Quarantine Tank

[aklaum]

Hello All,

I am in the process of saving $ and curing man-made rock for my first 55 gallon reef tank. It is going to be primarily a coral tank with maybe a few fish in there if they serve some useful cleaning function (sorry all you FOWLRs). While I wait I have been thinking about quarantine tanks. I have the following already:

20 gal long tank
heater
HOB filter

From what I have read this and some normal fluorescent lighting is all I should need for an effective coral quarantine tank. Oh yes..and salt water too

I'm not exactly going to be purchasing corals every day so the quarantine tank will only be used occasionally. Should you keep a quarantine tank maintained at all times or can you shut it down in between acquisitions?

Also, should a coral quarantine tank be "cycled" or doesn't it matter? Keep in mind I may be getting some fish at some point as well. I am due to replace the carbon bag in my HOB filter on my freshwater tank this weekend. It would be a great starter to cycle the quarantine tank if needed and I could keep it indefinitely cycled with ammonia. Are the freshwater bacteria the same as the saltwater bacteria?

I guess I'm just not quite clear on the care and maintenance of the quarantine tank.

Also (and I know the "real" answer to this is get a second tank) would it be possible to dual use a quarantine tank for both freshwater and saltwater? It seems like you could simply do a 90% water change when it is saltwater and then refill with freshwater and bingo you now have a freshwater quarantine tank.

 

[oyam123]

keep the QT running for the Bio in your filter.
your going to qt corals?
If you dip your corals i see no need for QT.
if you know where you are getting them from, not sure what you are QT for.
LRB...flat worms....zoe eating nudis?
90% of the people i know dont even qt new fish.
id keep it as a hospital tank for SWF to do hypo or copper.
would not be good for corals then.
sorry
im no help
:mixed:

 

[wiley0717]

That would be fine for a QT. I only set mine up when expecting to aquire new livestock. I use a 10 gallon and a HOB carbon filter and it has worked out well. I don't much worry about Bio filtration in my QT as I do a 25% daily water change when I have livestock in it. The 25% will take care of the amonia as well as remove any parasites that may have fallen off that day.
Deffinately use a seperate hospital tank, if you add copper to your tank it can only be used for fish from that point on as the copper will be absorbed by the silicone and leach back into your water. Copper kills corals.
You could use a QT for both salt as well as fresh as each water kills the others parasites but once again, be carfull of what you add to the tank and rinse well after each swap.
I advise against dipping corals as from my learnings it does more harm (if not death) than good, better to just QT.

 

[bertoni]

For coral quarantine, it's fine to set it up when needed. The corals with photosynthetic symbionts don't release much waste, and, as stated, water changes should do the trick.

I've never dipped a coral, and I'd probably do it only if I found a specific pest, if then.

 

[szwab]

you could also use a sponge filter that lives in the sump so that it is seeded when needed.
diping corals helps but does not get all all the time. after battling may of the bd guys I will no longer add anything to my tank w/o a quarantine period. to me it's just not worth it.

 

[supertech3]

I use my QT for fish mostly or if I decide on a new piece of live rock(but this wastes the QT and have to recycle). I do not use it for corals.

 

[szwab]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6654019#post6654019 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by supertech3
I use my QT for fish mostly or if I decide on a new piece of live rock(but this wastes the QT and have to recycle). I do not use it for corals.

please explain