Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

[Dr. Reef]

i am a bit confused lol. did u treat with cupramine in DT or QT? either way invert (hermits snails starfish etc) will not be able to handle cupramine and will die.
as for ammonia in ur tank i would do few more water changes and/or use prime or amquel. it should pass in few days. its probably just a spike due to the starfish dying.

 

[gsiegel]

i am a bit confused lol. did u treat with cupramine in DT or QT? either way invert (hermits snails starfish etc) will not be able to handle cupramine and will die.
as for ammonia in ur tank i would do few more water changes and/or use prime or amquel. it should pass in few days. its probably just a spike due to the starfish dying.

Thanks - removed the inverts and treated the DT w/Cupramine. I do not have enough room to house the fish in the DT so rather than treat in the QT I treated the DT, and the inverts are hanging out in the QT.

Thanks for the input as always!

 

[jfeva0049]

Is it ok or common to use water removed from dt when doing a water change and use that as the water for qt??
Dt water is always zero in ammonia.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Is it ok or common to use water removed from dt when doing a water change and use that as the water for qt??
Dt water is always zero in ammonia.

yes and no. yes people do it all the time and no as i dont recommend it.
there are 2 things in ur question i need to explain in detail.
1. u can use Dt water to put in Qt but to me its cross contamination. reason is that ur also importing any bad things in DT to QT. this is why i dont recommend doing transfers like that i rather do freshly made saltwater.
2. water itself dont contain bacteria. bacteria resides mostly in rock and some in sand. ammonia in DT is zero as the bacteria in rocks is neutralizing it.

Like i said before i dont like to move things between tanks specially between DT and QT because u can be import/exporting good with bad as well and cross contaminating both tanks.

 

[Arc Drafter]

I was looking for this answer but was overwhelmed by the all the pages i had to sift through. the common consensus is that there should be no live rock in a qt system if copper medication is going to be used... why is this? Won't the ammonia get out of hand. Will the copper kill the nitrifying bacteria? I am about to upgrade tanks and had planned to turn my current system into a quarantine system. but i wanted to keep my live rock in my system in order to help w/ the ammonia. would a hypo salinity treatment kill nitrifying bacteria?

 

[Dr. Reef]

reason for not using live rock in qt is that it will absorb copper making dosing and keeping right strength very hard to achieve. also u maybe importing algae and other stuff u dont want via live rock.
cupramine is a safe form of copper and will kill some (about 20%) of the bacteria but will not cause a massive problem.
there are ways to control ammonia in a qt by placing ceramic rings or floss where bacteria can thrive.
like cupramine hypo will not kill all the bacteria and effect just a little portion of it.

 

[tassod]

True but we dont know if hes got ick or not. So in such case when I am not sure I consider same time in prevention as it was observation. So to observe ich time frame is 8 weeks in qt. Hypo as prevention I would do min 3 weeks then 2 weeks observation. Just my 2 cents.

Hi brumair,

I wanted to give an update on the powder brown in hypo. He's been doing fine but i am a little concerned over the last day and half on his behavior. Up until then he has been eating and looking good. He's been in hypo over 2 weeks now. Last day and a half, i've noticed his appetite has gone way down and he seems very lethargic and not interested in food. I am posting a video for your observation.

http://s1273.photobucket.com/user/tassod/media/IMG_0437_zpseb7e49e5.mp4.html

Is something wrong? Is he breathing heavily? There is no ammonia in the tank. The cardinal that is in there seems to be fine. I have started to raise the salinity now. Really worried, i dont want to loose this beautiful fish. :crazy1:

 

[Dr. Reef]

video looks fine to me ich wise but the breathing is a bit heavy. usually either due to ammonia or low pH or low oxygen.
if u already started increasing salinity then go through with it over few days, and in between if possible if u can do a 50% water change with same salinity or just a hair more will help. (make sure not to cause salinity shock keep is within the range its at now. 1-2 points above if any)
hopefully it will happy after water change.

 

[tassod]

video looks fine to me ich wise but the breathing is a bit heavy. usually either due to ammonia or low pH or low oxygen.
if u already started increasing salinity then go through with it over few days, and in between if possible if u can do a 50% water change with same salinity or just a hair more will help.
hopefully it will happy after water change.

I did do an ammonia test and it was zero. Also took PH and it was about 7.8 - 8.0. Will the water change help with oxygen? What can i do about oxygen?

 

[Dr. Reef]

i would definitely do water change 50% just to eliminate any factors. this will also bring in oxygen and pH and remove any unwanted buildup or toxins if any. or it could just be a change in salinity etc.
whenever u do water change make sure of the salinity to match it as u are in hypo.

 

[tassod]

i would definitely do water change 50% just to eliminate any factors. this will also bring in oxygen and pH and remove any unwanted buildup or toxins if any. or it could just be a change in salinity etc.
whenever u do water change make sure of the salinity to match it as u are in hypo.

Ok thanks...anohther question. What about the filters on my HOB Aquaclear? Besides the carbon, i have not changed the sponge filter or the biomax media since i started the QT. Should i change one of those? I have a new sponge in box and i also have another biomax media that has been in my DT sump for about 3 weeks now.

 

[Dr. Reef]

no if u have no ammonia problem then dont change filters it might throw ur tank in cycle. just keep the same filter and dont change anything.
biomax media can help harboring more bacteria but if qt is not showing any signs of ammonia then that means ur current filter is fully capable to handle the bioload.

 

[tassod]

He seems to be doing a little better now, did a 50% water change. Did not touch the filters, no ammonia problem but i still have nitrite showing up, not sure why. PH was 7.9 before water change and now its at 8.20. Salinity now is 1.012. Didn't bother trying to feed again, will try tomorrow. Any other advice for the fish?

 

[Dr. Reef]

sounds good... i would only rely on water changes for reducing nitrites. it seems like PB doesnt like a little nitrites. u can use chemicals but i personally like water changes.
u can do 25% water change everyday for next few days raising the salinity slightly everytime u do water change.
this way after ur salinity matches DT ur ready to move the fish even if nitrites situation is still there.

 

[tassod]

sounds good... i would only rely on water changes for reducing nitrites. it seems like PB doesnt like a little nitrites. u can use chemicals but i personally like water changes.
u can do 25% water change everyday for next few days raising the salinity slightly everytime u do water change.
this way after ur salinity matches DT ur ready to move the fish even if nitrites situation is still there.

Ok will do that, i tried feeding him this morning and he still wasn't interested. Why woud he stop eating? We was eating so well just a couple of days ago.

 

[Dr. Reef]

hes just irritated due to nitrite or maybe something else in water. this is why water changes will keep whatever is bothering it away and making fish happy.
not saying to hurry the salinity process but i would do frequent water changes and get salinity back to normal over few days and get the fish transferred.

 

[tassod]

bnumair, i have an emergency but dont know if much can be done. Today i transfered PB, he still wasn't acting himself before the transfer. So i put him in and he kind of stuck to a corner for a while..then started swimming around and all of suden, just went bonkers! He was doing 360's in the water and hitting himself until he lay flat! I got him out and put him in the QT and he's laying flat again and breathing heavily! I dosed Prazi pro and he did another one of the crazy things and just laying there now!



Is it over for him?

 

[tassod]

Well so much for hopping...i had left home for a bit and when i got back...found him on the floor...he jumped out of the QT to his death....this is the most unbelievable turn of events i've ever experienced. He was doing so well with no signs of disease...i just dont get it. Did i do anything wrong?

 

[Dr. Reef]

sorry to hear what happened. fish usually jump when either water has toxins or they have parasites. in ur case i have a feeling it was parasite as u did water changes.
i wouldnt say u did something wrong. u did take all the right steps and it just happens sometimes. dont let this hold u back from getting more fish and staying in this hobby.

 

[tassod]

sorry to hear what happened. fish usually jump when either water has toxins or they have parasites. in ur case i have a feeling it was parasite as u did water changes.
i wouldnt say u did something wrong. u did take all the right steps and it just happens sometimes. dont let this hold u back from getting more fish and staying in this hobby.

Can the fish have parasites during hypo? I thought hypo would kill any of that.