Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

I did a water change yesterday and a larger one today. I have rechecked my nitrite with the Salifert kit and it is showing 0 ppm. It is showing 31 on my Hannah checker but that is in ppb. Yesterday when I said it was 32 that was in ppb. My ammonia is 0 but even with that the fish continue not to look to good. Should I start a treatment or let it ride. I am even contemplating going ahead and putting them in my display tank.
 
After finally setting up a 29gal QT tank, it was just in the nick of time... I got a shipment of about 5 fish and the Purple Tang has ICH on it...A few questions:

1. Should I wait 24hrs before treating?

2. Since I added some Prime to the water, do I need to do a water change before treating with cupramine?

3. Should I treat with Prazipro first... or get started with Cupramine?

PS... all of fish from this order are in the QT...no Angels... so I should be fine I'm assuming...

4. I placed some rock from my Fuge in the QT, so I'll take it out and let them dry out before using them again (before I treat with Cupramine)

Thanks everyone for a great thread...
 
mrkalel said:
After finally setting up a 29gal QT tank, it was just in the nick of time... I got a shipment of about 5 fish and the Purple Tang has ICH on it...A few questions:

1. Should I wait 24hrs before treating? Couldn't hurt to get them eating first

2. Since I added some Prime to the water, do I need to do a water change before treating with cupramine? No, I believe after 48 hours any impact Prime would have on Cupramine is gone

3. Should I treat with Prazipro first... or get started with Cupramine?Cupramine. Later for the Prazipro

PS... all of fish from this order are in the QT...no Angels... so I should be fine I'm assuming... All new fish should go in QT for 2 weeks to a month. Since you have ich already I'd say a month

4. I placed some rock from my Fuge in the QT, so I'll take it out and let them dry out before using them again (before I treat with Cupramine) Never put rock or anything that will absorb the Cupramine in a QT

Thanks everyone for a great thread...
Click to expand...
 
Johnseye said:
Once the tank has been used for QT with copper and other meds can it ever be cleaned out and used to hold inverts?
I've read some things about the copper leaching into the silicone but is that enough to hurt inverts?
Is there a best method for cleaning out the tank after it's been medicated other than introducing carbon in the filter?
Click to expand...

Anyone know?
 
So sadly...while I setup my quarantine tank and caught the ICH on the Purple Tang...I'm almost 100% sure I see ICH on my baby Blue Hippo that I've had in the tank for a few weeks.

He's maybe the size of a half dollar now...and since my tank's rock is so much and epoxied together...I'm not sure what to do...

I have 4 other fish in there...including a Clown Tang & even a little Cleaner Goby....so removing any or all of the fish would be damn near ridiculously hard and labor intensive...

I'm pretty annoyed that I didn't have the QT tank setup from the beginning of this Reboot...

Long story short, I know I really should be pulling all the fish and leaving it fishless for 8 weeks...I'm just wondering if I play the waiting game and IF no new ICH in introduced to the DT for 10-11 months...can the tank self eradicate itself? (Which is what I've read)
 
I had ich in my DT from a new tang. He also gave it to some others. I pulled all my fish out and into QT. Treated with Cupramine, then Prazi a couple weeks later. The DT stayed fallow for a month. Some say 72 days but that was the only risk I took as ich typically needs a host within a month or dies.

I lost the Kobe tang and a gobi in the process. Other fish are back in the DT and so far so good. New tang and gobi in QT now.

No more chances for me. Do it right.
 
***Please Confirm***

Tank transfer method for 1 yellow tang and 1 Blue Hippo Tang (purchased from DD). Together In a 10gal tank, with HOB filter with no media (used for water movement), and a heater.

01- Tuesday 21- 2:00PM Fish added to first tank.
02- Wednesday 22- add ammolock
03- Thursday 23-

04- Friday 24- before 2:00PM transfer to new. And dose prazi pro.
05- Saturday 25- add ammolock
06- Sunday 26-

07- Monday 27- before 2:00PM transfer to new.
08- Tuesday 28- add ammolock
09- Wednesday 29-

10- Thursday 30- before 2:00PM transfer to new. And dose prazi pro.
11- Friday 31- add ammolock
12- Saturday 1- transfer to DT.
 
as long as you are considering that "before 2:00pm" needs to change respectively as you look ahead 3 days... e.g. if 'before 2' ends up meaning 10am, then you will want to do a transfer "before 10am" 3 days later.

also, moving them straight to the DT after TTM is risky; really should observe for a couple weeks more. I had run TTM a dozen or more times with never having it fail until recently. I had a bunch of tangs in a 30g TTM cycle... and ich popped right back up about a week after completing TTM the first time. Not sure where I went wrong, but I ended up redoing TTM and all seemed fine after that.

Otherwise, timeline looks good for both Prazi and transfers.
 
bnumair said:
How to Setup a Quarantine Tank?

This is a question that has been asked and brought up several times. This are lots of ways to do things in this hobby but not all ways are correct or proper or failsafe.
In my years of experience I have learned a few methods that work the best.
I will try to explain my findings and experiences for one's that are seeking knowledge for a great QT system.
First, lets get the equipment out of the way no matter what method you use list of basic hardware will remain consistent.

You don't need to go all out here. A simple tank size of 10 - 20 gallons will suffice for most people. If you have larger fish, then obviously you want to get a bigger quarantine tank. All you really need is a bare bones setup with the following equipment:

1. Some type of filtration (a hang on the back of the tank power filter will work, just use filter floss without the carbon since carbon will remove medication from the water, being counter productive)
2. Heater
3. A power head and/or an air stone for increased surface agitation
4. Aquarium test kits for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate
5. Fish Net - don't use the same net for your main tank

There are 2 of my personal favorite methods that I adopt.
Permanent QT or Emergency QT.

Permanent QT:
This type of setup will require a tank that is permanently running 24/7 awaiting temporary residents when needed. Cost of running such a system is high, but if money is not a problem I recommend this type of setup.
I personally run it myself.

I have a 36gal tank with above mentioned hardware along with an addition of ATO and chiller. My main tank is in-wall tank with back end in the garage. So my QT is also setup in garage thus requiring a need of chiller and ATO.
Every setup will have its own requirements and thus an owner needs to accommodate such needs and wants.

Once all hardware is in place I fill it with new salt water (1.026) and throw in a frozen shrimp to start cycle. Tank is bare bottom with a HOB bio wheeled filter. Let the tank cycle just like a normal tank over few weeks. Keep checking ammonia and nitrites and once zero your tank is cycled and ready to go.
After ammonia and nitrites hit zero do water change 30%. and keep up with regular water changes to prevent nitrates and phos to build.

Remember nothing from this setup ever can be used in your main tank ever if u use copper. so be ready to compromise the heater, chiller, filters, tank etc.

Use this tank as u need it for fish to observe or to treat.
Once setup properly this tank will not require much except ATO or regular replacement of evaporated water wit RO/DI water or a weekly water change.

Emergency QT.
This type of tank is quite favorite among reefers. This does not require a setup that is up and running 24/7. List of hardware is same.
In case you feel a need for a QT, just put together all the equipment and put water from your main tank in it and you are good to go.
Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrites and do water changes as needed.
This method will require relatively more water changes that permanent method as bacterial colonies are not established and thus require a little bit more attention from owner to maintain perfect chemistry.

There are few ways to shorten/cut the attention requirement in this process by adding chemicals like ammonolock or amquel that binds ammonia from being toxic to fish.
Another popular way to seed the tank is to keep extra filters in your main tank's sump and keep them seeded this way and when required pull them and use them in QT.
Just remember if copper is used in QT, those filters cannot go back to sump once QT is taken offline.

I hope reefers will find this informative and useful in order to setup their systems. If there are errors or problems with something stated please correct me as I am just human and can make mistake.
If there are questions concerns comments please feel free to post and share your wisdom together with everyone seeking.

Happy Reefing

Mike

NOTE: Patience is the key to success in life and in reefing.
Click to expand...
 
Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

Is it possible to completely remove cupramine from a full QT setup so that it can be used to QT inverts?
 
herbklee said:
Is it possible to completely remove cupramine from a full QT setup so that it can be used to QT inverts?
Click to expand...

Yes, in short. You can use carbon, poly filter, cuprisorb to remove all traces of copper along with water changes. Once u cannot find any more trace of copper then u can use it for inverts.
 
Just wanted to say thanks to bnumair and everyone else who contributed on this thread over the last few years. I've had reef tanks on and off over the last 20 years but never quarantined my fish (been lucky so far). I'm setting up a 300g and this thread has provide some incredibly useful info that I'm sure will save me thousands of $$$ in the long run! Because of this thread, I'll be setting up a permanent 20 long QT tank.
 
Zalick said:
Just wanted to say thanks to bnumair and everyone else who contributed on this thread over the last few years. I've had reef tanks on and off over the last 20 years but never quarantined my fish (been lucky so far). I'm setting up a 300g and this thread has provide some incredibly useful info that I'm sure will save me thousands of $$$ in the long run! Because of this thread, I'll be setting up a permanent 20 long QT tank.
Click to expand...

Thank you, we try our best to provide the knowledge we have attained over many years and deliver the results of experimentation and experience we have gained to people seeking and wanting to do things properly.
Good luck and safe reefing.
 
bnumair I've had a quarantine tank set up for a year. It's a 20 gal with a peguin 350 hob filter filled with matrix in both extra media area's and have poly filter in the regular media area. The tank has been without residents for about 3 months and I haven't ghost fed the tank. I am converting it to a nano reef and it will house a goby and shrimp. I put about 15# of LR and 15# of sand. My test readings are 0 except about 40 for Nitrate. Do you think this tank is still cycled ?
Thanks for your help , thought this would still be in your area of expertise....lol
 
Most likely there is still enough bacteria residing in there but just to be sure u can ghost feed a double pinch of food or a small deli shrimp in the tank and test for ammonia and nitrites 24 hrs later. If you don't find both meaning test results are 0 then tank is still cycled.
That is the only way to find out really.
 
I put some frozen in last night. I big hunk, and 0 readings this morning. I'm going to do it again tonight and double check.
Thanks for your time
 
mrpergo said:
I put some frozen in last night. I big hunk, and 0 readings this morning. I'm going to do it again tonight and double check.
Thanks for your time
Click to expand...

i think tank will be fine and is still cycled.
Good luck and safe reefing.
 
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