Setting up 10g quarantine tank

[Elmareefer]

I'm setting up a 10g quarantine tank with plans to get my first fish in a week. I have pump with air, hang on back filter and heater. I also have some Dr. Tims I was going to add. My question is would you add live rock rubble to the Hang on filter? Just for more bacteria? I'm not sure if Im going to treat with copper or not but I will be doing a lot of water changes over the month of quarantine.

 

[griss]

You can add rock rubble to the canister if you want. I believe most people keep their Q tanks pretty sterile.

I’m sure @Dr. Reef could provide some good advice.

 

[Jimbob]

I've always kept my q-tanks quite sterile... bare bottom, no rock rubble in the HOB; just the normal HOB filter cartridges for mechanical and carbon filtration, a piece of PCV tubing (2" to 4" in diameter) to act as a hideaway/shelter for the fish (if quarantining fish), and lots of water changes and Dr. Tims or some other cycle bacteria additions.

And I've always kept all of my Q tank equipment very dedicated and separate to ensure if there is a need to add meds, copper, etc., there is no risk for future cross-contamination.

 

[Uncle99]

I'm setting up a 10g quarantine tank with plans to get my first fish in a week. I have pump with air, hang on back filter and heater. I also have some Dr. Tims I was going to add. My question is would you add live rock rubble to the Hang on filter? Just for more bacteria? I'm not sure if Im going to treat with copper or not but I will be doing a lot of water changes over the month of quarantine.

Yep for the live rock if you can afford to lose that rock to any meds.
I don’t use meds in this tank, it’s observation only.
Here’s my QT.

 

[Elmareefer]

I've always kept my q-tanks quite sterile... bare bottom, no rock rubble in the HOB; just the normal HOB filter cartridges for mechanical and carbon filtration, a piece of PCV tubing (2" to 4" in diameter) to act as a hideaway/shelter for the fish (if quarantining fish), and lots of water changes and Dr. Tims or some other cycle bacteria additions.

And I've always kept all of my Q tank equipment very dedicated and separate to ensure if there is a need to add meds, copper, etc., there is no risk for future cross-contamination.

So all the reading I'm doing how do you avoid ammonia and nitrite spikes if you haven't had good bacteria to seed it with? Water Changes???

 

[Elmareefer]

Yep for the live rock if you can afford to lose that rock to any meds.
I don’t use meds in this tank, it’s observation only.
Here’s my QT.
View attachment 32416144

How long has this been set up? I just set mine up. Getting two clown fish next week. do you do daily water changes?

 

[Jimbob]

So all the reading I'm doing how do you avoid ammonia and nitrite spikes if you haven't had good bacteria to seed it with? Water Changes???

The combination of the cycling bacteria I mentioned above and daily water changes; making sure to remove all visible detritus and other debris with every water change.

If you are using the HOB filter with a mechanical filter cartridge/media bag/other media in it, the cycling bacteria (like Dr. Tim's Treat Aquarium Nitrite & Ammonia | One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria) will work to create an instant bio filter within the filter media.

If you felt the need to add something else, you could use a little zeolite in a media bag in the HOB to handle any NH3 spikes.

I also typically only have 1 fish in QT at a time and I feed sparingly in QT to start with unless the fish is obviously already happily ready to feed.

 

[Uncle99]

How long has this been set up? I just set mine up. Getting two clown fish next week. do you do daily water changes?

I just set it up from dry when adding new fish, so maybe a couple of days before adding, then I take it down until the need arises again.

Because I have live rocks, I don’t have to do any water changes. I do syphon out any crap once every day or two.

I don’t use meds on my fish unless I have a specific disease to target, rather, if the fish eats well and acts normal for 30 days straight, in they go. The rocks can go back.

If something shows up, or, I do not know the source of the fish, I would treat in a separate 10g tank, no rock, but daily 10% water changes.

 

[Guygettnby]

IMO, quarantine tanks should be bare bottom and no rocks. Only things that can be taken out and sterilized. Able to treat the fish with medication right away if the need arises. Sadly from my experience and all the researching i have done, certain things can hide for along time and show up after your quarantine time period is up. From this point on, every single fish i get is treated with copper. 1 little slip and your whole tank is nuked! Things like velvet are no joke. Can wipe out every single fish in your tank in a matter of days.

 

[Dr. Reef]

in a setup like yours, we recommend ceramic media rings, They harbor bacteria and do not absorb copper or medicine.
Rock or sand will absorb copper and release without you knowing and can cause swing.