Qs-tip #12 QT/Plant nursery/Red Cherry Shrimp tank

[Que]

A quarantine tank need not be bare bottom and dull or even just temporary. If you have the space and tank then why not keep it filled with water and plants. Heck! Why not keep some shrimp in it too. The plants and the shrimp are enough to keep a ten gallon tank ready for a few fish to be thrown in at any time. As a second tank some filter media from the primary tank can be added to the QT filter for added insurance.
You can get your plants for the QT from the primary tanks cuttings and offshoots as has been done here.

As these plants mature they can be returned to the primary tank for aquascaping or starting up a new tank or even sold for extra cash. The shrimp make nice first food for many fish. I realize this set up doesn't work for all fish but it does for the small fish I prefer.

Q

Qs-Tips
#1 Hardscape tip
#2 Extra plant height
#3 Expired!
#4 Get organized
#5 Plants on a stick
#6 Use your senses
#7 Cleaning the outside glass
#8 Cleaning the Python
#9 Starting a siphon without sucking
#10 Use a sponge pre-filter
#11 Filter sites and help lines

 

[rocker92]

great tip Q!!!!!!! im doing the same thing with my fry tank!!!!!

 

[noodles62]

Great tip and a very nice QT tank!

 

[jpappy789]

Good idea, however I'm not so sure I would use a fry/shrimp tank as QT as well...for one, who knows what kind of disease you could introduce and two, treating those diseases with other stock probably isn't the best idea either. JMO.

 

[katuuuz]

hey man, i know it's a little off topic, but what do you call that sponge thing on your filter's intake? i've seen little spongy material you stuff inside the head of the intake tube, i didn't know you can get one that big. (good for small organism, and sand wouldn't you say?)

 

[jpappy789]

prefilter...see Q's tip #10.

 

[H3D]

I would skip the shrimp in the QT.

 

[Dwarf Puffers]

Nice, except for the feeding cherries to fish part :silly:

 

[Que]

You make a very good point. Shrimp do not tolerate some medications at all. So far I haven't had the misfortune of having to medicate any animals so this has worked for me. I have only had to raise the temperature to treat Ich and all plants and animals survived.

I have never heard of a disease that goes from fish to shrimp.

The point of the shrimp is to provide bio load for the tank to maintain cycle and live food for new fish so I have no concerns.

Q

 

[jpappy789]

I was more concerned about fish to fish (fry) diseases but for some reason I must have been reading incorrectly as you never mentioned fry...my bad. But meds and inverts are still not a great mix.

Another solution is to run the filter on the main tank and make the switch when needed.