Sooooo much to the dismay of my parents (animals have a way of "finding" me as I put it haha) I came home from a Christmas party Yankee Swap with a new addition to the family, a small veiltail female. Because I am in high school, people put absolutely outrageous things in the grab, I'd have to say the fish was fairly normal compared to some of the other "gifts." Actually, she was one of two, there was a beautiful halfmoon male in a vase, who I would have loved to have saved as well, but my main concern was the female because she was still in her cup and the habitat that had been given away with her was far too small, (one of those horrid little box things by Marina) Additionally, she did not even have water conditioner or food in her bag and knowing some of the people at that party they would not have gone out of their way to provide her with them. I really felt I "connected" with this little girl the minute I saw her, she swam right up to me with eyes that just said "help me, I need a friend" (You all know the feeling I am sure.) What I am planning on doing at this point is dividing the large critter keeper I keep my male in. I know it is not ideal, but it's really my only option at this point because my parents will not allow me to set up another tank. It is pretty large, about 3.5 gallons, and heated and filtered. I will just have to do water changes allllll the time and test my water more frequently. The male that I keep in there now is very small and I do not expect him to grow much, his growth was stunted by terrible water conditions before he was rescued. My main question is, should I quarantine her before I put them together? And if so for how long? She looks fine besides a little dull with some black scales, and her fins are a little translucent in parts, but she's very perky. I have methelyne blue also and I have heard that giving her a metheleyne blue bath could help shorten the quarantine, but I do not want to risk hurting the fish. Also, while she is being quarantined, she will not have any heating or filtration, which is why I would prefer to get her into my main tank as soon as I can. Thank you for your help.
