Quarantine Questions

[Patow]

I'm finally ready to add a couple of fish to my tank. I'm going to go ahead and quarantine the fish, however, I've never done this, so have a few newbie questions. Currently, I have a Yellow Watchman Goby in my display from my old setup. That's the only fish though. I didn't think he needed quarantining (nor did I have the setup at that point) since he came from an established tank and showed no signs of any health problems in 1-year.

Here is my quarantine setup (29gal):

I have two Maxijet Powerheads (600gph and 1200gph) and 150W heater. I'm using an Eheim canister filter for filtration, and will throw in some PVC for hiding areas for the fish.

My questions:

1) For the Eheim canister filter, when I used to have freshwater (years ago), I used fine filter pads, course filter pads, and substrate. The substrate isn't overly cheap, so I'm wondering if I even need it in this application? Could I just get by with a bunch of course filter pads, and the fine filter pads?

2) I've ordered a Diamond Watchman Goby from a LFS. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow. I know these guys like to sift through the sand (of which I will have none in the quarantine). Is it okay to quarantine him still without substrate? I'm not sure if this is a good opportunity to get him to try take frozen food too? Or should I just bite the bullet and put him in my display directly?

3) I'm likely getting a couple clown fish, a purple fire fish, and maybe some blue or green chromis. Is that too many fish for this 29gal?

4) Should I add any supplements/meds as a precaution?

5) How often, and how much water should I change out?

Thanks for any help!

Cheers,

Dave

 

[spw4949]

I think the big thing with QT's is just keeping an eye on your levels(ammonia). Keep a bottle of amquel(or a similar product) on hand & use as necessary. That is probably overkill as far as filtration & current for a QT. I would lose 1 of those powerheads(maybe both) and I guess you could use the canister but most people just use 1 of those sponge filters. I would add some pieces of PVC for the fish to hide in as well......hope this helps & I'm sure others will chime in....

 

[Patow]

I'm all for simplicity, so if I can remove the canister filter and replace it with something simpler, that's a.o.k with me! I can return all the filters/substrate I bought, and get a HOB sponge filter if that is easier/cheaper.

I figured the two powerheads was overkill. I'll probably just leave the 600gph in there. I just had them lying around, so figured I'd use them.

 

[Freed]

One powerhead is plenty of flow. I have used canister filters with no issues so you can keep that in there.
Use some water from main tank to get cycle going and to add bacteria to the QT.
Check ammonia and pH regularly.
Make sure you raise the water level a bit so your heater doesn't shatter.
Don't put the goby straight into the tank, that will defeat the purpose of having your QT. It should eat floating mysis or brine but mysis is always better.
Hypo or copper as a prophylactic measure against at least ich is always a good idea.

 

[spw4949]

No real need to use water from your display, you can if you want but there is very little, if any beneficial bacteria in the water column.

 

[Cbravo212]

If you do get the sponge filter, drop the sponge in your sump when you are not using the qt. This will help with the biological filtration when you set it back up again. Unless you are going to keep it running all the time.

Dont do it if you are dosing copper.

Also, I have heard of people painting the back, bottom and sides black to aid in recovery if you ever use it for health issues. It will keep the stress down.

 

[Patow]

I costed out the canister vs. a HOB filter, and it's a heck of a lot cheaper to run the HOB! I'll just sell this canister filter.

So I took back all the canister filter material and bought a Marineland Penguin 150 and a bunch of replacement filters for WAY cheaper than it would have been to run the canister.

I realize that the picture shows my water level low. I'm just waiting for more RO/DI water. I'll fill it up later this afternoon, then off to get some fish. I realize that I probably don't need RO/DI water as the phospate wouldn't bother the fish. Cleaning extra algae would bother me though, so what the heck.

Need to read up on copper treatment now.

Thanks!

Dave

 

[Freed]

Hypo for ich is much much cheaper and easier to do if that's why you're looking for info on copper.

 

[Patow]

Is Hypo mandatory? I've already got the tank full of RO/DI water mixed up to sg = 1.026, and the temp at 79.5. pH = 8.11.

I picked up a Firefish, a Purple Firefish, and two Clown fish. Added some PVC to the tank for hiding places for the fish.

I'm just about getting ready to acclimate them.

Dave

 

[Freed]

You don't HAVE to run hypo but down the road if you see ich while in QT you'll want to do either hypo or copper from that point on to kill the ich. Some do from the start, some don't then have to later.

 

[Patow]

Cool Freed, I'll go ahead and acclimate them, and if there are any signs of ich during QT, I'll move to hypo.

Really appreciate all the help!

Dave