A Fish Quarantine Process - Step by Step

[leebca]

Kind of you to say. Thank you.

[SiNiStEr NaTiOn]

have a question about the QT tank. if the tank is large enough could you place acrylic dividers in the tank. in case lets say one has ich and the other doesn't. this way you will have a compartment that needs to be medicated and you won't medicate the others.

while on this subject, when i do manage get my reef up and running, and get the CUC, would I need to QT them before they go into the tank with the LR & LS to start the clean up process. Or can they go just go straight in, and then everything after thme would go thru the QT before going into the DT?

[leebca]

If there is one tank totally separated/divided, it would work, but the opportunity for cross contamination is so great that it shouldn't be advised.

When I set up a FOWLR system, I put my substrate and live rock directly into the Display. After that, everything is quarantined (snails, crabs, etc.). You may want to expand your awareness about other problems that the quarantine process helps avoid (other than with fishes) by reading this article: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

[SiNiStEr NaTiOn]

Originally Posted by leebca

If there is one tank totally separated/divided, it would work, but the opportunity for cross contamination is so great that it shouldn't be advised

What I was thinking on this line is the divider would extend from the bottom to the top of course the waterline wouldn't extend to the top of the divider. this way if one section has a fish in it using the hypo salinty for some reason and in another section that would have snail or shrimp or some other invert at the full salinty level of the DT.

In each of the chamber I know most everyone here on reef sanctuary uses corner filter. I think is great but with me I won't be able go this route since I'm building a FOWLR then work on building a sump and get what i need so I can turn the FOWLR into a reef. My FOWLR won't have a sump to where i can put the corner filters into until they are ready for use in the QT.

I'm planning on getting filter that can handle the size of the section. so if I have 4 sections then each section would have it's own filter. as far as water movement goes. get a air pump and use a gang valve then run airline to each section with a airstone. to help with water circulation.

I do understand cross contamination especially between the qt and the dt and this something I won't happen because water from the QT will not touch the DT. The QT will be in my bedroom while the DT is in my living room, because I have to make do to the size of my 1 bedroom apartment.

After all we are only talking about for 6 - 8 weeks without having to medicate and the section that is medicatd then the time would be longer.

[sneaks03]

One place where you may get cross contamination from that you may not be thinking about is in the silicon used to seal the seprate compartments. If you use Cu on one side of the seal it could possibly leach through on the other side of the seal. Just some food for thought.

[SiNiStEr NaTiOn]

you are right, i didn't think about the seal. What if i make a qt with acrylic since no silicon is use in it's construction. or i can make several seperate cubes for QT different sizes. I can go that route. I think this would be the best route when it comes to quarentine different species at one time.

This can be a fun DIY project to build acrylic QT tank.

[sneaks03]

If you have the ability/skills to mold acrylic then I think it would be better than using silicon to separate a glass tank. As of now I cannot think why that would not work, but maybe someone else will think of something I am not.

[leebca]

Have you never seen salt creep; salt spray; or heard of water droplets so small you don't see them?

I stand by what I've written.

[SiNiStEr NaTiOn]

yes i had lee, thats why I might do individual cntainers from acrylic, or make individual containers from glass. because of their size 1/8" glass should be fine, but I might go with 1/4' glass.

While I'm planning a 75g FOWLR that will turn into a Reef after a year or 2, This was the one aspect i was overlooking big time. I know the QT is only used when it's needed, and the rest of the time it's cleaned up and put up with no water in it.

but hopefuly the reef happens, I hope i would have a bigger 1 bedroom apartment that i could afford, right now I'm in a 615 sq ft apartment.

[Cloudburst2000]

Does anyone know where I can get one of those simple corner sponge filters at? I'm just now getting around to setting up my quarantine tank. Got too busy to worry about it earlier. I don't have any fish and don't plan to get any until after Christmas sometime so now is the time to set up my quarantine tank. I only have the corals that came with my tank as I bought an already established tank so I haven't had the need to quarantine anything yet.

Another question I have is can I use the same quarantine tank to quarantine both fish and corals? Obviously not at the same time in case you have to dose one or the other. I ask this question because a fish quarantine system says only minimal lighting, but a coral will need more lighting then that. A coral could go a few days without adequate lighting, but not for 6 weeks. Would I need to set up two separate quarantine tanks? Or could I just set up one with adequate lighting for a coral and use it for fish too? And what would adequate lighting be for a 10 gallon tank to quarantine corals in?

[leebca]

The sponge filter comes in a triangle form (like those sold by a company called Lee (no relation). They also come in round, tubular and other shapes. An Internet search for sponge filters should get a lot of hits. However, to start you off, try this link:
Sponge Filters at Big Al's Online

With regards to the quarantine of non fish -- the same QT can be used IF no copper or other meds were used to cure the fish. This would require special cleaning of the QT to make it ready again for invertebrates. Regarding invertebrate quarantine, you might get some more info from this article:
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

[Cloudburst2000]

Thanks! I'll probably set up the quarantine tank at my brother-in-law's house because I have no room for it. We can both use the same QT. I do all his tank maintenance now anyway.

Also, what is a good light for quarantining corals in a 10 gallon tank? Something that is cost effective since it will oly be used occassionally? Thanks

[leebca]

I'm not familiar enough with the light needs of corals, so you'll need to ask this question in another forum. Sorry.

[Cloudburst2000]

Originally Posted by leebca

I'm not familiar enough with the light needs of corals, so you'll need to ask this question in another forum. Sorry.

Okie Dokie...and why don't they have a quarantine tank section for the coral forum? You're supposed to quarantine them too. I think by only having a QT tank section in the fish section that people often assume that corals don't need to be quarantined too. Just curious