Display quarantine idea?

[Hiachi20]

Let's see what you guys can come up with as far as pros and cons for this idea. I have a 40gal which I would like to use as a display quarantine (DQ). Let's say I get a new fish. I'll put him in the hyposalinity/copper hospital tank for a week, then the DQ FOR 30 days, then the DT. I wanted a separate tank anyway as a display refugium and the opportunity to put in a mantis shrimp or other crazy things. So I would put inverts like snails crabs etc in the DQ as well as live rock, sand, etc. Since my sea hare isn't safe from nips from my butterfly, inverts like he can go in there for one benefit. Basically a fishless DT?

Pros:
Better environment for fish
Cycled
Nice for seeing quarantined fish

Cons:
If parasite appears, needs fallow for 8 wks
Needs decent filtration

 

[clsanchez77]

The problem you will run into is when you are in the need of running any medications. Any rock, sand or other porous substrate will adsorb your medications if not aid in their biochemical breakdown. Further, anything you put in this DQ will be subjected to and likely killed by the use of fish medications (albeit with some exceptions). To add insult to injury, the resulting die-off will cause an ammonia spike, rendering the "cycled" nature gone, putting the new fish at risk.

I like the concept as far as isolating new fish and being able to observe them. But this would be a separate observation tank, not a quarantine tank.

Having said that, probably an ideal setup for isolating and observing a new mandarin. You would not be able to treat one in this tank, but you could isolate and observe in a mature environment where he may have the substrate required for feeding pods.

Personally, I don't think it will achieve the objective.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I have a qt that is basically an acclimation tank. Fish go here first so rest and eat and so I can observe. I can treat if needed as there is a very thin layer of sand and no rock unless I put some rubble in a dish with pods for certain fish. I don't treat automatically and I think prazipro is fine with sand. I have tons of baby snails--I'd lose those. I also have paraguard on hand. Anything stronger needs a reason.

Here's mine. I can easily remove everything, and could even suction out most of the sand and save it if needed. I have anthias and royal grammas arriving tomorrow.

 

[Hiachi20]

I see what you guys are saying, thanks for the input. My goal for it would strictly be not to medicate in, but only to separate any parasites from the DT where other fish may be. Medicating will all be done in a third tank. All that said, it seems like a decent idea, especially seeing that someone has done something similar.

 

[clsanchez77]

I see what you guys are saying, thanks for the input. My goal for it would strictly be not to medicate in, but only to separate any parasites from the DT where other fish may be. Medicating will all be done in a third tank. All that said, it seems like a decent idea, especially seeing that someone has done something similar.

That sounds like its doable, just make sure you keep a fallow period between fish in the decorated DQ, but also more importantly, be aware that some diseases will not be killed by going fallow. Velvet and Uronema come to mind, but I could be mistaking them these to for others. But you dinoflagellates based diseases will have to be treated as they can survive and cycle without a host.

 

[Susan Edwards]

You can get rid of velvet by going fallow. I had to do so in my main display last year. Uronema, no. I think medicating or tear down

 

[Susan Edwards]

btw, you can use copper with sand--it just takes more and longer to get to theraputic levels and you have to keep an eye on it. I had a sand sifter and had a very thin layer of sand as I do now. Of course any snails or inverts won't survive.