Water in quarantine/hospital tank

[MA4446]

I am in the process of setting up a quarantine/hospital tank and was wondering does it matter if I use rodi water, tap water, or can I use waste water from my rodi? I'm thinking I'm putting copper in there.... Or is there something really bad with the waste water? I am ignorant to the contents of rodi waste water.
Question #2: Can I mix medications? Or are there any medications that don't do well together?

Thanks all
Gil

 

[cabinetmaker]

Great questions, I'll be watching this post for answers.

 

[b0bab0ey]

I am in the process of setting up a quarantine/hospital tank and was wondering does it matter if I use rodi water, tap water, or can I use waste water from my rodi? I'm thinking I'm putting copper in there.... Or is there something really bad with the waste water? I am ignorant to the contents of rodi waste water.

Use the same water that you use in your DT (hopefully it's RODI). That way when it comes time to transfer from QT to DT (or vice versa) there's no differences in the consistency between them. I even go so far as to ensure that the pH, SG and temp all matches. That way when it comes time to move a fish from one tank to the other all I have to do is catch and release. No acclimation, less stress. You'll find a lot of people use their DT water to fill their QT, and then do a WC on the DT.

One exception I can think of... If possible, match your QT's SG and temp (and even pH, if possible) to that of whatever LFS or online supplier you plan on buying from. Then once your fish are in, wait a week and then over a period of a few days to a week (depending on how big a difference) slowly match your QT parameters to that of your DT.

Question #2: Can I mix medications? Or are there any medications that don't do well together?

Thanks all
Gil

I have on many occasions used Cupramine (or Coppersafe), PraziPro, and Maracyn 1 & 2 concurrently with no ill effects. I can't say with certainty about any others.

Never mix Cupramine with a dechlorinator/ammonia reducer such as Amquel. It turns the copper toxic.

 

[coralreefdoc]

Or for that matter, don't run a UV sterilizer on the QT while treating with Cupramine ...

 

[MrTuskfish]

Like b0bab0ey said above; QT/HT water should be close to what the fish is going to be living in. In many cases, DT water is ideal for an HT/QT and you can do a DT WC at the same time. Water is cheap, don't try to skimp in this area.

The mfg of PraziPro says its effectiveness is decreased when used with copper; although its often done. Avoid ammonia/neutralizers (Prime, Am-Quel, etc.) with Cupramine copper ( I don't know about other Cu brands), deadly stuff is formed. When in doubt about any med, I always call the Mfg tech-support---IMO a very under-used resource for us. If a company doesn't have good tech support, I don't buy their stuff.

 

[manny532]

I know this is an old thread but i'm hoping i can get an answer for this.... to start up the quarantine /hospital tank i know its ideal to use your display tanks water however my question is as far as the water changes are concerned, can we use waste water from our ro/di filter? tap with conditioner? or just ro water?

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Basically the role of RO/DI is two fold, phosphate reduction and toxic chemicals. Phosphate reduction in a QT is not an issue. The chemicals are and theoretically if you dose Prime (or something akin) tap water should be fine for a fish only QT.
When I first got into the hobby I used tap with amquel for the main with no ill effects to the fish...algae was another story
Long story short, yes you can but I don't.

 

[Spar]

the tap water discussion comes up a lot. moral of the story comes down to that using tap water does have risk to it, albeit generally extremely small risk. comes down to the risk of contaminates making their way into your water system. i personally had an expensive freshwater tank wiped out from this very thing once. you will likely not hear of many other stories like this though. many are willing to take the risk, and do just fine.

as stated in the posts above, water is cheap, so I go with RO/DI so I know that I am stripping out all the potential nasties that could come with tap water.

using just RO water will still generally give you a TDS of around 3-8 depending on the age of your RO filter. you don't know what that 3-8 is made up of, so you still have some of the risks that tap water brings, albeit significantly lower even. Adding DI to the system will get that TDS down to 0... so you now know what is in it... nothing at all but H2O.

I use DT water for my QT's, even when doing water changes on the QT. But I know my DT is ich free so there is no risk. if that is your goal of QT anyway.

 

[manny532]

thanks for the reply... guess it mostly just irritates me throwing out so much water. i have a 275 gallon tote in the yard full and i still have more waste water than my lawn can use. plus its been raining these past couple of days so i was hoping i could use the waste water. as far as using the dt water thats a big no no in my case as i had an ick breakout for not qt thanks again for the info. in the tote or down the drain it goes i guess.

 

[Spar]

well at least it doesnt sound like you are experiencing a drought where you are, so don't feel so bad about the waste. just keep the 275g tote filled for when your lawn/flowers need it. not many people use their waste-water, so you get a pat on the back for doing so

 

[manny532]

we recently actually were having water problems which is what makes me feel bad. first not enough water now too much water go figure :|... but i still do feel guilty i'm probably going to end up getting a second tote soon thanks again