Quarantine tanks

[Kworker]

People over exaggerate the QT process. Wether they think its challenging or takes too long.

Challenging: Its as simple as filling up the tank with salt water like you do with salt water, adding a heater and a sponge filter. I prefer to keep a brand new sponge filter in the sump of my display tank to colonize beneficial bacteria. In my scenario since I have been QTing large surgeonfish I have been running two decent sized powerheads in the 40B QT I have set up to provide sufficient oxygenation of the water.

Time Consuming: The time it will take to start all over once you get a disease into your system will take much longer that QTing a fish. A proper QT is 3-4 IMO depending on the disease the fish may have. If it does not show any signs it should stay in anyhow.

I recommend treating with prazipro regardless. Its a very safe medication. Cu in my opinion should be avoided unless completely necessary.

 

[Kworker]

Question on the qt tanks. Im in the plans of turning one of my rooms in my house into a wet room. And in it im going to have my reef tank that i love. And turn my 210 in the living room into a fish only for the fish my gf loves ( the mean little guys triggers etc ). Will be doing a qt system in the we room and wanting some advice.

With qt systems i know not to plumb it into my main system because of medications that will be used. But do i keep the system up and running with water even without fish being treated? Maybe like keep a chromis in it to keep it cycled?

And for the second type of qt the one to be used for getting the fish used to captive life. I was thinking about having that one plumbed into my main system. And keep it empty of fish. Just so it would have good water quality same as my system. As well as a good natural organisms in it for more challenging fish like leopards to be able to feed on.


Do what will make you happy.

I think that secondary tank to get the fish adjusted is overkill, the time spent in the LFS and QT should allow it to adjust IMHO. QT for a month than add the new fish into the DT at night when lights are real dim or off. Another reason not to plumb it into main system is you may just be overcomplicating your main system and leaving more room for incidents to occur.

 

[Sleeperr34]

The only reason i was really thinking of plumbing the second one in was as well for more water volume. To use it more or less as a second feuge


Do what will make you happy.

 

[Kworker]

The only reason i was really thinking of plumbing the second one in was as well for more water volume. To use it more or less as a second feuge


Do what will make you happy.

Understand the water volume thing. I still wouldnt do it, not to say it shouldnt be done.. just my personal preference of what to do. I personally wouldnt do it. If you feel you can easily do it than I say do it. Just one thing I always put in my mind, the more plumbing, the more chances for failure.

Refugiums are an other discussion.. I always advise against them after reading extensively on them.

 

[Sleeperr34]

The building and plumbing for all this im not worried about. All going to be a lot more simple then it actually sounds. But going to have fry tanks set up for my clowns and my bettas that have started laying eggs again. But its all going to be set up running off of 1 return pump. Was just wondering about the qt system I'll be using for med treatment. If it is better to empty and refill when i get new fish or plan to. Or keep water in it to keep it from cycling as bad. And that it will be ready for those random fish pick ups i get from time to time.


Do what will make you happy.

 

[studioac]

Question on the qt tanks. Im in the plans of turning one of my rooms in my house into a wet room. And in it im going to have my reef tank that i love. And turn my 210 in the living room into a fish only for the fish my gf loves ( the mean little guys triggers etc ). Will be doing a qt system in the we room and wanting some advice.

With qt systems i know not to plumb it into my main system because of medications that will be used. But do i keep the system up and running with water even without fish being treated? Maybe like keep a chromis in it to keep it cycled?

I asked the same question. The guys at my LFS recommend keeping the QT going all the time with a fish in it. Squishee89 disagrees.

 

[studioac]

I have another QT question: is there any reason NOT to use a UV filter in a QT (obviously not while medicating)? I have one that I was using to combat algae in a freshwater tank. Will it kill useful bacteria?

 

[Kworker]

I have another QT question: is there any reason NOT to use a UV filter in a QT (obviously not while medicating)? I have one that I was using to combat algae in a freshwater tank. Will it kill useful bacteria?

It can help, but wouldn't be an answer. In order for a UV sterilzer to do the job all of the parasites present in the system would have to pass through it and get enough contact time to die. UV sterilizers are not a way to deal with parasites. It would just be an expensive assistant to take care of a small percentage. Than if you are using in QT, like you said you can't medicate. Especially Cu.

For Parasites like Ich, I would use a Tank Transfer method or Cupramine. Copper is a very aggressive way to treat IMO. Someone once made the analogy that its like Chemotherapy for fish. You are just trying to kill the Ich parasite before you kill the fish. Some fish are real sensitive to Copper as well..

For something like flukes, treating with Prazipro is very simple and safe.


I would save the UV sterilizer to polish your display systems water and aid in algae control.

 

[Kworker]

I asked the same question. The guys at my LFS recommend keeping the QT going all the time with a fish in it. Squishee89 disagrees.

A LFS that recommends a permanent QT. You have a A+ LFS.

 

[studioac]

It can help, but wouldn't be an answer. In order for a UV sterilzer to do the job all of the parasites present in the system would have to pass through it and get enough contact time to die. UV sterilizers are not a way to deal with parasites. It would just be an expensive assistant to take care of a small percentage. Than if you are using in QT, like you said you can't medicate. Especially Cu.

For Parasites like Ich, I would use a Tank Transfer method or Cupramine. Copper is a very aggressive way to treat IMO. Someone once made the analogy that its like Chemotherapy for fish. You are just trying to kill the Ich parasite before you kill the fish. Some fish are real sensitive to Copper as well..

For something like flukes, treating with Prazipro is very simple and safe.


I would save the UV sterilizer to polish your display systems water and aid in algae control.

I have a UV sterilizer in my DT. I have an extra UV sterilizer leftover from freshwater tank now converted to saltwater QT. I am not trying to "solve" parasite issues but figure it may help when introducing new fish. Just asking if there is any reason NOT to use it.

 

[Kworker]

I have a UV sterilizer in my DT. I have an extra UV sterilizer leftover from freshwater tank now converted to saltwater QT. I am not trying to "solve" parasite issues but figure it may help when introducing new fish. Just asking if there is any reason NOT to use it.

Didn't mean for it to seem I was saying you were using it to "solve". Just stating my opinion. But yeah, reason NOT to would be it would not do much at all. Best off just medicating. :smile:

 

[studioac]

Didn't mean for it to seem I was saying you were using it to "solve". Just stating my opinion. But yeah, reason NOT to would be it would not do much at all. Best off just medicating. :smile:

So, do you mean you medicate even if there are no symptoms?

 

[Kworker]

So, do you mean you medicate even if there are no symptoms?

I am medicating with Prazipro regardless. Dont mix medications. I only tried Copper twice, and never liked it. Best thing to do is do your research, there is only so much information I have. I never faced nasty diseases in QT. I advise researching on Google, or hopefully other people will chime in.

You can QT without medication, but you will have to QT for a longer period of time because some parasites/diseases can take a while to present themselves to you. But than if they do have the parasite/disease you would need to treat anyway.

 

[Squishie89]

I asked the same question. The guys at my LFS recommend keeping the QT going all the time with a fish in it. Squishee89 disagrees.

Ouch.

I don't disagree with keeping a QT running 24/7, I just think it is unnecessary. I would do it if I thought the benefits outweighed the costs, but for me it doesn't. There is nothing wrong with keeping it up 24/7.

I just realized you meant about keeping a fish in the QT all the time, ha. I don't think keeping a fish in there is neccesary, but that's me.

 

[Bowin]

Ok, I have a similar question as one in this thread. I have a 29 gal ready to go for two tangs I'll receive later in the week. I've had two sponges sitting in my sump for this purpose. One for about a month and one for a little over a week. I plan to put them in either a canister filter or an hob that I have sitting around (no carbon of course). I also plan on filling the tank with water from my dt. Is theres going to be a cycle or will it be ready to go instantly with the bacteria already built up in the sponges? I also have rubble in my sump that I've considered stealing from to go in the qt for a little extra bacteria if needed.

 

[Squishie89]

Ok, I have a similar question as one in this thread. I have a 29 gal ready to go for two tangs I'll receive later in the week. I've had two sponges sitting in my sump for this purpose. One for about a month and one for a little over a week. I plan to put them in either a canister filter or an hob that I have sitting around (no carbon of course). I also plan on filling the tank with water from my dt. Is theres going to be a cycle or will it be ready to go instantly with the bacteria already built up in the sponges? I also have rubble in my sump that I've considered stealing from to go in the qt for a little extra bacteria if needed.

You probably will be okay, but make sure to test.

 

[zgetman]

I figured I would ask this here instead of opening a new thread.

I have a QT that is ready to set up when I need it. I am planning on buying some new fish for my FOWLR setup. The question I am wanting to ask is what medicines should I be aggressive at using to make sure my fish are healthy for the new tank. I know from what I have been reading that I need to give them a couple of doses of prazipro and to slowly ramp up doses of cupramine to recommended lvls. Can I feed the fish some garlic, to help boost its immune system, during QT? I have also heard of doing Ro/Di dips, is this necessary, and will it help? I understand some of these things need to be done after the fish has acclimated to the environment as to reduce the amount of stress. Can someone give me a good plan of action in it?

One thing that scares me is this stuff called Brook. I have been reading a lot here lately of people losing all their fish from this disease or whatever it is, and I would like to treat my fish for this whether they have it or not. I am thinking, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure..." But I am not even sure how to treat for it and if it is safe to treat for it if the fish does not have it.

 

[Nvizn]

Good details here:

[video=youtube;Op50O-rjINc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op50O-rjINc&list=UUisBXcbyaJQjp88nkzwsy5Q[/video]

 

[CoralHut]

I figured I would ask this here instead of opening a new thread.

I have a QT that is ready to set up when I need it. I am planning on buying some new fish for my FOWLR setup. The question I am wanting to ask is what medicines should I be aggressive at using to make sure my fish are healthy for the new tank. I know from what I have been reading that I need to give them a couple of doses of prazipro and to slowly ramp up doses of cupramine to recommended lvls. Can I feed the fish some garlic, to help boost its immune system, during QT? I have also heard of doing Ro/Di dips, is this necessary, and will it help? I understand some of these things need to be done after the fish has acclimated to the environment as to reduce the amount of stress. Can someone give me a good plan of action in it?

One thing that scares me is this stuff called Brook. I have been reading a lot here lately of people losing all their fish from this disease or whatever it is, and I would like to treat my fish for this whether they have it or not. I am thinking, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure..." But I am not even sure how to treat for it and if it is safe to treat for it if the fish does not have it.

Brooklynella is a very deadly disease but you will know if something you have has it. It can be difficult to treat but if found early you should be able to eradicate it provided the fish are in good condition. There is no specific cure all, you just have to treat in accordance to need. A broad spectrum treatment I would do on all quarantined fish would be PraziPro (2 rounds @ 2 weeks) and Cupramine. I treat both together and no issues, some wrasse species can be sensitive to Cupramine so when treating them forgo Cupramine unless you know you are treating Crypto (proper name for saltwater "ich"). You can also treat all fish with another medication, Chloroquine phosphate which works on a number of parasitic diseases in fish but can be hard to get a hold of. I would also keep Metronizadole, Furan 2, and Ciprofloxacin for bacterial infections that can develop secondarily while in QT or when you first obtain them.

 

[SantaMonica]

I know seahorse keepers are heavily into medications; you could poke around in their forums to see what tips they have.