quarantine tank really necessary?
- Thread starter moneymm
- Start date
wooden_reefer
New member
The simple answer is yes.
No reputable LFS could possibly do QT for a hobbyist.
No reputable LFS could possibly do QT for a hobbyist.
Depends what you mean by necessary. If 'necessary' in the sense that you could not run a display without one, then no. If 'necessary' in the sense that it will allow you to be much more successful in building a fish population, and spend less money doing it, then yes. Your choice!
Okay i guess i will get one setup. is it okay to skip this step on my first fish , since theres no fish or reef to endanger?
im already crammed into my home office with this tank as it is, how big does a qt need to be? my tank is 43 gallon, and im going to be adding only small/med fish and reef.
im already crammed into my home office with this tank as it is, how big does a qt need to be? my tank is 43 gallon, and im going to be adding only small/med fish and reef.
I wouldn't skip on the first fish. First fish is just as likely as any other to carry a disease and once disease/parasite is in the display tank it is just more difficult to eradicate.
Just need a tank sized to the fish you will be QTing. If just small fish and doing them singly, you should be able to get by with a 10 gallon for QT as long as you can maintain good water quality.
Just need a tank sized to the fish you will be QTing. If just small fish and doing them singly, you should be able to get by with a 10 gallon for QT as long as you can maintain good water quality.
wooden_reefer
New member
After QT session I take away the QT tank and preserve the cycled medium intended for QT and feed the bacteria in a much smaller container.
As long as the biological medium is kept active, a QT tank can be set up in a couple of hours.
As long as the biological medium is kept active, a QT tank can be set up in a couple of hours.
Agree. In fact, I'd say that you're even *more* likely with your first fish to get a diseased one. I know when I was starting out, I really didn't know what I was looking at, or looking for. In time, subtle clues while watching the fish in the store will start to jump out at you. But it takes time to build up that "mental inventory" of things to watch for.
pREEFERED
Member
could you explain a little more your technique of preserving the medium?
Sacohen
New member
I disagree with this statement.
I deal with a shop about 3 hrs north of me and they offer to QT your purchase for 2 or 4 weeks, of course they charge a little more for that, but they do it.
If they keep a fish in with other fish in a fish system that shares water, it is not being properly quarantined. If they run a non-therapeutic dose of copper, it will mask various parasites including ich, velvet, and brook. And finally, four weeks is not sufficient to eliminate ich. If you want to succeed in this hobby, quarantine everything wet.
Certainly not properly.
shermanator
New member
They put it in an isolated system with it's own filtration? I've never heard of a LFS doing this.
scottneeld88
New member
A wise man once said not using quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette nobody wins some ppl just get lucky. So the question is are u feeling lucky? lol
You can quarantine fish while waiting for your display tank to be ready.
Your QT tank should also be cycled though as well before fish are placed in it.
thanks, should i just fill it with the water from my display tank?
also, do you think i can run this QT in my uninsulated garage? in the winter months it will get like 50 degrees in there and 80 in summer, obviously i would put heater in tank, but i just dont know if that type of conditions is wise...
im really not sure where else i could put the QT, i know my wife certainly doesnt want it anywhere...
If i were to get a smaller like 7.5 gallon tank, ( ihave aobut 16 inches wide) i think it would fit under the display tank in the cabinet, is that ok, not to have any natural light and to be enclosed like that? theres a big circle hole in the back of the cabinet, so there is some air circulation
It's possible, just not likely. I'd be asking some rather pointed questions before trusting that they'd be doing it properly.
wooden_reefer
New member
First, my medium for biological filtration in QT is not rock. Rock generally is too bulking and does not have the greatest surface area per unit apparant volume. Live rock is too expensive and wasteful for QT. Remember all you care about for the nitrogen cycle is nitrification, not denitrification, for QT application.
My medium for QT is either DIY sponge-like matter (if I don't want calcerous matters) or crushed coral (if calcerous material is OK) stuffed into very well stretched out nylon, two to three layers, into sacks the size of quite large oranges. If the nylon is not stretched out it will be too restrictive.
This type of medium is cycled very well in a separate container with many pulses of ammonia weeks before QT.
When the QT session is done, I place the sacks of medium in a container just a few gallons in volume and use a small powerhead. I feed the bacteria with a rather strong pulse of ammonia about once 2-3 weeks. A container with a lid with a few holes is best to cut down on evaporation. I mark a line to fill fresh water to when I feed with ammonia.
Be sure to rinse the medium with QT water first before use in QT if ammonia has been recently applied.
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Retromagnolia
New member
Ok....In my opinion you should definately qt. I lost a couple of expensive fish before I learned this lesson. You don't realize how much they need this valuable "down time" until you see the difference.
Now, based off of what you told me you are still cycling your display tank. This means you should not use water or media from there because of ammonia and nitrite. If I was in your position, I would go to the reef store and ask if you could soak a media bag in their established water for a few days. I say reef store because they would not put copper in their tanks unlike for instance petco. If this is not an option, then I would play the dreaded patience game.
The 7.5 gal would do for a qt tank. I use the simple fluval hang on the back filter from petco that comes with media bags. No artificial light is needed although I would recommend keepin it in a well lit room.
These fish are usually plucked from the ocean and sold to a wholesale vendor who ships them to stores across the nation and then kept in small display tanks with their own breed, which is not a happy time. �� When I consider buying a fish these days I think of it as more of a rescue mission for them. They went from a big old ocean to that pet store and now they need to be pampered
after two weeks in a nice calm qt tank with nothing to worry about but eating and pooping they are ready for pretty much anything! And if they do end up with ich after a week or so then it's all set up for medicating. When qt is over you can empty out the water and throw a new media bag in your sump system for the next time.
Oh and there's no need for sand in a qt either. Maybe a piece of sacrificial liverock if the fish you buy needs a hiding space . That is all.....
Now, based off of what you told me you are still cycling your display tank. This means you should not use water or media from there because of ammonia and nitrite. If I was in your position, I would go to the reef store and ask if you could soak a media bag in their established water for a few days. I say reef store because they would not put copper in their tanks unlike for instance petco. If this is not an option, then I would play the dreaded patience game.
The 7.5 gal would do for a qt tank. I use the simple fluval hang on the back filter from petco that comes with media bags. No artificial light is needed although I would recommend keepin it in a well lit room.
These fish are usually plucked from the ocean and sold to a wholesale vendor who ships them to stores across the nation and then kept in small display tanks with their own breed, which is not a happy time. �� When I consider buying a fish these days I think of it as more of a rescue mission for them. They went from a big old ocean to that pet store and now they need to be pampered
after two weeks in a nice calm qt tank with nothing to worry about but eating and pooping they are ready for pretty much anything! And if they do end up with ich after a week or so then it's all set up for medicating. When qt is over you can empty out the water and throw a new media bag in your sump system for the next time. Oh and there's no need for sand in a qt either. Maybe a piece of sacrificial liverock if the fish you buy needs a hiding space . That is all.....
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