Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
I am starting up a 290 total system. I am coming from an apartment into a house. Now that I have the space, I would like to do a quarantine set up. What is required to do this?
"Proper" quarantine tank set up?
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Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
I can do up to a 90 gallon.
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Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Anyone?
A proper qt tank is basd on the size an number of fish you plan on qt'ing. If you want big fish, the qt tank will need to be bigger so that they can swim and not be stressed out for the weeks to months that they will be in qt. You can qt in anything, styrofoam cooler, brute trash can, glass aquarium, etc. I personally use a 40 breeder ( the width and length make it ideal for most fish I personally get) that is set up as any other tank with the exception of the filtration. I use live rock in the qt tank ( that is drilled and tagged with tie straps) as well as a bunch of PVC pieces for hiding. I use a penguin hob filter for the main filtration. I do keep it running at all times though... The live rock will be useless for a normal tank as it does take up the copper from treatments but I monitor it well during active qt'ing.
The bottom is bare and does require vacuuming at times. I personally never add a fish to my tank without an 8 week qt period ( with the exception of the scaleless fish which only go through qt for 4 weeks). It is a lot more work, but I can keep my other fish safe which is our goal.
I also should stress the need for active monitoring during treatment with copper, many just follow the directions and end up exposing the fish to high levels of copper and sometimes will lose them due to this or lose them prematurely due to liver damage by the copper.
The bottom is bare and does require vacuuming at times. I personally never add a fish to my tank without an 8 week qt period ( with the exception of the scaleless fish which only go through qt for 4 weeks). It is a lot more work, but I can keep my other fish safe which is our goal.
I also should stress the need for active monitoring during treatment with copper, many just follow the directions and end up exposing the fish to high levels of copper and sometimes will lose them due to this or lose them prematurely due to liver damage by the copper.
mfinn
likes zoanthids
I use a 29 gallon tank for my qt tank and only set it up when I need it.
I keep a large sponge filter with a air pump going all the time in the sump of my display tank.
When I decide I want to buy a fish, the day before I mix up all new water and move the sponge filter to the 29, with the air pump.
I have some plastic freshwater weighted plants and a cave that serves as a hiding place for the fish.
I keep a large sponge filter with a air pump going all the time in the sump of my display tank.
When I decide I want to buy a fish, the day before I mix up all new water and move the sponge filter to the 29, with the air pump.
I have some plastic freshwater weighted plants and a cave that serves as a hiding place for the fish.
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Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Thanks for the advice guys.
xroads
Community Member
I have twin 250 gallon tanks, one for sps,one for lps. I have a 125 QT tank that is always up and running. I keep cleaner shrimp & gobies in there along with some bangaiis, plenty of sponge.
With having peaceful fish in there, new fish will automatically be put at ease. They will also see the established fish eating prepared foods, monkey see is monkey do. This also allows me to qt all corals and make sure the color & health is like I want before I add them to the main display. If not it is easy to sell to other reefers. I keep it full of PVC, not live rock.
In the event I have a disease, inverts are moved to a 40 breeder while the 125 is treated.
With having peaceful fish in there, new fish will automatically be put at ease. They will also see the established fish eating prepared foods, monkey see is monkey do. This also allows me to qt all corals and make sure the color & health is like I want before I add them to the main display. If not it is easy to sell to other reefers. I keep it full of PVC, not live rock.
In the event I have a disease, inverts are moved to a 40 breeder while the 125 is treated.
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Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Should any sand or small pieces of live rock be put in it? I just picked up a kit at Petco yesterday. While I wait for my new tank to get here, I am thinking of picking up one or two fish and QT'ing them with copper for 6 weeks. Also, what's the best way to cycle it?
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Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Anyone?
mrukus
Active Member
do you treat with copper in that tank? I have heard alot of hearsay and second stories of what you can and can't do. I've read and heard about copper getting stuck in silicone and glass and killing invertebrates but I also read and heard from seachem with cupramine if you use carbon or curasorb you'll be fine to add invertebrates in after. Would love to hear a first hand account instead of people repeating what they read.
Break-depends on what you want to do. Again there is sooooooo many different ways to do it. if you put live rock and sand it can make dosing meds a little more tricky as they will absorb it. I currently have an observation tank that has live rock that fish first go in to make sure they are eating and see if they are healthy. After about a week they go in the ht which only has a heater and a hob power filter with some pvc.
from what I have read (again-not personal experience) the best thing to do is keep a sponge in the sump of your main tank for when you need it. I didn't have that option as I just started up my tank so I used the instant ocean bio spira to kick start that observation tank I have. I have kept two clowns, an anenome and my cuc in it with no I'll results so far.
xroads
Community Member
No I do not. I have killed alot of fish that were sensitive to copper so I do not anymore. I have used a variety of methods including hypo, tank transfer, and formalin. If I never wanted an invert in there again, I possibly would some fish, but I dont want to risk it.
This is how I QT (with pics at the bottom): https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-disease-treatment-diagnosis/189815-how-quarantine.html
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Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
So far I have a 15 gallon setup...HOB filter, heater, PVC hiding, light and bare bottom. I mixed salt yesterday. Salinity is about 1.018. I added some live bacteria and some fish food.
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Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Should I add a powerhead?
mrukus
Active Member
If you're just going to keep a couple fish you should be fine with the HOB. My anenome wanted a little more movement so I put a small one in there. Keep it as simple as you can. Are you planning on raising the SG slowly?
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Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Sg?
mrukus
Active Member
SG=Specefic gravity. Thats what your measuring with your hydrometer and for all intents and purposes is the salinity. 1.018 is a little low. Some lfs keep their SG low so alot of people keep their qt right around there. My lfs keeps it at around 1.020 so that's where my qt is and I slowly ramp it up to 1.025 before they go off to the display.
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Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Doh...SG. Of course. Well, I'm not sure. My new reef will be at 1.025, as was my old one. Im thinking I will keep it as is and then when its time to go into the display, I will just acclimate them. My lfs keeps their tanks at 1.017 ish anyway.
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