Setting Up Quarantine Tank Help/Ideas

[Pazzoman]

Hey Everyone,

Hey Everyone, By next week my 150 gallon tall should have water in it ready to cycle and hopefully with the addition of fully cured rock and some filter media from an established tank I can speed up the process of cycling. Does anyone know how to cycle with established media? Do I treat it like a regular cycle even with the established bacteria? Like ammonia drops...every day until it cycles it out completely in 24 hours?

Quarantine Tank Questions:

I will most likely be using a 40 breeder.

1. Can more than one fish be quarantined at once such as when I make an order online for more than one fish or buy more than one fish at an lfs?

2. If I put dividers in the tank can I succesfully quarantine fish even if they are in the same water? (By this I mean when I order more than one fish and preparing them to be put in the display tank)

3. How many weeks is a recommended quarantine period?

4. Should any meds be added in the tank without signs of sickness or only when there is signs?

5. Can an Aquaclear 70 successfully filter the entire 40 gallon breeder? Should I have the filter always running on my sump to keep it ready in case I have to move it to a quarantine tank or can I just keep the media in my sump and take it for the filter when needing to quarantine? Also when treating sick fish I will use a sponge filter instead of possibly killing bacteria in the AC70

6. What kind of ornaments should be added to the tank? Should i just put pac pipes or other stuff as well?

7. What would the water change schedule be like? Also how should I slowly get them used to my tank water? Or do I just wait till I drip them in after quarantine.

8. The dividers will be a solid color so the fish can't see each other, should I paint the sides of the tank as well so they feel more closed or it doesn't matter?

9. Any links to threads of quarantine tank information please let me know!

10. Any tips or suggestions appreciated!

 

[cmantis]

1. Yes but if one fish is sick they all have to be treated for the sickness.

2. I only do this if they are prone to aggression or I need to catch them easily. I use vented fish acclimation boxes that hang on the sides.

3. I do 10 days but I medicate.

4. I treat all fish with either nitrofuricin, chloroquine phosphate, prazi and or a combination of the above with a few other meds on deck in case such as formulin.

5. I use a foam filter and sometimes a wp pump. The aquaclear can be kept in your sump or just a sponge so its ready. (just be careful if you used meds with it).

6. PVC

7. Depends on the meds. The ones I use call for 25-30% daily but I have tested it up to three days in between water changes.

8. Doesn't matter I don't think plus you want to be able to observe.

 

[marrone]

1. You need to worry about the load, so having more than one fish can be a problem, especially the size of the fish, as large fish will cause the ammonia levels to raise a lot faster. If you can keep the QT running all the time, with bacteria media, then you can do more than one fish.
2. It really matters on the size of fish, as you can do this will small fish. It maybe better to setup a couple of smaller tanks or bins instead of one big tank.
3. the least amount of time should be 2 weeks but 4 weeks should be good, in the end the longer the better.
4. I don't treat with anything until I see that the fish actually has something, as then you need to treat with the correct medication for what the fish has. Also, a QT is not only for looking to see if a fish has something but to get it to start eating and give it some down time before you move it into the MT.
5. I actually don't use any filter media, just a power head to move the water around. You can also take some live rock from your main tank and use that too. I have a small 3gal tank, with LR, running with a small mini-jet, that I can use whenever I need. This works very well for small fish, like wrasses and clowns.
6. PVC is good also you can put in some pieces of rocks. Basically hiding places but you need to make sure the uneaten food and crap doesn't acclimate in them.
7. I usually just the water from my MT to setup my QT. I then drip them into the QT. I generally do 50% water changes once a week and during the 2nd week I'll change out all the water and clean the tank. The key is not to over feed, as that can make the water go bad faster.
8. It doesn't really matter and if anything it's best to put the tank in an area where it's out of the way and not even run lights over the tank, just let the light get in from the surrounding area. This gives the fish down time and lets it settle in better.
9. Do some search on MR, you'll see a number of threads about how to setup an maintain a QT.


The QT has a number of purposes, first to check and see if the fish has something, then treat if it does, second to give the fish some down time, as the fish has been moved around quite a bit and needs this before being placed into a tank full of fish. Third is to get the fish to start eating, and have less competition for food at first. Also what you're going to feed it is different then what it's use to eating in the wild, so this will let the fish get use to the new types of food that it will be feed.

Basically you just want to setup a tank or bin with flow, a small filter or power head, a heater and some hiding places, like PVC or rock. Rubbermaid containers work really well as they sides are covered and gives the fish some privacy. Also people in small apartment can use the Rubbermaid containers for storage when they're not using them for QT. Try not to feed that much, and vacuum out any left over food, as this can cause the water to go bad, which can lead to ammonia poisoning or even secondary infections. Be prepared to do large water changes, even to the point of changing all the water and cleaning out the whole tank and PVC.

 

[JuanSalgado]

Great Advice

 

[samksy]

Great advice Michael, but how do you deal with fish that have contaminated with ick but with no signs of ick?

 

[marrone]

I would think over the 4 week period you would see some signs, like scratching or rapid breathing. Some people also run their QT using Hypo, so if the fish does have Ich that would kill it. If you do think the fish may have Ich the best thing to do is treat with copper in the QT. It's better to do that then take a chance.

 

[Cu455]

You have gotten good advice. To add to it a little. If you go the route of keeping filter in your sump for qt you don't have to have the filter running. You can put a sponge or filter floss in your sump. When needed plug the filter in and just take the media out. When you are finished throw it away. Don't put it back in your tank. I use a bunch of macro and a airstone. I use macro because it help maintain better water quality, has bacteria for the nitrogen cycle, gives the fish a place to hide and provides pods and worms for the fish to eat.

For water changes I make 5-20 gallons of water depending on the size of the tank and bio load. Whenever I walk past the tank I will change a cup or to of water. I find it easier and less stressful then doing large water change at once.

For your cycling question you just have to test the water and wait. No need to add anything other then you live rock and maybe a pinch of food every few days. I wouldn't worry about starting of with a Tom of bacteria. If your tank is empty it will lead to a lot of die off bacteria because there is not a lot a lot of ammonia feeding the cycle.

 

[Pazzoman]

Ok thanks every one for the advice I have a great understanding on what to do, thanks!!!