Question of medications used in Quarantine tanks

[rob525]

I am planning on setting up a quarantine tank for: 1-flame angel, 1-blondnaso tang, 2- heniochius butterfly fish, and one hawk. This is the first time using a qt tank so I was wondering if anyone can give me some advise as to what medication, if any, i can use as a preventative in the tank in case ich is being harbored by the fish? How long should fish be quarantined for? thanx, rob

[TerryB]

To quarnatine means to isolate as in one fish at a time. The tank should be cycled BEFORE the first fish goes in it. You can use hyposalinity when you quarantine new fish and add Beta glucan to the food to support the immune system. You can also feed the fish some garlic soaked foods and include vitamins and Selcon. I prefer not to use chemicals or drugs unless the fish is symptomatic of infection.
Terry B

[Universal]

what do u mean be cycled? like when u first set up your tank?

can u just have an empty tank with the water???

thanks

james

[ATJ]

James,

The tank needs an active biological filter in order to process ammonia produced from the wastes of the fish. In an empty tank with just water and the fish being treated, ammonia will build up quite quickly becoming lethal for the fish.

[Universal]

ATJ, thanks for your reply.

So I just put live rock in the tank??

how much live rock for a 3foot 80 litre tank???

Also do i need sand?

What medication do i start with?

I know 6 weeks is the time it takes to get rid of marine ich in the main tank, how long before my fish get better from ich in the QT?

thanks again.

Jamez

[Universal]

one more thing i forgot to mention, Do i need special lighting or will an normal fluro light do.

thanks

[ATJ]

Jamez/James,

Ideally you don't want live rock or sand in the quarantine tank as this will limit your treatment capabilities. With either or both, you won't be able to treat with copper as calcium carbonate absorbs copper.

For a biological filter you just need to provide a large surface area for bacteria to colonise. Something that is largely inert will not limit treatment options. A simple sponge filter is the easiest but you could also use bioballs in a canister filter.

For lighting you don't need anything special and a single NO fluorescent lamp should be fine. You just need enough light so you can closely observe the fish for parasites or other sings of disease.

If you are treating "Ich" with hyposalinity, I recommend keeping the specific gravity at 1.009 for at least 4 weeks after the last spots disappear. As it takes 2-3 days to lower the specific gravity and 3-5 days to raise it again, the period of treatment will be around 6 weeks.

If you are just quarantining without treatment, I recommend at least 6 weeks. This will give enough time for any of the common parasites to become obvious if they are present.

[Universal]

Hi ATJ,

Thanks once again u have been a great help!

James.

[Carlos Valderrama]

I have a question about the Q tank, what is the correct size for a medium size yellow tang, the display tank is only 55 gal and there are a powder blue tang, 2 yellow tang and a small clown fish?
Thank you

[ATJ]

Carlos,
[welcome]

There's not really a correct size as such. You don't want the tank to be too small as it may stress the fish, but you also don't want it to be too large as you'll need more medication and more water for water changes. A 10 gallon tank would work, but is a little small in my opinion. A 20 gallon would be the smallest that I would recommend but I believe a 30 or 40 gallon tank is the best - especially for tangs.

[Carlos Valderrama]

Tanks ATJ for the answer

[sjsheng]

i believe powder blue has a low surviving record...

i used to keep 1 powder blue... for the first 3 days it seem ok and eating good...

but i found out something... on the 4 th day the ich started to develop... and 5 th day it die due to ich.

my question is...

will treating powder blue in using hypo treatment on the 1st day it arrivel help the powder blue from getting ich???

[Carlos Valderrama]

In my experience with powder blue tangs, I can say that they are not low surviving fish(I think), last year my powder blue had ich and it is swiming now, I treated it with hiposalinity treatament for 4 weeks in a 25 gal tank with wet-dry filtration.

[sjsheng]

will a simple setup of QT work with it?
example.. i just setup my QT with a eheim internel filter.. will this work?

[ATJ]

sjsheng,

There are two possibilities of why your powder blue tang got "Ich":

1) It was carrying parasites when you bought it and in the confines of your tank the parasites reproduced and made the infection worse.

2) The "Ich" was already in your tank and was being carried by at least one of your existing fish - which had a partial immunity.

In the first case, treating it with hyposalinity from day one probably would have saved it and eliminated the "Ich". In the second case, however, the fish would have become infected as soon as you added it to the main tank.

As you noticed the spots for the first time on day 4, it is hard to be certain whether the "Ich" was already in the tank or was brought in by the fish, but I would be leaning towards it being in the tank and it may still be in the tank.

How long ago did this happen and what fish do you currently have in the tank? Did any of the other fish show signs of "Ich" at the time?

An Eheim internal filter would work well for a quarantine tank. I'm also about to build a fairly simple quarantine tank filter using bioballs I have left over. Once I have built it, I'll write it up on my site.

[sjsheng]

ATJ

my tank currently have 3 clown, 1 yellow tang and 1 damsel. 1 of my clown is holding to the ich... quite serious.. but still eating... as i have just setup my QT... i will wait for about 3 weeks for the tank to get ready....

is it possible for me to add in all the fish into the QT at 1 shot. and treat it with hypo treatment together?

and i leave my main tank for 4-6 weeks fishless... will the ich be kill???

i have 2 snail with me.. should i remove it to QT also?

my

[ATJ]

my,

Yes, you will need to treat all the fish in the quarantine tank with either hyposalinity or copper and leave the main tank without fish for at least 5 weeks. You can leave any invertebrates in the main tank.

I recommend hyposalinity, but only attempt it if you have a refractometer or salinometer. It is too risky with a hydrometer - unless you know both its accuracy and standard. If you can't be sure of your hydrometer and can't get a refractometer, you'd be better off with Cupramine.

How large is your quarantine tank? What media do you have in the Eheim?

Carefully monitor the ammonia and pH in the treatment tank during treatment - whether using copper or hyposalinity. Aim for a pH of around 8.0 as this is high enough for the fish, but will also help to lower the toxicity of ammonia.

[sjsheng]

i using a eheim internet filter... like white sponge and some ehiem substrat pro....

how much is this refractometer cost???

i currently using a hydrometer... coral life brand and 1 floating hydrometer to double check the SG...

[sjsheng]

i currently cycling my QT about 18 gallon...

any idea how to kick start the cycle. i believe my eheim filter cant squeeze in so much bio staff...

or just hang 1 packet of ceramic ring on the tank???

once the ammonia level is 0 nitrite 0 ph >8.0 izzit safe to add in my fish to Quarentine ?

[ATJ]

my,

I don't know the availability or cost of a refractometer in Singapore. You might be able to order one from Australia (Milwaukee Meters) for around US$140 plus shipping or for US$50-100 plus shipping from one of the many US based mail order places.

[sjsheng]

the cost of this refractometer selling around SG$200

i just check the price... kinda expensive...

any other solution???

hydrometer not so accurate ?

[sjsheng]

is it possible for me to get a new fish and hypo treat all my fish at the same time ??? or should i do this seperatly???

we start to lower down the sg... when the ich appear? or we do this before the ich appear?

[ATJ]

Hydrometers can be accurate, but you pay more for an accurate one and they are more cumbersome to use. The other problem with the "cheap" hydrometers is they don't publish the standard with them. This means that even if it is "accurate", the specific gravity it is measuring may be different from what you need.

For example, your target is a salinity of 13‰. At d20/20 this is nearly 1.010, but at d20/4 it is 1.008. Or to look at it the other way around, the hydrometer may read 1.009; if the standard is d20/20, the real salinity is just under 12‰, but if the standard is d20/4, the real salinity is over 14‰.

You could get a new fish and treat it with the others, but I would recommend you get the existing fish right first and then worry about a new one. You also shouldn't cram too many fish into the quarantine tank as this can also lead to problems. Finally, it is better to quarantine each new fish on its own so you can spend more time getting it feeding.

You could treat all fish with hyposalinity if you wanted. That is, start lowering the specific gravity as soon as you get the fish. That way you would know for certain that it couldn't introduce "Ich" into your tank. In my opinion, it is not necessary to go to that extent, but I wouldn't call it "wrong". I prefer just to isolate the fish and observe it closely for signs and then treat as required.

[sjsheng]

okay thanks alot for your help... i just setup my QT and salinity measure 1.021... i still waiting for the QT to finish it cycle...

i just add in 80% of water and 20% of water from my main tank...

hopefull the tank can cycle finish late this month....