Coral, Invert & Fish Quarantine tank combined?

[reefinginBD]

Hey there,
so I am planning on setting up a peninsula mixed reef tank, and my budget is 4,500 USD. Since I am 14 years old, I do not have all of the money, and my parents will pay for most of it, but I will have to pay for 25% of it, which is around 1,125 USD. So, I have been saving up for a while, and I almost have the money. In our country, we need a chiller, since the weather is so hot and humid. So, I want to quarantine all of my fish before I put them in the tank as I do not want to kill all my fish with a disease or a parasite and the same with the corals and inverts, I do not want to kill them with any pests. I want my tank to be almost sterile in a way. I really do not want to take the risk. But this is where the problem arises. I can only get one chiller, that is for the main tank. So, the other chiller that I have to get for the quarantine has to be cheap and also small. So what do you think of this? What if, I make a fish tank that is 45 inches long, 15 inches wide and 15 inches tall. But, I will only use 30 inches of the space for the fish and the other 15 inches for the corals. And since, I cannot keep the corals and the fish in the same water, I will have a glass panel siliconed in place, for it to make two tanks, one that will be a 15-inch cube for the corals and inverts and one that will be 30 inches long, 15 inches wide and 15 inches tall. This means that the fish quarantine tank will be 29 gallons and the coral quarantine tank will be 14 gallons. So, then I will use a small chiller for the 14-gallon tank and since, both the tanks have one common side aka the glass panel dividing the whole tank, that will cool the fish tank, to some extent and I will also have another fan, for the fish tank to keep that cool. So what do you think? Is it possible to do something like this? I might increase the height of the tank by a few inches and keep the water level the same, just to make sure that none of the copper water goes into the coral tank. Is this possible?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey there,
so I am planning on setting up a peninsula mixed reef tank, and my budget is 4,500 USD. Since I am 14 years old, I do not have all of the money, and my parents will pay for most of it, but I will have to pay for 25% of it, which is around 1,125 USD. So, I have been saving up for a while, and I almost have the money. In our country, we need a chiller, since the weather is so hot and humid. So, I want to quarantine all of my fish before I put them in the tank as I do not want to kill all my fish with a disease or a parasite and the same with the corals and inverts, I do not want to kill them with any pests. I want my tank to be almost sterile in a way. I really do not want to take the risk. But this is where the problem arises. I can only get one chiller, that is for the main tank. So, the other chiller that I have to get for the quarantine has to be cheap and also small. So what do you think of this? What if, I make a fish tank that is 45 inches long, 15 inches wide and 15 inches tall. But, I will only use 30 inches of the space for the fish and the other 15 inches for the corals. And since, I cannot keep the corals and the fish in the same water, I will have a glass panel siliconed in place, for it to make two tanks, one that will be a 15-inch cube for the corals and inverts and one that will be 30 inches long, 15 inches wide and 15 inches tall. This means that the fish quarantine tank will be 29 gallons and the coral quarantine tank will be 14 gallons. So, then I will use a small chiller for the 14-gallon tank and since, both the tanks have one common side aka the glass panel dividing the whole tank, that will cool the fish tank, to some extent and I will also have another fan, for the fish tank to keep that cool. So what do you think? Is it possible to do something like this? I might increase the height of the tank by a few inches and keep the water level the same, just to make sure that none of the copper water goes into the coral tank. Is this possible?

Hello,

If I understand, the distance between the main tank and the glassed off section would just be the width of the glass? If so, that will allow disease organisms to travel by air from one side to the other.

In addition, again, if I understand this, if you needed to drain either side in order to perform a partial water change, the stress on the glass due to the difference in water height would crack the glass (unless you use glass that is the same thickness as the main tank).

Jay

 

[reefinginBD]

Hello,

If I understand, the distance between the main tank and the glassed off section would just be the width of the glass? If so, that will allow disease organisms to travel by air from one side to the other.

In addition, again, if I understand this, if you needed to drain either side in order to perform a partial water change, the stress on the glass due to the difference in water height would crack the glass (unless you use glass that is the same thickness as the main tank).

Jay

Hey there. Thanks a lot for the reply. So basically the quarantine tank will have two parts, one for the fish quarantine and one for the coral and invert quarantine. What I can do to reduce the pressure on the tank is that I will make it will pretty thick glass like 10 mm instead of 5 mm. But, is the 15 gallon tank size enough to quarantine corals and inverts and the 30 gallon tank size enough to quarantine tangs?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey there. Thanks a lot for the reply. So basically the quarantine tank will have two parts, one for the fish quarantine and one for the coral and invert quarantine. What I can do to reduce the pressure on the tank is that I will make it will pretty thick glass like 10 mm instead of 5 mm. But, is the 15 gallon tank size enough to quarantine corals and inverts and the 30 gallon tank size enough to quarantine tangs?

Sure - both tanks would work, but only for small fish and corals and not too many at the same time.
Jay

 

[davidcalgary29]

I think it would be simpler to set up a separate quarantine and attempt to cool by way of vigorous evaporation of the water surface through the use of water-cooling fans. You will have to use some auto-top off system to ensure that salinity levels are stable, but I can't see why it wouldn't be possible to maintain temperature levels below 30C with this method.

 

[reefinginBD]

I think it would be simpler to set up a separate quarantine and attempt to cool by way of vigorous evaporation of the water surface through the use of water-cooling fans. You will have to use some auto-top off system to ensure that salinity levels are stable, but I can't see why it wouldn't be possible to maintain temperature levels below 30C with this method.

Hey there, so in our country, it is very humid and hot. So, the fan method is not as effective as it is in a place with dry weather. Thanks tho.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Hey there, so in our country, it is very humid and hot. So, the fan method is not as effective as it is in a place with dry weather. Thanks tho.

But have you tried it? I grew up on a small island in the Bahamas, so I'm well aware of hot and humid conditions. Our island was electrified only in '92, and central air conditioning became affordable only a decade after that, so I'm well aware of the benefits of evaporative cooling in tropical climates.

 

[reefinginBD]

But have you tried it? I grew up on a small island in the Bahamas, so I'm well aware of hot and humid conditions. Our island was electrified only in '92, and central air conditioning became affordable only a decade after that, so I'm well aware of the benefits of evaporative cooling in tropical climates.

Yep, I have tried that. I had a fowlr tank, and I basically tried every possible method to cool the tank but wasn't able to. Oh and I forgot to mention that we do not have central cooling systems in any of the houses here unless it is a mall or something.

 

[mehaffydr]

I think if it were me I would only have 1 QT tank. I would first QT fish and after they are in the display you could clean the tank and start QT for corals. This will take more time but you only being 14 you have nothing but time and you will need to learn patience to be successful in this hobby. Now is a great time to start.