So what is your quaranitine proceedure?

[Lorazoo]

I am setting up a 125 freshwater tropical tank. Once i have the tank established I want to add Cherry Shrimp followed by many fish ). I have read here that if your tank is established you can stock it fairly well at first.

So, how do you deal with quarantine and stocking such a large tank. I also have a 55 and 10 that i can use for quarantine, but if i just get one species at a time and quarantine for 2-4 weeks, it will take me a year to get this set up.

So what do you do? Help?

 

[twig]

nothing wrong with a little patience =)

 

[Lorazoo]

i have patience, but i think a year is pushing it. i was thinking that if you get different species from the same place that maybe they all have the same filtration system and you can mix them together?

 

[beviking]

If your tank is cycled, meaning it has an ample bacteria colony to handle the bioload you're going to put in it, you stock it at will. I hope you are not cofusing "established" (as in "I have my decor where I want it and the water has been in there for a week) with cycled.

Quarantining is simply keeping fish in a tank for observation. Keep in mind that there is a possability that chemicals may be needed to treat the tank. Being in a seperate tank prevents the fish you have (or plants) from being unecessarily treated with chemicals. The Q-tank is generally smaller which saves on space and the amount of chemical that may be needed for treatment. As for how to quarantine, there are different views.
I prefer to do daily 50% water changes in my Q-tank since I do not keep it cycled or spare filter media colonized with beneficial bacteria. Some ppl do keep spare filter media colonized or do so a couple weeks prior to buying fish. Personally, I would use the 55 as a Q-tank and put several species in it at a time (if not all of them!). To save time, I always begin treating for parasites (ich) as soon as I get the fish. Why? Because fish do not always show obvious signs of infection and just because they're all on the same filter system, doesn't mean they can't all be infected.

There is much more to all of this Lora so ask as many questions as you need.

-Bill

 

[Ms.Bubbles]

First, I think running at least one spare sponge filter (they're cheap) on the big tank while you cycle is a good idea, so that you have a cycled filter ready for quarantine tank purposes.

If you stock the 125 g right away and have to medicate, you run the risk of destroying the good bacteria in the tank with the meds (as well as any plants you may have), plus as beviking suggested medicating some of the healthy fish unnecessarily. And you obviously can't quarantine 125 gallons worth of fish in a 55 gallon tank. Therefore, I'm thinking it might be good to QT 55 gallons worth of fish for a period, transfer them to the big tank (keep the big tank cycled while you're quarantining the first batch), then purchase & quarantine the 2nd batch of fish. Assuming you quarantine for 40 days, this would take less than 3 months. After putting the first batch of fish into the 125 gallon, I would feed the fish quite well, so as not to lose too much of the filter bacteria that you've worked so hard to build up during the cycling period.

If you wanted to, you could also use the 10 gallon as a QT, either to hold the new fish you need to medicate, or the apparantly healthy ones during the quarantine period while you're medicating the 55g QTank.

 

[beviking]

... And you obviously can't quarantine 125 gallons worth of fish in a 55 gallon tank.

Depends on who's "125 gallons worth" you're referring to

 

[Ms.Bubbles]

Very true. I meant "maximum stocking capacity for a 125 gallon tank". I'm sure you would never overstock your tank

 

[bearlasmom]

everytank has its capacity

Very true. I meant "maximum stocking capacity for a 125 gallon tank". I'm sure you would never overstock your tank

Every tank has its stocking capacity, even a 125g. I think using a 10g to quarantine if you only want to buy a few fish at a time or use your larger one if you want to buy 3 of four at once. One hint for healthy fish, fresh, brakish water or SW. Soak frozen foods in garlic water in order to boost the immune system of the fish. I have never gone wrong this way.
Just a thought.

 

[RTR]

http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/puffer/quarantine.html

HTH

 

[Lorazoo]

Thanks for all of the advice. I just figured that when buying fish I would have to put each species in a seperate tank. In my mind if the fish from the store came from seperate filtration systems they should be quarantined seperately.

I just bought my first fish tonight and put them in my 10gal. I got some cory cats and a few pale blue dwarf gouramis. (They came from the same tank in the LFS)

Both my 55 and 10 are cycled tanks that I have had running for years. I am taking bacteria from them and adding it to my 125 to help get that one established.

Ans as soon as I get my shrimp from beviking ;o) Ill start putting my algae eaters and cory cats into the tank and then keep adding from there.

At least now I know I can use my 55 and get a few species and quarantine them together.

Thanks for all of the help.