Setting up a quarantine tank questions.

[John-Solo]

I'm setting up a 5.5gl quarantine tank to keep an eye on things before placing them in my 29gl tank. so far Iv been pretty lucky with not having problems when adding to my tank but I'm not pressing my luck. Iv found some mixed info inline so have a few questions.

 

1. Do you dose the tank with any medications/treatments

 

2. How long? Iv heard 2-4 weeks?

 

3. What kind of lighting?

 

4. Filtration? Carbon/no carbon?

 

5. Is there a difference in quarantining fish, corals, anemones?

 

Thanks guys.

 

 

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Edited November 21, 2015 by John-Solo

[malacoda]

I too am in the process of setting up my first QT tank, so, if anyone with more experience chimes in, by all means - give their input far more weight mine. That said...

 

I'm setting up a 5.5gl quarantine tank to keep an eye on things before placing them in my 29gl tank. so far Iv been pretty lucky with not having problems when adding to my tank but I'm not pressing my luck. Iv found some mixed info inline so have a few questions.

1. Do you dose the tank with any medications/treatments

 

I believe this is personal choice:

1. Do you wish to treat proactively (e.g. preventative medicating) and subject the fish to meds whether they need it or not, or...
2. Observe them in the QT for 4+ weeks to first see if they actually exhibit any symptoms of illness (spots, paleness, bloated belly, lack of appetite, labored breathing, etc.) and then treat with a more targeted after you know the fish actually needs it (with a specific symptom, you can treat with a specific med)

Either path will work -- just depends which one gives you greater peace-of-mind for the health of your system.

2. How long? Iv heard 2-4 weeks?

 

Again, personal choice and level of risk your willing to take, but I believe most experienced folks tend to recommend at least 4-6 weeks.

3. What kind of lighting?

 

For fish, ambient room light should be fine. Since may coral are photosynthetic, I imagine adequate lighting would need to be provide over the QT tank for them.

4. Filtration? Carbon/no carbon?

 

Not sure how accurate this is, so I really hope someone with more experience will chime in...

 

From what I've read, a tank that is used for treatment - especially the use of copper - should not contain any kind of biological filtration (e.g. should not be cycled or have any live rock, sand, or any type of sponge that has come from the sump of the main display tank). The medications will likely kill the bacteria anyway -- and the  mass die-off of the bacteria may result in a sudden spike in ammonia, etc. that can kill the fish. 

 

So, if you plan on using the QT for both observation and treatment -- rather than a QT for observation and a separate hospital tank (HT) for treatment -- it's best not use any biological filtration. (My plan is to just use a small sponge filter (brand new, not having touch 'cycled' water from my display tank) and regular water changes.)

 

Again, I've read dozens of posts on several forums with people both pro and con with cycling a treatment tank and using biological filtration in it. So, take this info with a grain of salt and do a ton of your own research on it...

5. Is there a difference in quarantining fish, corals, anemones?

 

Hopefully others will chime in with more info on this one for you...  I will say this though, it would probably be best to dip corals before putting them into QT. Then observing them during QT to make sure the dip was effective (e.g. no harmful hitchhikers show signs of surviving the dip, no illness exhibited by the coral).

Thanks guys.


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Edited November 22, 2015 by malacoda

[thakki]

This thread has some good links. You should be able to find answers to your questions.

 

http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?/topic/75701-QT-discussion

QT discussion