Quarantine Tank advice

[Titans]

Hello everyone,
I wanted to get a quarantine tank setup and cycled so that it may be used as a precaution before fish go in my main tank. I went to a LFS today and was suggested a very basic setup for $25 called an Oddyssea 10. It comes with the following:
10 gallon plastic tank
18 watt power compacts
HOB filter/pump

Here are some pictures

With the addition of LR, LS, 50w heater and maybe some live rubble in the filter area...what else would you recommend? How long should I monitor fish in this setup before placing them into my main? I don't know much so any and all information would greatly help...Thanks =)

 

[michaelaz]

I think for 25 you cant go wrong but no need to add live rock, its a quarantine tank.

I think 2 weeks would go if it is for introduction, if its for a breakout illness , time will tell.

Remember if you use copper in that tank with live rock I wouldn't ever think about putting the LR in your main tank again , the rock will absorb the copper and kill your inverts..

 

[josh&jana]

titans
tanks perfect mate thats all i have, as michaelaz said no need for the rock of even sand, i dont run either just do frequent WC, and i have a peice of pvc pipe for the fish to hide in if they want to...

 

[Titans]

Josh&Jana - You have the same tank as this? Is the water flow good enough?

Michaelaz - I was going to put LR and LS to build up the good bacteria. If the fish does happen to have some sort of illness I would treat accordingly and never introduce the LR or LS to my main.

So a fish can survive in something so simple? With no major filters or bio filters?

 

[Reefmack]

I'd skip the rock and sand too. No need for it, and as the others stated, if you ever do need to put medications in the tank the rock & sand will be contaminated by them. Also easier to siphon out detritis with a barebottom. The PVC pipe or SW safe fake deco is a better idea.

 

[Bud's Reef]

I use a 10G with a heater, HOB filter, cheap flourescent bulb, and a top that is easy to get in and out of. No rock or sand for the reasons stated above as well as without sand you can see a lot easier what and how much the fish are eating and without rock or sand it is easy to remove any detritus or excess. This really helps me understand just how much to feed. Also if you have rock and sand it would be a little harder to catch them when you are ready to move them to your tank.

I just put several pieces of varying sizes of pvc elbows, tees, and connectors for them to hide or just swim through and around.

 

[Titans]

Thanks for the unanimous advice =)

I can only do 5 gallon water changes at a time since my main only hold 30 gallons and has just finished cycling not too long ago. So can I put 5 gallons in the quarantine today (and just let it sit since the pump probably won't be able to pull it up this high) and another 5 gallons a week from now? Or shall I put 5 gallons of WC today and top off the rest with saltwater reserves I have stored?

(water in pictures was just fresh for testing purposes)

 

[Titans]

I went to the LFS today to purchase a black background and a heater for my quarantine tank and a worker or maybe the owner said I need to have LS/LR and always some life in the tank...either hermits, snails, damsels or chromis to keep the quarantine tank established? From the responses i'm getting in this thread the advice from the LFS seemed like BS...is it or is there some validity?

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

is this going to be a full time setup? or just a temp setup?

any snails or hermits in there will just die if you have to treat the tank for anything...i would definitely say no to them..

if it is a temp setup then you can just use water from your main tank to fill it when ever you need to...and then basically perform a WC to your main tank..

i am not too sure about the LR/LS though....if it is full time and you will NEVER put the rock back into your main tank then maybe, i am sure your HOB will colonize though and that should be fine or a FO QT...

 

[Titans]

I guess it will be full time since I just started my main tank and I will be adding a new fish or two every two weeks. Hopefully with regular water changes using the main tanks water and seeding the HOB filter I can keep things going.

 

[9Tailfox]

I would advise caution with that fish store. It's a quarantine tank you don't need/want clean up crew. You also do not want live rock or sand in it. Remember live rock and sand has inverts in it...if you dose copper they will all die and you'll have to deal with an ammonia spike.

Also as mentioned before you will be unable to use the rock or sand for anything else again as you will never remove the copper traces from it or the tank I'd wager, so no inverts or corals in the tank or with that rock and sand...ever.

For a filter I'd just do what many others do. Use a sponge or something that has been setting in your main tank/sump for a couple weeks. That way you get some biological filtration. Also you will throw the sponge away and not return it to your main tank.

Concerning water changes, you can take the take water from your display when you do water changes and add it to your quarantine tank if you'd like, that way water parameters are a little closer. I suppose that depends on the water quality some. But generally speaking you should be fine this way.

So with doing water changes with water from your main display and a filter sponge with some bacteria goodness on it you should be fine for "establishing" the tank. Don't listen to that LFS person, you don't want inverts (clean up crew) or fish in your quarantine tank that are not being treated. Otherwise all you have is another display tank and that kind of defeats the purpose of what your going for here.

 

[Reefmack]

BTW Titans - I like the Odyssea 10 QT tank. I can't even find that one for sale online anywhere, For $25 that was a deal!

 

[Titans]

9tailfox - Thanks for the tips and the advice regarding the store...that really confirms my suspicions...I noticed that they do try to push products on me which sometimes conflict with what I read on these forums or in books.

Reefmack - Yea i've tried searching online for this tank and only came up with old ebay auctions. That was the last one at that store and I haven't seen them at other LFS yet.

 

[Reefmack]

I wouldn't mind getting one myself. Yes - only on ebay auctions. Maybe they discontinued the 10. I was thinking about one for a small nano at work, or a standby QT.