HOw do i set one up? I have a primary 29 gal, and a spare 10g. How would i set up the 10g as a "quarantine tank" ... ? thanks in advance..
Quarantine Tank?
- Thread starter kyazh
- Start date
A bare 10g tank is a great quarantine tank (or hospital tank). Have some shelter so that the quarantined fish (or one undergoing medical treatment) has some place to hide.
A quiet place to put the tank is good, too...keeps the fish from getting too stressed. A dark place for the tank is even better.
I can't think that plants are normally good for a quarantine tank, since if the quarantined fish develops some disease you wish to treat, some medications are harmful or fatal to plants. Plastic plants are good in this type of tank.
If your filtration has activated charcoal, you'll want to remove it before medicating, as the charcoal will pull your meds out of the water.
One of my 3g Eclipses was my quarantine/hospital tank some time ago, but now it's planted and I'm using it for other duties. Will have to address this soon, as I really like having a spare tank for fish emergencies / medical treament / new arrivals. A 10g is a better size, I think. More room, but not so big that you have to dump in a lot of medicine to get the appropriate concentration for treatment.
BTW, where in Glendale are you from? I used to live up near Montrose.
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A quiet place to put the tank is good, too...keeps the fish from getting too stressed. A dark place for the tank is even better.
I can't think that plants are normally good for a quarantine tank, since if the quarantined fish develops some disease you wish to treat, some medications are harmful or fatal to plants. Plastic plants are good in this type of tank.
If your filtration has activated charcoal, you'll want to remove it before medicating, as the charcoal will pull your meds out of the water.
One of my 3g Eclipses was my quarantine/hospital tank some time ago, but now it's planted and I'm using it for other duties. Will have to address this soon, as I really like having a spare tank for fish emergencies / medical treament / new arrivals. A 10g is a better size, I think. More room, but not so big that you have to dump in a lot of medicine to get the appropriate concentration for treatment.
BTW, where in Glendale are you from? I used to live up near Montrose.
v/r, N-A
Many people advise against using gravel in a QT tank as they will retain past medications. Some people do not see this as a problem. If you chose to not use gravel, then paint the outside bottom part of the QT tank with black paint. Also the back and preferably one side or even both sides to make a dimmer area to make the fish feel safe.
Make sure you have an extra heater for it. Lights are not needed unless you want to use plants with it. But I don't think in this case you would want to.
Buy/get a small, internal power filter such as a Duetto 100 or like-type of filter. Keep this filter running in your 29 gallon.
If you need to use the QT, drain enough water from the 29 into the 10 to fill at least half of it. Then top the 10 off to the top, turn on the heater, and move the small, internal power filter from your 29 gallon to your 10 gallon.
That way, the water conditions are no different than if you did a decent water change, the water is within normal temperatures for the fish to acclimatize to, and the small filter you took from the 29 and put into the 10 has a cycled culture of beneficial bacteria to prevent any cycling from happining to the fish that will be put in the 10 gallon.
Make sure you have an extra heater for it. Lights are not needed unless you want to use plants with it. But I don't think in this case you would want to.
Buy/get a small, internal power filter such as a Duetto 100 or like-type of filter. Keep this filter running in your 29 gallon.
If you need to use the QT, drain enough water from the 29 into the 10 to fill at least half of it. Then top the 10 off to the top, turn on the heater, and move the small, internal power filter from your 29 gallon to your 10 gallon.
That way, the water conditions are no different than if you did a decent water change, the water is within normal temperatures for the fish to acclimatize to, and the small filter you took from the 29 and put into the 10 has a cycled culture of beneficial bacteria to prevent any cycling from happining to the fish that will be put in the 10 gallon.
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I use an old whisper 5-15 filter I bought at Walmart in my QT. It is left dry most of the time until needed and then I take a piece of filter floss from my main tanks filter, stick it int he QT filter and instant cycle (or very close). I do use gravel (a thin coating) and have plastic plants in it. There is a heater but no lights. I just keep it in a room that gets some daylight so the fish do have ambiant light.
Last used my 10g as a quarantine tank, but it has been some time since I have used it. When it was up I used a corner sponge type filter (at the time I had power filter on my 50g and kept the sponge in there when not in use). Also I floated a fair amount of anacharis in the tank. No gravel, but yes I do use a heater.
Watcher74 said:
This water swapping idea is outstanding advice. I do this during regular water changes on all my tanks to equalize them in terms of water chemistry before moving fish. Painting the tank is an excellent idea, too...livewells on fishing boats are painted (gel coated, actually) in navy blue or black for the same reason. Ambient light for a normal day-night illumination cycle is a good thing, too. This may seem to be a contradiction, but it isn't. If the back, sides and bottom of the tank are painted (leave the front panel unpainted), it gives the fish the illusion that he is in a nice, secure cave with only one "opening" (the front panel). Having a little piece of aquarium decoration to hide in will help, as well.
In short, other than an absolute bare minimum of stuff in the tank and painting (or putting it in a dark, quiet place in your home...not a closet), the quarantine tank should be set up almost exactly like any of your other tanks. Of course, alter filtration and aeration when medicating (i.e., remove carbon, then put it back in along w/ water changes when removing meds; also, some meds will give instructions on filtration and aeration requirements while medicating your fish).
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kyazh said:
Yes. Or it can be blue. Those are the most common colors I've seen. What Hound and TKOS are referring to is using media from their larger tanks to quickly seed the quarantine tank w/ beneficial bacteria when a fish is put into quarantine.
In short (really short), an empty quarantine tank, left alone for a while, will lose its colonies of beneficial bacteria which are needed if a fish is introduced into the tank.
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