and new techniques, how to make correct diagnoses, preventive information per batch, collateral costs of formality and the aquarist's ignorance of the value of a quarantined fish and its importance, makes it even more difficult for good aquarium practices to be followed as In the end, it should be hurting animal welfare. At Mayan Sea, as an ecological project, we seek to facilitate and bring these solutions closer in search of providing marine shelters and alternatives to global warming. At this moment (with a tendency to better results), it is noticeable at first glance and this has a second-stage impact on lower mortality in the floating population established in particular aquariums. We are dealing a strong blow to cross-contamination thanks to all the support of the Kuxtal Kalan community that has been with us for several years now. It is the result of teamwork: Aquariums, aquarists, authorities, Academy, Mayan Sea.

Rush kills fish.

Buying without good practices results in an apparently healthy organism reaching your hands that in most cases dies in the first 3 weeks and/or is a point of epidemic origin that triggers mortality of all the fish in the aquarium to which you brought it. . The money cost to you ends up being up to five times as much when you average the actual value of your live fish. You calculate it by adding the cost of all those that died before you plus the cost of the living ones, you divide that sum by the total number of living organisms at that moment. That is the real cost you have paid.

There are few aquariums that carry out well-done and complete quarantine practices on the fish they sell. This happens because it is simply not commercially viable since the buyer does not accept and distrust the correct price. One of the ways you can tell if the quarantine is true is first the price range, a quarantined fish is expensive for two reasons: commercially the cost of the mortality rate of a batch must be distributed at the end in the healthy fish plus the cost of the organism's stay in quarantine in formal establishments that guarantee animal welfare. Formally established marine aquariums are generally projects of aquarium lovers far from being high-profit businesses. They are called usurers without knowing that in reality there are often total losses and most of them low profits. They tend to go out of business because the aquarist does not recognize or support good practices.

The price of quarantined fish will automatically decrease when global mortality decreases and this will be achieved when the aquarist stops being in a hurry to buy and is trained to proactively identify and request good practices from aquariums.

As if that were not enough, it is also common for aquariums not to understand the difference between acclimatization, hospital and quarantine. In other cases they pretend not to understand it and are maliciously indifferent to good practices or belong to illegal and informal trade.

A quarantined fish must:

- Be at normalized reef salinity of 34-36ppm

- Be free of stains and abdominal sagging

- Do not have cloudy eyes or swollen or reddish gills.

- Eat dry food and have a healthy weight

- Be displayed in a reef system with corals that guarantees to be free of medications. Mainly copper.

- Have a behavior of confidence and not fear

- Breathe calmly

If there are no corals or invertebrates there is surely copper in that system. If there is copper or medications it means that there is ongoing treatment. If there is a treatment in progress then it is not a quarantine, it is a hospital and removing a fish from a hospital is a high risk of cross-infection.

The newly introduced fish is exposed to as many moments of contagion as it travels, including the final trip to your house and aquarium changes. Each aquarium is a different planet for him.

Quarantine is a shared responsibility between the aquarium and the aquarist. You should also quarantine before entering the aquarium so that the fish can develop resistance and adaptation to possible pathogens unknown to it that inhabit your aquarium. (We recommend you review the Post "How to acclimatize my fish") .

"The rush kills fish", the rush to buy and the rush to sell. As long as the commercial value of the quarantined fish cannot be restored, sales traffic will be high, aquarists will continue to pay the collateral cost of mortality in the long run, and aquarium businesses will continue to bear the blame.

Resolving these problems requires the intervention of all parties.

It's very simple: buy less and more slowly to reduce mortality and cross-contamination.

A formal aquarium can earn more by selling less if it manages to bring its batch mortality to zero, in this way the sector could develop better. To achieve this they need your recognition and understanding.

It is urgent to promote training for preventive practices with greater force. In Mexico, it is estimated that there are an average of 13,500 active private marine aquariums. Each one with an average of 9 fish, which means a floating population of 115 thousand organisms in captivity. They have a low average lifespan, 3 to 5 years due to cross-infection. Around 7 thousand organisms are imported monthly with 85% mortality in the first 3 weeks. And unfortunately, responsible entrepreneurship in the sector goes bankrupt in the first year and is not viable because the buyer does not understand or respect the correct price table for living organisms.

If there was less traffic there would be less cross-contamination, it would be easier to quarantine for everyone, everyone would spend the same but there would be a big difference in mortality. Lower mortality would allow for more shelter aquariums. Please remember this before haggling a fish to a responsible aquarium. We want to achieve more marine aquariums and more healthy fish with an average lifespan of at least 10 years.

Meanwhile, to achieve the above, Mayan Sea designed the CETMS method and practical and economic alternatives that translate into animal well-being: The Arrivals Desk protocol with QM3. We seek your participation to:

- Support the formal aquarium sector.

- Reduce local cross-contamination in transit aquariums.

- Eliminate epidemics due to cross-contamination in private aquariums.

- Promote good practices, generate awareness and provide solutions to the aquarist

- Increase the average lifespan of the floating population of marine fish in captivity.

- Facilitate the growth of the sector to generate more protection aquariums in society against global warming.

Quarantining a fish can vary from 17 to 45 days depending on the species, complications and diseases that an organism may present. This is complicated for the aquarist. Furthermore, when a fish presents an illness in a quarantine, then it must undergo treatment, possibly in a hospital, which further extends the time, cost and effort. Also, treatments such as copper are delicate and can harm fish without noticing it when applied incorrectly, or even cause mortality. Requires daily monitoring and the use of tests for it to work correctly.

So that the aquarist has in his hands the possibility of improving the animal welfare conditions of his organisms in a simple and fast way, QM3 has emerged and the Kay salt line has a subsidized price.

QM3 has a small presentation so that its cost is very affordable and used 100% only when required. It is copper-free and does not require testing for use. Well, the prevention of mortality and cross-contamination for a newly arrived organism only costs around 50 MXN = 2.5USD on average. For an individual it is an insignificant price, but for an established aquarium not so much. That is why it is very valuable that in the shared responsibility of quarantines the aquarist supports these preventive practices on their own as well.

QM3 is a treatment that in 3 days almost completely eliminates all risk of pathogens in a newly admitted fish. So it reduces the average quarantine times by one third. It makes a combination of broad-spectrum drugs in conjunction with LIB (Exclusive Development of MS) ​​and is accompanied by a tank transfer method carried out in a hospital bucket. Remember that in marine all treatment must be accompanied by a method for it to work in the best way since a complete system must be intervened in most cases.

It is done in a hospital bucket, which allows the fish to arrive in peace (A large cave just for it, preferably black), it is very economical and easy in every way. It is as if you did a very slow 3-day acclimatization. You only need QM3, bucket, air pump (with hose and aerator) and heater. Only in complicated cases or obvious symptoms of illness does it extend up to 5 days. It is very simple, however if you prefer, the first or first times you can request an assisted quarantine ticket to resolve all your initial doubts and receive training directly by WhatsApp .

You can also review the explanatory video for TROPHIC SCALAR QUARANTINE * CETMS2 arrival table. It is also a good idea to see the CETMS1 and CTMS3 videos in the videos section of the library of this portal.

After this procedure, a reduced quarantine of 10 average days can be carried out in simple fish tanks without medication with water and aragonite from the final aquarium, at most only LIB13 to stimulate the immune system. This in order to observe the possible sensitivity of the fish to your main aquarium or where you plan to enter it, or that if it gets sick, isolate it so that it receives early treatment as a "vaccine", that is, to generate resistance through a slight controlled outbreak.

Quarantine time for fish is "Spoiled Fish" time, it is important that you see it as a luxury for him and not as something negative. It is a safe space where you can encourage yourself to eat and recover from travel in peace and tranquility.

In the case of sale aquariums, an arrival table for preventive acclimatization corresponds to the first 3 to 5 days of arrival of a batch of fish, separating them by geographical origin, supplier and species to carry out the treatment as individual as possible, and in This means discarding the pathogens in the bucket water in those first few days rather than contaminating large transit systems.

The arrival desk practice represents savings of up to 70% in medications and supplies and a reduction of up to 80% in mortality. In established aquariums it is advisable to maintain transit systems with LIB13 permanently.

Below we attach the general instructions, which you can also find on the QM3 label.

Thank you for taking care of your reef!

QM3 BASIC INSTRUCTIONS

Prevention of infections for Ornamental Marine Fish. Eliminates 99% ICH, Velvet, Brooklynella, Flukes, Uronema, among others. * COPPER FREE * No test required * Hepatus and wrasses may present sensitivity.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ARRIVAL TABLE WITH QM3

ARRIVAL DAY

1. MEASURE THE SALINITY of arrival of the fish. Prepare 1 clean bucket or quarantine fish tank with aquarium water adjusted to the same salinity as the bag. Use approx. 5lt per fish of size Ch and 15lt per fish of size ML species. Acclimatize in temperature and introduce the fish without the water in the bag. Provides abundant aeration and maximum temperature of 24 to 25ºC during treatment. Feed little, and remove any leftover food. If there is little water, avoid heating and place the bucket in a water bath in the tank.

2. Dose A Add 1 cap (5ml) of QM3 for every 2.5lt of water on the first day. In case of severe illness, divide dose A into 2 days 3 to add it gradually.

SECOND TO THIRD DAY

Dose B day 2 to 5 Add 10 drops (0.5ml) of QM3 per 2.5lt of water every day.

Does not require water changes. If you change the water you must replace the dose A equivalent to the new liters.

4. Transfer After 3 to 5 days maximum, transfer the fish to the quarantine aquarium with the same salinity so that it increases by evaporation (1-4 days) DISCARD THE WATER FROM THE BUCKET

 

TIPS

If there were complications on the trip or the fish arrives extremely tired, allow it to rest in a bucket for at least a day before starting treatment.

Try to use plastic aerators that you can disinfect.

Aeration must be abundant with large bubbles

Do not cover the bucket or fish tank at night or during the day, you can interrupt the oxygen exchange and suffocate it.

Avoid using large heaters, the fish can burn themselves when they go to sleep.

Use enough water proportional to the size of the fish, remember that the amount of oxygen available will depend on the amount of water. Little water is like an astronaut's helmet that at any time is insufficient. Follow the QM3 label's liter and sizing recommendations.

Measure the water to use well so that your medication doses are precise. Do not overmedicate or mix medications without knowing.

If the fish is in hyposalinity, take advantage of those 3 days to gradually increase 1 to 2 points per day.

Mortality in quarantine or hospital due to ammonia spikes is common, do not overfeed and take the necessary precautionary measures.

 

Surely the teamwork of all those involved brings us closer and closer to fulfilling the promise of real Animal Welfare for the species protected by aquarists.

Come when you have questions and get information from correct sources. What would a cardiologist say about his patients, recommending pills when someone has tachycardia?

Avoid following or giving incomplete advice on social networks. Advising on social networks is a great responsibility. Most of the time they omit the most important part of a comprehensive diagnosis and important data and time that is life or death for the organisms are lost. Better invite them to learn to make comprehensive diagnoses and show the way for them to find the information.

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