quarantine tank

[Dace]

i was wondering how to setup one. i hav a 2.5 gallon tank that could fit any fish or coral that i plan on puttin in my tank (little over 45 gallon) do u guys take water from the main tank and put in the Q tank and replace the main tank water with RO/DI

[musicsmaker]

Originally posted by Dace
do u guys take water from the main tank and put in the Q tank and replace the main tank water with RO/DI If you mean do a water change, and keep the old water and put it in your little Q tank, I can see pros and cons. Pros would be water in the Q tank that is similar to the water in the main tank. Cons would be certain things in that water that could be stressful for a new inhabitant.

The best way to do a Q tank IMO is to set it up as a permanent tank and keep it cycled. This way, you don't have the added stress of a cycle on an animal that may already be stressed out. The tank should be as large as is reasonable for your application, and should, again IMO, be decorated with easy to remove hiding places such as PVC pipe. That way when you go to remove the animal you can take the hiding places away first, and you wont have to chase it around the tank for a few hours. Any other things you can think of that eliminate stress should be a goal. hth

[SAT]

I actually think there's a lot of value to keeping the water in the Q tank the same as the main tank. One objective of quarantine is to acclimate the fish to your conditions so you minimize the stress later on. My method is to keep the Q tank empty when its not in use and then fill it from the main tank.

musicsmaker has a point that you need to keep up the water quality in the Q tank. Having it set up permanently, so it has its own carrying capacity, is one way. Another is to change water regularly during the quarantine, pulling the replacement water from the main tank. With either method you'll need to monitor ammonia levels because even a pre-cycled tank will go through a new cycle when the bio-load is increased.

[Dace]

maybe my real question was how should i acclimate my new inhabitants so as not to stress them. what i use to do was bob the LFS bag in my main tank and after 10-15 mins i would dump the fish in (please dont reprimand me i know it is bad and will promise not to do it any more) the thing is if i just fill the Q tank with the same water as the main tank won't i shock it just as much as dumpin it in the main tank. should i just put the fish in the QT with the LFS store water then slowly add the main tank water


let me put it this way what do u do

[newreefers]

I set up my qt the same way I did my main tank, raw shrimp, cycle, the whole 9 yards, maintain it the same as my main tank, water changes weekly, etc.

[Steven M]

I float the bag for 10-15min then add a small amount of my tank water wate 5 min than take a small amount of water out of the bag and add sum more water form my tank, repeat 4 or 5 times.
the amount of water verries on the size of the bag.

[SAT]

I use water from my main tank in my quarantine. It never occurred to me that taking home enough water from the LFS to fill the Q-tank would be practical... but I suppose 2G is no big deal. Given that option, I agree that filling with LFS water and then slowly transitioning to your main tank water makes a lot of sense.

[RogerL]

if you set up a q-tank with system water, what gear should you have in the q-tank?

[SAT]

Originally posted by RogerL
if you set up a q-tank with system water, what gear should you have in the q-tank? As a minimum, you need a heater, something for shelter (PVC pipe or flower pots), and something to circulate the water. A sponge filter is good, particularly if you normally keep the sponge running in your sump so it has an active bacterial culture. When you're not medicating, activated carbon is good. A skimmer doesn't hurt but, IMO, is optional for this setup.

Watch your water parameters, particularly the ammonia. When ammonia goes above 0.1ppm, start changing water. If it's not a conditioned tank, assume this will be necessary and make up some water in advance. Again, pull water from your main tank and use the new water to replenish the main.