Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

[Dr. Reef]

Hi Tanged,
i have a similar setup with 20 gal and a 40 gal tanks both draining down to a 20 gal sump and then back up. so a dual qt system. anyways no its not a good idea to keep rocks and sand in qt. If you ever had to treat with medicine most will be absorbed/lost in sand and rocks making treatment a bit more difficult and at some point rocks and sand can leech that stuff back as well.
Its best to replace the rock with ceramic media and rid sand.

 

[tassod]

sorry for the loss it looked very bad and i didnt think it would make it from what you described. Anyways take the rest of the fish out and qt them and treat accordingly.
Good Luck and Safe Reefing

bnumair, lost a naso tang Tuesday and it looks like I'm dealing with Marine Velvet, not ick. I've read that hypo is ineffective against Velvet. Some say to use Copper, others say a fresh water dip with Methalyne blue for 5 mins and the a Formalyn bath and then put in QT. HOw do you suggest fighting velvet?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Hi Tassod,
velvet is a very deadly disease, should start treating immediately, Copper is the only known treatment. freshwater dips might give temp relief to fish but i rather not stress fish for temp relief and rather treat with copper.
Start switching from hypo to copper as quickly as you can.
good luck.

 

[michfish5]

Well a day after my last post the Royal Gramma stopped eating and is spending most of its time in the PVC. When its out it swims on its sides sometimes and now it is breathing heavy as well. Just in case I had my LFS check my calibration on my refractometer and it is good. I have been maintaining 1.009 SPG for almost three weeks now but it only seems to be getting worse. Three days without eating now. I tried different foods and I tried garlic with the food but still no appetite and the cardinal kept spitting the food out after tasting it. So how many days can a fish go without eating? The royal gramma is still moving at least but I am worried. I am afraid to try a freshwater dip with it in this shape since it stresses so easily. Should I still stay the course with hypo? Has anyone else experienced reinfestation in hypo?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Hi Michfish5
doesnt sound too good, healthy fish can survive 7-10 days without eating. have you checked the pH and temp? i would continue trying garlic with different foods to see if something gives but in few days it will get hungry enough to start eating on its own.
Also not sure if ich was ever detected that could be the reason for heavy breathing and not eating and shyness as well.

 

[michfish5]

Temp is stable. The pH was a little lower than it was a few days ago, maybe 7.9 (using API kit). I added some Reef Buffer and he did seem to come out and swim some after that. I will keep an eye on that. I also dosed Prazipro today since I figured it couldn't hurt at this point, and like you said, I never did see any spots on his body. The good news is I have not seem him flash today. He is however, hanging upside down in the PVC with occasional forays into the water. Maybe he will come around. He seemed so healthy before I put him in QT. I will keep on keeping on.

 

[Drew707]

Sorry if this has been asked but its a lot of pages to read threw lol

When you cycle a qt and have ceramic rings/live rock in ur filter and you need to med the tank..do you take it out or leave it in? Don't the copper kill off all bacteria you grew in the qt?

I just started a 20g long qt/hospital tank and its filled with 3/4 ft water and rest new mix...I can add live rock if need be...I'm picking up 3 fish tomorrow. Thanx for ur help

 

[Dr. Reef]

Temp is stable. The pH was a little lower than it was a few days ago, maybe 7.9 (using API kit). I added some Reef Buffer and he did seem to come out and swim some after that. I will keep an eye on that. I also dosed Prazipro today since I figured it couldn't hurt at this point, and like you said, I never did see any spots on his body. The good news is I have not seem him flash today. He is however, hanging upside down in the PVC with occasional forays into the water. Maybe he will come around. He seemed so healthy before I put him in QT. I will keep on keeping on.

Michfish5,
i think ur doing things right and just keep an eye on parameters, biggest issue with hypo is low pH, which can hurt fish. Also give it a few more days and see it start eating. do use garlic in food. ( i am still leaning towards ich in gills)
Good luck and safe reefing.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Sorry if this has been asked but its a lot of pages to read threw lol

When you cycle a qt and have ceramic rings/live rock in ur filter and you need to med the tank..do you take it out or leave it in? Don't the copper kill off all bacteria you grew in the qt?

I just started a 20g long qt/hospital tank and its filled with 3/4 ft water and rest new mix...I can add live rock if need be...I'm picking up 3 fish tomorrow. Thanx for ur help

Hi Drew707,
we never use live rock in qt due to the biggest fact that it will absorb medication and might leech at some point later thus making initial treatment difficult and unstable. Ceramic media does not absorb.
Regarding bacteria getting wiped out due to copper, well cupramine is very safe form of copper. it does effect the bacterial colony to about 20% which is not a big deal in a cycled qt, it will bounce back in 1 day with no ill effects.
if you just started a qt then its probably not cycled and will need time to cycle. ean while if you happen to get fish in, you need to make sure ammonia dont creep up. you can do water changes (almost 50-75%) daily to keep ammonia at 0.
Good Luck and Safe Reefing.

 

[michfish5]

Thanks BNUMAIR. I am betting on ich in the gills too. Today "Rocky" is actually out of the PVC and "swimming" in the current. No more scratching but he looks gaunt for sure and he still would not eat. Breathing is still heavy but he is out there and moving around which is an improvement from being upside down in the pvc, I think? Wishful thinking probably.

I did add some Reef Buffer yesterday when I thought the pH might have dipped a little (down to 7.9ish) but then I read somewhere on here NOT to use buffer, but to use baked baking soda. Is it BAD to use Reef Buffer? I also did a 10% WC this morning to suck up uneaten food, debris, and hopefully some of those hateful, nasty cysts that might have been on the tank bottom rallying for their next assault. SG is stable at 1.009 and all other parameters are good. If I could just get him to eat something! Maybe like Rocky, he will make a comeback! Fingers crossed...

 

[michfish5]

Welp, "Rocky" was knocked out, permanently. RIP. Very frustrating since I thought I did everything right. Wondering if copper would have been the better way to go. Meanwhile the PJ Cardinal is holding his own thankfully. Better luck next time I guess. Thanks for your help anyway BNUMAIR.

 

[fishbreath69]

Hey there, I love this thread, I started reading it a few days ago and I am almost done, I am going to be starting cycling my qt tonight, I dont have a dt yet but I am going to be getting one I the near future, I am going with a fowlr for now with plans to go reef eventually, the first quastion Is about cuprimine, will regular sand, not live, still absorb it, the reason for asking is we are currently fighting ich In One of our freshwater tanks (I know wrong site) but I can't find anything on this anywhere else. Any I sight will be greatly appreaciated. Thanks a lot

 

[Elimav]

I just started reading this thread, It's very infomative. I had originally set up a qt but didn't cycle it because I was running copper in it and thought that this would prevent bacterial growth and there would not be a cycle. Obviously I know better now. I did a 50% water change on the qt, then a complete water change. I also put in a new filter with activated charcoal. The original Biowheel is still in the qt. I started to raise ammonia with a frozen shrimp a couple days ago.
My question is will there still be residual copper in the biowheel? If I use live rock from my dt to start the cycle, do i have to bannish this forever from returning to the dt because of residual copper in the biowheel?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Hey there, I love this thread, I started reading it a few days ago and I am almost done, I am going to be starting cycling my qt tonight, I dont have a dt yet but I am going to be getting one I the near future, I am going with a fowlr for now with plans to go reef eventually, the first quastion Is about cuprimine, will regular sand, not live, still absorb it, the reason for asking is we are currently fighting ich In One of our freshwater tanks (I know wrong site) but I can't find anything on this anywhere else. Any I sight will be greatly appreaciated. Thanks a lot

Hi Fishbreath69,
i am glad to see ur going to do things the right way, regarding the freshwater tank with ich and cupramine will work but in my experience it tends to kill off 20% of bacterial population and will get absorbed in rock and sand and leech later at sometime thus making dosage hard.
copper in reef is a death sentence for everything including corals, rocks, sand, inverts and fish as well over 0.8 ppm but in freshwater tank it will kill all inverts and get absorbed in sand and rock and some decorations as well. Also will kill plants and some fish too depending on the strength of copper. It will also kill beneficial bacteria in tank.
Good luck.

 

[Dr. Reef]

I just started reading this thread, It's very infomative. I had originally set up a qt but didn't cycle it because I was running copper in it and thought that this would prevent bacterial growth and there would not be a cycle. Obviously I know better now. I did a 50% water change on the qt, then a complete water change. I also put in a new filter with activated charcoal. The original Biowheel is still in the qt. I started to raise ammonia with a frozen shrimp a couple days ago.
My question is will there still be residual copper in the biowheel? If I use live rock from my dt to start the cycle, do i have to bannish this forever from returning to the dt because of residual copper in the biowheel?

Hi Elimav,
lets see, you started cycling the qt tank with shrimp but this setup had copper run through it before cycle and you put carbon in the system as well along with 100% water change..... so far so good?
i think you should be fine but to be 100% sure i would run a polyfilter which will turn blue (if i remember correctly) and if it does then there is copper in system if not then its not. If you happen to find copper in system then run cuprisorb/polyfilter till all copper is out of the system along with using carbon.
My professional guess will be to run some polyfilter along with carbon for about 2 weeks to determine if there is any copper left, probably you wont find any.
Also i wouldnt place any sand or rock in qt, just HOB filled with ceramic media in media socks and thats about it. Cupramine will kill about 20% of the bacteria but not all. cupramine is very safe form of copper.
Good Luck and Safe Reefing.

 

[fishbreath69]

Thanks for the Info, that's kinda what I thought. I am going to be looking at used tanks for my marine setup, I want around a 90g with a sump, and live rock already but preferably without and fish or invertebrates, is there anything I should watch out for? Should Ieave it fallow in case there was any disease or ich In it.

Thanks for all your advice and wisdom on this thread, its been very helpfull and has answered so many questions already.

 

[shavoris]

Is there an ideal size for a QT?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Thanks for the Info, that's kinda what I thought. I am going to be looking at used tanks for my marine setup, I want around a 90g with a sump, and live rock already but preferably without and fish or invertebrates, is there anything I should watch out for? Should Ieave it fallow in case there was any disease or ich In it.

Thanks for all your advice and wisdom on this thread, its been very helpfull and has answered so many questions already.

Hi fishbreath69,
i am glad i could help, i didnt understand the second part of ur question.
r u setting up a used 90 gal with everything like fish rocks and corals etc? or ur setting up a 90 gal tank and cycle it?
either way i would get the equipment and tank and rock,sand etc setup just no fish or inverts, qt them properly according to this thread and then move them to ur main tank.
let me know if i can give u more details once i understand the situation a bit better. lol thanks again
Good luck.

 

[fishbreath69]

That pretty much answerd it, I want to get a tank withiut fish, get it cycled, and in the mean time get a fish or two into quarintine, I was just wondering if I should do a quarintine procedure on the tank itself to ensure there is no unwanted "guests" In it from the previous owner.

Can I start cycling a hob filter in a bucket for now, looks like my qt is gonna be occupied for a bit while we get this ich delt with.
Thanks again

 

[Dr. Reef]

Is there an ideal size for a QT?

on the lower end a 20gal and bigger a 40gal.