Isolation/Hospital Tank

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jgnfnj

Jim
Aug 19, 2006
13
0
0
Hello all,

I have been studying fresh water set ups for about 6 months and I am getting a 20 Gallon ready for cycling soon and I am planning a small community tropical tank scheme.

I am confused about one issue that I have not been able to find much information on. I read that only salt set ups need isolation/hospital tanks but that does not make sense to me. Do I need an isolation/hospital tank, and if so what is a good set up? I was thinking about a 5.5 gallon all-glass brand tank but was confused about aeration, filtration and heater. After using it as an isolation tank before I can introduce my fish to the 20 gallon I am sure a filter would be fine, but if I need to use it as a hospital tank later I heard the filter can nullify the meds and I heard it was not a good idea to use meds in the main tank. I would prfer a nano-cube or eclipse for this puprpose but they have built in filters. Any advice on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

Jim
 
A filter is definitely a good thing, just don't use activated carbon as your media and you'll be fine. You want to keep it at just about the same parameters as your other tanks so when you put a fish in there that you need to treat it doesn't get as stressed out. Hopefully this helps and good luck.
 
Freshwater setups can use a hospital/quarantine tank too. It helps to have an extra tank to put new arrivals in before adding them to your main tank, in case they are carrying any infectious diseases that could spread to the other fish. And it's best to medicate in a separate tank because:

a) you really don't want to medicate fish that aren't sick, and
b) the meds may kill your main tank's good bacteria.

If you want a temporary QT tank, you can set it up and tear it down whenever you need it. Since it won't be cycled, you'll need to keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite at all times, and do water changes accordingly to keep them at zero while fish are in the tank.

The hospital/QT tank can use any kind of filter and heater that are suitable for the size of the tank. The tank should be big enough to house several fish, as you'll likely be adding new fish gradually to your main tank, so you don't overwhelm the tank's bacterial filter.
 
If your only/biggest tank is a 20gal I would say you would be safe with a 10gal q-tank. Just make sure you do not add too many fish at any given time. If you know you will only have very small fish you could even have a 5gal tank, but 10gal would be preferable.
 
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