Quarantine Tank - Opinions Wanted :dunno:

theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
I need to set up a quarantine tank and actually want to have a nice looking tank as this will end up at my house in my room. I am considering this tank since it is all in one and I know I don't need a bunch of fancy equipment to run a qt. Fyi, for the next 9 months, this tank will always have a guest since once one fish goes in the display, the next will be acquired and brought into QT. With that said, i will most likely at least have a sand bed and some live rock. THIS IS NOT GOING TO EVER BE THE HOSPITAL TANK! Just to head off the what if and treatment comments regarding meds contaminating sand and LR.


http://uk.hagen.com/Aquatic/Aquariums/Starter-Kits-Desktop/15391

What do you think, is it overkill?
If I do live rock and sand, and intend to keep this operational full time, should I go ahead and fit a protein skimmer and lose the internal mechanical filtration they have with this thing?

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
 
BLADEYAMAHA

BLADEYAMAHA

Well-Known Member
You need a QT that can be treated with Meds. If you put a contaminated fish in your QT then put it in a Hospital Tank, you will still most likely have to treat both tanks still. Protein skimmers are not needed with QT tanks normally, I recommend a 40b QT tank with no sand or rock. Use plastic pipe for the fish to hide in.
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
Blade, I hear you, but there has got to be a way to have this functional and still be ornamental. A box of water with some pipe in it is no fun. (for me or the fish) 20 years of Freshwater and 3 years of salt, I have yet to buy a fish that was actually infected with a parasite. In the FW, yes I had maybe two ich breakouts, not from adding new fish, just because water quality got away from me and the loaches got it. No SW diseases. One thing I never do is purchase fish over the web, always through an LFS and I inspect them close, watch them eat, etc. Maybe I am just lucky but I also never buy from a dealer that has dead fish in any tanks or visible disease in any tanks. Very picky. I have even paid extra for an lfs to bring in the fish i want and keep it for two weeks first. My favorite one in ATL would actually qt for me for 4 -6 weeks, i was a religious customer plus would bring him frags when i had pruning to do on corals. Also I am quarantining fish for a 34 gal nano, small fish. I would think a 40gal qt is a little too big for one fish at a time.

maybe I'm being unrealistic or just unconventional?
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
Also, regarding size, i plan on using a smaller tank because if I go with the standard box of water no frills, I plan on pulling the water from the display tank (obviousley would check parameters) for use in the qt system to provide some stability and minimize a quick ammonia spike. Water changes would still have to be frequent though with the bare bones setup.
 
ReefApprentice

ReefApprentice

Well-Known Member
I have a small sponge filter 10g tank that is always ready at a minutes notice .I keep a hermit and a snail in for when it not in use.
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
Why do you boil after a quarantine if the fish remains healthy with no disease or parasites throughout the process?
 
Bearjohnson

Bearjohnson

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
RS Ambassador
+1

BLADEYAMAHA said:
You need a QT that can be treated with Meds. If you put a contaminated fish in your QT then put it in a Hospital Tank, you will still most likely have to treat both tanks still. Protein skimmers are not needed with QT tanks normally, I recommend a 40b QT tank with no sand or rock. Use plastic pipe for the fish to hide in.
Click to expand...
 
StirCrayzy

StirCrayzy

Well-Known Member
I hear ya about wanting a QT that looks decent, and i wouldnt say you cant, but you should concede to boil/ bake every time, and thats not very convenient.
there are also some very common mistakes made in identifying disease, or missing signs altogether.
In my eyes, i always expect to treat in QT, and it gets scrubbed and sanitized every time im done.
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
Thanks stir crazy, i am definitely taking everyones advice to heart, he who asks for advice and doesn't listen is a fool and i have been told my daddy didn't raise no fools. I am thinking bare bottom with 1 large piece of rock for decoration.
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
Will do, after hearing everyone i think i will do a simple set up, either a 20 or 29, with one large piece of live rock. heater, sponge filter and small power head. Was reading an article in reef hobbyist on quarantine tanks and they talked about the benefits of preventative treatment whether disease is visible or not. They use Chloroquine phosphate. Not sure if I agree with this or not, but seems a handy medicine to have on hand.
 
StirCrayzy

StirCrayzy

Well-Known Member
Preventative treatments are heavily debated, i do treat certain fish this way using meds specific to disease / fish .
For the tank, check your local petco, mine are still running the $1 per gallon sale.
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
Will do, thanks for the heads up. The fish i have selected are fairly hardy, with the exception of the clowns i guess. Staying away from tangs, butterflies and angels completely. Tank is too small and i don't want the headache. My tanks are more for show of the corals and inverts than the fish. Maybe with the exception of the jawfish, i love them.
 
ddelozier

ddelozier

Well-Known Member
PREMIUM
RS Ambassador
QT is by design meant more for utility than visibility. A simple design, which works well is an off the shelf 20 or 29g starter kit. It comes with req heater and cartrige based filtration, which can be removed for treatment. The volume of the tank is to be kept low, 29 being a good size for most fish temporarily. I too had never in 2 years gotten anything from the store that introduced something to the tank...till that one time. When you lose a whole tank of fish almost overnight because of that "ONE TIME" you will kick yourself. I laugh at anyone NOT using a 4week QT process, because they are truely playing "Russian Roulette". I personally use a 29g cube tank, stock led lighting, 40g power filter, heater and its bare bottom. I do put in a few 2" PVC elbo's so the fish have some where to hide and some thing to explore.

If the fish req treatment, i can take out the cartriges and leave the Power filter on for circulation. The volume is small enough that water changes are no issuel. And when its time to move the fish to the DT, the whole tank gets drained, and refilled with fresh made SW(Ro/di based).

since i've started using This system, i've caught a couple sick fish, and i've Never had a newly introduced fish wipe my whole tank out.

I never recommend anyone use Live rock in their QT...it can absorb copper and other things from medications, which you dont want leached out later. If you choose to use a piece of LR in your QT, know well that this rock cannot ever be used in a DT if the tank's ever been treated with copper for example.
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
Yeah, if I had to treat, the live rock would come out before the meds go in. The whole reason i wanted to do something visually pleasing is because it will be a rotating fish hotel for about nine months straight.
 
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