DIY quarantine tank??

airbrnebkr

airbrnebkr

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Apr 19, 2004
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I have a little 10 gallon tank. It is just a little wal mart special my son used to keep gold fish in. I was thinking of turning this tank into a quarantine tank since it is empty now. I was wondering what I would need to eqip this tank with. Filter? lights? would I need to completely cycle this tank or could I just share some water from my main tank? Any help would be great.
Thanks,
Doug
 
A little update on what I have. i looked a little closer at the tank and it looks like it is an 8 gallon made by eclipse. It has a small flourescent in the hood and also a small filter under the hood as well. What do I need to add or do to get this up and running as a quarantine?

Thanks,
Doug
 
You can certainly use this tank as a Q-tank, but I'd recommend removing the biowheel and finding a way to keep it cycled. One disadvantage of the Eclipse systems is that you can't remove the filter.

The easiest way to keep a Q-tank cycled is to keep a small sponge/power filter in your main tank or sump and then move it over to the Q-tank when needed. That gives you instant bio-filtration. With the Eclipse system, I suppose you could keep just a filter cartridge in your main tank or sump and move that cartridge over to the Eclipse filter when you need to quarantine a fish. Another option would be to buy a cheap sponge/power filter like I mentioned above, and run the Eclipse filter empty for extra circulation. Using water from your main tank is a good idea, but it will foul quickly without a bacterial culture to process the ammonia.

The lighting you have will be fine for quarantining fish. I run a very dim light on my Q-tank, and it's on a short photo period. If you have a fish in quarantine, they are already stressed and will appreciate subdued, or low wattage, lighting.

Running the tank bare-bottom with some large pieces of PVC pipe is what I recommend. The fish will use the PVC for hiding spots, and the combination of the PVC and bare-bottom make it very easy to keep the tank clean. Plus, you don't want any live rock or anything in there since it would probably die off if you have to add medications to the tank.
 
I guess I am not familiar with the sponge power filter Could you send me to a site to see what you are discussing? And just to clarify (sorry I am new at this)

1- I looked at the small catridge in the whel type filter and it is removable. Is one of your recommendations to take a new catridge and place it in the sump of my main tank then when I have to put a fish in the quarantine replace it into the wheel type filter?

2- Also while I dont have a fish in the Q tank just keep the salinity and temp right and when I place the cartridge from my main tank sump into the wheel filter in the q tank it while already be cycled and immediatly ready to put a fish in there?

Thanks for your help
Doug
 
By sponge filter, I just meant any small filter that can be used inside a tank as opposed to a hang-on filter. I have a submersible Whisper filter that suction cups to the inside tank wall - seems to work well. I can't find a picture of it at the moment, but it's similar in style to this filter.

However, if you have a suitable spot in your sump where you can put one of the Eclipse filter cartridges where it will get good water flow, you probably don't need to buy another filter. The cartridge would be colonized by bacteria after a couple weeks in your sump and then you could move it over to the quarantine tank whenever you need it - in effect, giving you an 'already cycled' q-tank ready to use.

When the q-tank is not in use, you can empty it and put it in a closet if you don't want to look at it, or you can keep it up and running. I keep mine going all the time because...well, it's already set up in a closet. I keep the SG, pH and temp in order and I have a small powerhead in there to keep the water circulating. You could run the Eclipse filter empty to keep the water circulating in yours.
 
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