Hospital and Quarantine Tank?

[Gator]

I want to do this right! Do I need both a hospital tank and a quarantine tank? Also I need recommendations on how to set up this tank or tanks. I have been reading this forum and from what I can understand (which isn't much) is that a hospital tank should be a bare bones tank with no substrate and maybe just a heater and light. The water can come from the main tank and changed regularly to keep the correct water quality while you are dosing the hospital tank with the proper medication. Maybe add some PVC pipe to give the fish some hiding place. What size do I need?

The quarantine tank is where the fish should live for 4 weeks before adding to my main tank to make sure it is disease free. I'm thinking of setting up an Eclipse 12 gallon tank (Dr. F&S) for this purpose. This will be a full setup with substrate and live rock. Since my main tank is a FOWLR, I would like to set this tank up as a mini-reef with some corals, etc. That way I can enjoy the tank without any inhabitants.

Am I even close to being on the right track? Any suggestions on both would be appreciated.

 

[jhrivera]

Hi there. I'm just starting myself. I've finally got my quarantine tank going. I'm running a twelve gallon eclipse tank with a 75 watt heater and some pvc piping. Since I'm trying to start my quarantine tank before starting my main tank, I threw in a cocktail shrimp to start the cycle. When I'm not using my quarantine tank, I'm going to place my bio-wheel into my main tank so bacteria can grow on it. I haven't been using my filter pad. Not sure whether I should use it or not during cycling.

For a quarantine tank, most people just do a 10 to 30 gallon tank with a heater, some pvc piping for cover, and a sponge filter. Just throw the sponge in your main tank while your quarantine tank is not in use. Once you need it to quarantine or hospital a fish, do a water change for your main tank, putting the water into the quarantine tank. Get the heater started and setup the sponge filter. This is what I've found most people do.

If you're using your quarantine tank for new fish, observe the fish for 4 weeks or so. If the fish gets sick, treat it and observe. Once the fish gets well, leave it in the quarantine tank for another couple of weeks. The fish has to be disease-free for at least a couple of weeks before you place it in the main tank. Same rule applies to hospitalized fish.

Hope I've been helpful. I am pretty new at this hobby, so if some of my info is wrong, hopefully someone will chime in.

 

[Cearbhaill]

The quarantine tank is where the fish should live for 4 weeks before adding to my main tank to make sure it is disease free. I'm thinking of setting up an Eclipse 12 gallon tank (Dr. F&S) for this purpose. This will be a full setup with substrate and live rock. Since my main tank is a FOWLR, I would like to set this tank up as a mini-reef with some corals, etc. That way I can enjoy the tank without any inhabitants.

Do you mean to use this setup for quarantine? (or am I misunderstanding you?)
It is not a good idea to put live rock or sand into a q-tank. Should you ever need to use a copper based medication for any disease treatment you'd kill every coral and rock critter in there. You need a plain, empty tank that stays flexible in terms of what medications you can add and where the salinity is kept. Many people quarantine their fish in reduced salinity (called hyposalinity) as it easily kills many marine parasites.

I just keep a spare empty tank. I keep a sponge filter running continuously in my sump so I always have an active biological filter. When I need a q-tank I fill the tank with water from the display tank (on water changing day- makes it easier), throw in the sponge filter, some PVC and a heater, and I have a q-tank able to withstand any treatments I may need to use.

It may not be pretty to look at :sad but it's not supposed to be. A q-tank is just a tool to keep problems out of your display tank.

 

[Gator]

Thanks for the replies, I was confused. I was planning on two separate tanks, one for quarantine and one for hospital. I really like the idea of keeping a sponge filter running in my sump and an empty tank on hand. I already have a spare heater for water changes.

Thanks Again.