quarantine tank help needed
- Thread starter wenszoo
- Start date
acidlittle
New member
what exactly is the air stone for? Water movement?
jdsabin1
New member
Keep it simple. It requires the very basic elements of your main aquarium: a filter, some basic lighting, and a heater. An integrated aquarium system like the Eclipse tanks only require the addition of the heater. I think I saw a nice 10 gallon setup that had everything at Petco for $50 bucks or so and I saw a cheap Iron stand at Adam's. An instant QT tank for less than $100 is a super cheap insurance policy that's for sure.
No substrate or live rock but some type of shelter is needed to provide a sense of security to minimize stress on your fish. Get some larger PVC fittings for them to hang out in during their stay.
To set up the QT tank:
Keep an extra filter like a sponge filter, in your main tank (sump), so you don't have to keep the quarantine tank set up all the time.
If you don't keep the tank running, use old tank water to fill the tank. So: old tank water + established filter = instant established tank.
You can use Amquel or Prime when medicating the tank in case the biological filter bacteria are sensitive to the medication. Sick fish are especially susceptible to ammonia.
Do small, frequent water changes (every other day unless you are medicating fequently in the QT then wouldn't hurt to do a small water change daily actually).
If possible, quarantine all of your new fish for three weeks. At the bare minimum, they are already stressed from all the shipping and this way they will be healthy when introduced to your main tank and if they do get bullied a bit they won't stress to death. At worst you just caught an unhealthy fish and treated it before the reast of your livestock get the same disease.
Hope that helps!
No substrate or live rock but some type of shelter is needed to provide a sense of security to minimize stress on your fish. Get some larger PVC fittings for them to hang out in during their stay.
To set up the QT tank:
Keep an extra filter like a sponge filter, in your main tank (sump), so you don't have to keep the quarantine tank set up all the time.
If you don't keep the tank running, use old tank water to fill the tank. So: old tank water + established filter = instant established tank.
You can use Amquel or Prime when medicating the tank in case the biological filter bacteria are sensitive to the medication. Sick fish are especially susceptible to ammonia.
Do small, frequent water changes (every other day unless you are medicating fequently in the QT then wouldn't hurt to do a small water change daily actually).
If possible, quarantine all of your new fish for three weeks. At the bare minimum, they are already stressed from all the shipping and this way they will be healthy when introduced to your main tank and if they do get bullied a bit they won't stress to death. At worst you just caught an unhealthy fish and treated it before the reast of your livestock get the same disease.
Hope that helps!
Atticus
New member
Air stones will cause a little waster movement, but their main purpose is oxygen saturation. Sick fish need high levels of oxygen to ease thier breathing and many medications strip oxygen from the water.
Jeff gave a great set-up procedure for a QT. One side note is to remember to remove any carbon from the filter before medicating or your medication will be removed before it can be effective.
In my home any fish that is placed in QT recieves hyposalinity treatment from day one. You can read many detailed threads on how to perform hyposalinity by doing a search on this site or google.
I too want to set up a quarantine tank. Is any sort of filtration better than another? I already have a extra 10 gallon with a hang on the back filter. i was thinking of removing the carbon filters from it and instead put in some bioballs or something of the sort? I dont believe it has a biowheel on it.
Does anyone set up a quarantine tank with a fish or two in it to keep everything in check level wise or do you usually leave it empty unless needed?
Does anyone set up a quarantine tank with a fish or two in it to keep everything in check level wise or do you usually leave it empty unless needed?
