Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

[Dr. Reef]

Dont use amquel or any such products with copper as it will cause water to turn toxic.
i got email response from Seachem which i just posted stating that its use should not kill beneficial bacteria. water change should be the only thing that will be needed if qt is not cycled or established.
Good Luck and Happy holidays.

 

[Blind45503]

Thanks for the reply Im about ready to purchase my QT my question is if I go with the Aquaclear HOB do I use the filter media in it? Or should I use something else in it instead? As I understand it I should take out the carbon for the first two weeks while dosing with prazipro then replace it for the other 4 while I observe the fish for signs of ich is this correct?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Thanks for the reply Im about ready to purchase my QT my question is if I go with the Aquaclear HOB do I use the filter media in it? Or should I use something else in it instead? As I understand it I should take out the carbon for the first two weeks while dosing with prazipro then replace it for the other 4 while I observe the fish for signs of ich is this correct?

firstly yes take carbon out while dosing any meds. secondly i always use ceramic rings for bacteria to grow on. Carbon will clean ur water so yes 2 weeks of dosing prazipro should be done without carbon and also if u decide to treat with cupramine then carbon should be taken out too. once treatment is done water changes and carbon should be placed back in.

 

[nickbuol]

How many fish can you quarantine together at once in a 10 gallon QT? I just added a 1" royal gramma and 2" Randall's Goby (that I'm still waiting to eat) on Friday. I was thinking of adding 2 1.5" clowns tomorrow for a total of 4 fish. I have a bio wheel 200 rated for 50 gallons and it is also filled with ceramic media and fully cycled.

I was wondering something similar. I've cycled my 120 gallon with 40 gallon sump (about 20 - 25 gallons of water of course), and I've been "feeding" the tank that has about 150 pounds of established live rock (from another tank) and a fairly new sand bed with about 80 pounds of aragonite and then another 40 pounds of bagged live sand plus a good scoop of live sand from the same tank that the live rock came from.

Anyway, this has been running for about 5 weeks and I really need to get my QT up and running. I know that a lot of people are using 10 gallon aquariums for QTs, but is there any real advantage to something like a 20 gallon? This is our second tank (been out of the hobby for about 8 years - long story, not because of issues with the tank) and I know to take things slow of course, but how many fish can be realistically quarantined at the same time? I figure two clowns are fine, two firefish are fine, but what about doing more than one tang or angelfish?

Not saying that we are going that way, but I know that when we had our previous tank we had 3 tangs that were introduced at the same time (no QT at the time) and they were fine for many years due to being introduced at the same time, and then when we saw signs of aggression (after 6 years), we gave away one tang to someone with a 300 gallon tank. We figured that we had gotten enjoyment out of them for years, and they deserved to have a bigger home.

Anyway, I would NEVER do that again after learning what I've learned after we got them and over the years since, but with the price of shipping always adding into the cost of livestock, we all want to maximize our purchases without causing issues with QTs and our DTs. Overfeeding a DT can help with an upcoming increase in bioload from a livestock order, but you can't really do much about the housing capacity of a QT.

This is me just asking a question, not looking for someone to give anyone permission to overstock a QT or to improperly add livestock to a DT, just looking to expand on the above question.

So someone could probably QT a pair of clowns and maybe a couple of other small fish at the same time in a 10 gallon, but what about people that want to add a couple of angels (regular or dwarf) or tangs at the same time? Since people say that some of the similar fish need to be added at the same time before one of them becomes established and then defends their territory from the new same-species fish. Obviously people need to have large tanks to house those fish, but this is just about the QT process.

Can it be done in a 10 gallon? a 20 gallon? SHOULD it be done in the same QT at all?

 

[Dr. Reef]

all questions are welcome and i know no one needs my permission to do things, there are many ways to get the final result in this hobby but not all ways are good.
anyways back to your question:
i highly recommend 20gal-40gal QT. i personally use 20g.
10g is a bit too small when it comes to tangs with added stress from meds it can be a fatal mix.
in a 10g 2 clowns and a couple of small fish are ok to keep as long as the tank is cycled and ghost fed to keep up the bacteria colony. A tang in 10g as is pushing ur luck let alone with few more fish.
this is why i say 20g and divide is longways with egg crate. keep tang on 1 side and smaller fish on the other.
If just introducing tangs then still i recommend dividing the tank and keeping them separated while in qt.

 

[Kyle918]

Good afternoon bnumair. I am currently working on setting up my 55 gallon DT with 20 gallon sump. I plan to have water in the DT and begin cycling that sometime around mid January. I would like to get my QT started this weekend so that I can begin my QTing a fish the same time my DT is cycling in hopes for the DT cycling process to be finished in the 8-9 week QT span. The QT will be a 10 gallon deluxe kit from petco. Will that suffice filtration wise?? My oringal plan until I fould such a cheap kit was a 10 gallon tank for $13 at petco and a fluval c3 hob filter and a small ehiem heater and maybe a nano hydor PH for water movement but that'll all cost a hair more than the kit and I would still have no hood or light. I would prefer a light as I do plan to use this same QT for QTing corals down the road.

I have several concerns, as I am completely new to the SW hobby.

Should I maintain hyposalinity in the QT to ward off ich just as in an in case and if so what salinity should I maintain?? I am aware that after the QT I will have to acclimate the fish to the salinity of my DT. That is what I plan to use the 9th week for, IE raising the salinity slowly.

I would like to start with two clowns in QT together but at some point I would like to add 5 blue/green Chromis to the DT. Do you think I could get away with QTing 5 small Chromis together or is it fine to add say 3 then the other 2 after another QT session and then still play nicely in the DT as a whole?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Good afternoon Kyle918.
i am happy to see ur starting in good direction.
10gal Kit will be fine but i do recommend a 20gal kit. 10gal will be small if u decide to do multiple fish or larger fish or fish that need more space like tangs.
Anyways, i dont keep hyposalinity in qt. (hypo is 1.009) I always keep the same salinity as dt. I use the qt to observe and medicate accordingly.
I prefer a 2 week prazipro treatment then followed by 4-6 weeks of just observation.
if ick is identified then i personally use copper based med cupramine but in ur case u cant as u will be using the same setup for corals so hypo at that point will be ur best bet.
In a 10 gal tank u will be fine with 2 clowns. 5 chromis will be fine too but i dont see them all last very log in DT as they really dont school and eventually u will have just 1-2 left.
if u run into a problem with 5 chromis in qt use eggcrate to separate few out in the tank.
Good luck and happy reefing.

 

[Kyle918]

Good afternoon Kyle918.
i am happy to see ur starting in good direction.
10gal Kit will be fine but i do recommend a 20gal kit. 10gal will be small if u decide to do multiple fish or larger fish or fish that need more space like tangs.
Anyways, i dont keep hyposalinity in qt. (hypo is 1.009) I always keep the same salinity as dt. I use the qt to observe and medicate accordingly.
I prefer a 2 week prazipro treatment then followed by 4-6 weeks of just observation.
if ick is identified then i personally use copper based med cupramine but in ur case u cant as u will be using the same setup for corals so hypo at that point will be ur best bet.
In a 10 gal tank u will be fine with 2 clowns. 5 chromis will be fine too but i dont see them all last very log in DT as they really dont school and eventually u will have just 1-2 left.
if u run into a problem with 5 chromis in qt use eggcrate to separate few out in the tank.
Good luck and happy reefing.

I appreciate the quick response. I have done the reading and quickly found QT essential to successful reefkeeping.

I won't have any tangs as this is my first build and I will only have a 55 gallon tank which I know is not large enough for tangs. If I have to treat the QT then I will not use the tank for corals. I can always buy another 10 gallon tank and just move the light hood to the new one. A bare bone 10 gallon aqueon is about $13 at petco. I will take some time though and plan my intended fish purchases and if I plan on QTing more than two fish at a time then I may get the 20 gallon as my QT. I will also take your advice and use the prazipro treatment and observation unless I discover ich.

Apart from the schooling aspect, why would they all not live long in the DT? And what fish would be nice as schooling fish, say 3-5 for a small 55 gallon tank? <---sorry if this isn't the best forum to ask such a question.

Thanks again.

 

[Dr. Reef]

I appreciate the quick response. I have done the reading and quickly found QT essential to successful reefkeeping.

I won't have any tangs as this is my first build and I will only have a 55 gallon tank which I know is not large enough for tangs. If I have to treat the QT then I will not use the tank for corals. I can always buy another 10 gallon tank and just move the light hood to the new one. A bare bone 10 gallon aqueon is about $13 at petco. I will take some time though and plan my intended fish purchases and if I plan on QTing more than two fish at a time then I may get the 20 gallon as my QT. I will also take your advice and use the prazipro treatment and observation unless I discover ich.

Apart from the schooling aspect, why would they all not live long in the DT? And what fish would be nice as schooling fish, say 3-5 for a small 55 gallon tank? <---sorry if this isn't the best forum to ask such a question.

Thanks again.

if ur just housing smaller fish then u will be fine with 10gal tank. just use egg crate if qt'ing multiple aggressive fish at same time.
Chromis can be aggressive towards its own species and due to add stress and bullying only 1 may survive. i have read and seen this so many times. no personal experience though. i have always found anthais to be good schooling fish and maybe cardinals as well.

 

[Outrigger Reef]

Hello,

When using a hob filter with the filter with no carbon, do I need to clean or change it when I do my weekly WC? I dont want to get rid of the good bacteria that's on it, but will I do more harm not cleaning it? QT is cycle.

Thanks for you help in advance.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Hello,

When using a hob filter with the filter with no carbon, do I need to clean or change it when I do my weekly WC? I dont want to get rid of the good bacteria that's on it, but will I do more harm not cleaning it? QT is cycle.

Thanks for you help in advance.

unless u have ceramic media in the HOB i wouldnt, in-fact i never clean them while there are fish in the tank. only time i clean is when there is no fish this way if there is a mini cycle no livestock gets hurt.

 

[CorbetJackson50]

I have a qt set up and running and i plan on going ro the lfs tonight to pick up 3 or 4 fish. The tank is a 46 bowfront bare bottom with a canister filter running a sponge and lr rubble. The tank was set up using half old water from dt and half new sw. The canister filter ran on my dt for a week and now for a week on the qt.

my question is should i do away with the lr rubble in the canister?

 

[CorbetJackson50]

Well I've pretty much answered my own question. Now my question is to medicate or not??? I wasn't planning to unless i saw the need to. I was planning on just observing. would it be safer to medicate anyways since i have a qt setup???

 

[Dr. Reef]

observation is what i recommend with 1-2 weeks of prazipro. treat for ich if u see any. other wise 6 weeks and main tank they go.

 

[CorbetJackson50]

Sounds good i went ahead and picked up some prazipro... Any problem with the lr rubble in the canister filter in conjunction with the prazipro? and for that matter adding lr to the qt to beef up the biological filtration and make it "homier" for the fish or no?

 

[Dr. Reef]

no problem using LR in qt with prazipro. but if u need to use copper based med at some point then lr has to go out. and if u have to get the rock out then hold on copper few days for filters to catch up with bacteria as some bacteria will go away with the rubble u took out.

 

[CorbetJackson50]

Thanks a bunch for your help! The first time in 8 years I've actually quarantine new arrivals

 

[Dr. Reef]

Thanks a bunch for your help! The first time in 8 years I've actually quarantine new arrivals

you been playing Russian roulette for 8 yrs. well now ur on the right path. good luck and happy reefing.

 

[CorbetJackson50]

you been playing Russian roulette for 8 yrs. well now ur on the right path. good luck and happy reefing.

Well i got lucky stocking my tank the first go around. Eventually lost a couple but pretty much kept the same fish for six years. I've always been careful of who i buy from and always watch the fish in the store for a few days. I moved the tank and lost all my fish and restocked and had bad ich outbreak that i was too busy to get under control in time. I don't want to go down that road again. I have a nice regal blue tang that is fat and happy and ich free and id like to keep it that way!

 

[Deinonych]

firstly yes take carbon out while dosing any meds. secondly i always use ceramic rings for bacteria to grow on. Carbon will clean ur water so yes 2 weeks of dosing prazipro should be done without carbon and also if u decide to treat with cupramine then carbon should be taken out too. once treatment is done water changes and carbon should be placed back in.

Hi bnumair,

I've begun to cycle my 20G QT. I'm using an Aqueon Quietflow HOB filter, but I'm not convinced there is enough surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow. If I were to use ceramic rings as mentioned above, what would be the best way to do so in my tank? I'm going to have the QT up for several months, as it will be for a brand new DT with no livestock currently.