Quarantine Tank

[ender2811Participant]

I’m setting up a quarantine tank. I bought a little internal filter which I put inside my main tank and I was wondering how long do I keep it in before I can use it on the quarantine???

I would also appreciate some info on how to properly run the quarantine. How long do I keep the new batch of fish inside, do I feed them regularly, how often and how much water should I change???

Thanks.

[PlaamooParticipant]

Hi ender, I’ll give you my opinions, weigh them against others.

Does your small filter have a good ammount of media to colonize bacteria? If your main tank is well established I’d probably give it a week in there to get it going. Consider the size of Q-tank and bioload it will need to handle for this.

I like a bare bottom tank for Q with just a few rocks or such to keep the fish happy. The smaller the tank(I usually use a 5 or 10 gal), the less meds you’ll use if you need them. The size of the tank is relative to the size & ammount of fish it’s going to hold of course. After you set it up and add a few fish check for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate to see if it is indeed cycled. Do water changes accordingly to keep the nitrates down. If you haven’t yet, read this… http://www.seriouslyfish.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2691

I feed normally but perhaps a bit lighter depending on the condition of the fish. If fish are depleted I’ll concentrate on getting them in shape before treating with any meds. After adding new fish to a Q-tank, I’ll watch them closely for week and if they’re in good shape, I’ll treat the tank with flubendazole for 5 days. This kills many things including ich, oodinum, internal & external parasites. After the treatment a large water change & carbon in the filter to help extract the meds. After treatment i give them at least 3 weeks in the tnak without any sign of problems before I consider adding them to another tank. So typically 4-5 weeks quarantine. The prophylactic meds are a choice I’ve made and I know many disagree, it’s worked well for me. Good luck.

Please feel free to critique this & add anything I’ve missed!

[ender2811Participant]

Thanks for the info plaamoo.
My Q tank is a 45 L and the filter is a small Eheim internal. It says its good for tanks up to 60 L so I guess that would just be about right. Its just got the one sponge in terms of media but its gonna be stocked with 5 or 6 juvenile tetras at a time so I don’t think its gonna be overloaded.

My goal is just to stock up my main tank but I want to do it right. I haven’t had any problems with the guys I already have in so there’s no point in risking.

So, if I don’t use any meds on new fish preemptively than 4 weeks in the Q tank would be safe?

[HokumParticipant]

QUOTE (ender2811 @ Jun 17 2011, 09:55 AM) < {POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the info plaamoo.
My Q tank is a 45 L and the filter is a small Eheim internal. It says its good for tanks up to 60 L so I guess that would just be about right. Its just got the one sponge in terms of media but its gonna be stocked with 5 or 6 juvenile tetras at a time so I don’t think its gonna be overloaded.

My goal is just to stock up my main tank but I want to do it right. I haven’t had any problems with the guys I already have in so there’s no point in risking.

So, if I don’t use any meds on new fish preemptively than 4 weeks in the Q tank would be safe?

Is it an Aquaball 60? If so it has two sponges, one in the canister and one in the pump housing.

[ender2811Participant]

Not an Aquaball, its a PickUp so just the one sponge.

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