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arvind
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QT Best practices
- Thread starter arvind
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You are setting up a hospital tank not just a quarantine tank. A quarantine tank isolates fish from others, usually for an observation period for newly acquired fish. You are isolating fish from your display tank so that tank can lie fallow while you treat fish with medicines. That elevates your quarantine tank a hospital tank!
WATER CHANGES in a hospital tank serve, not only to reduce the concentration of ammonia, but also to export larval parasites and other bad stuff that may be in the water column.
Setup an AUTOMATIC WATER CHANGE system and change your water continuously. That will put an end to bucket brigades, slopping water on the floor, a lot of time consuming work ... and you don't have to match the temperature of the new water to the hospital tank water as you will be dosing tiny amounts of new water into the tank that should not affect its temperature, assuming you do have heaters for your hospital tank.
Automated water change is done using a pair of dosing pump's that are closely matched in delivery rates. One pump removes water from your tank. The other pump transfers an equal amount of saltwater from a reservoir to your tank.
It is wise to subordinate the AWC to a set of 3 or 4 water-level switches. I use float switches.
1. A high water switch keeps the saltwater transfer pump off when the switch indicates the tank is full.
2. A low water level switch turns keeps the old salt water removal pump off if the tank is too low.
3. A third switch in the saltwater reservoir senses low water in the reservoir keeps both of the AWC pumps off until you replenish the saltwater supply.
4. I also have a fourth switch in the reservoir positioned above the low water switch to indicate it is time to mix a new batch of saltwater. I position this switch high enough above the low water switch to allow a couple of days worth of water change before the low water level switch is CLOSED.
I personally use Neptune DOS pumps in my Apex controlled system. Apex reads the water level switches and overrides the AWC pump operations. Apex also sends me a text message and an email when any of the float switches are CLOSED. In practice only the two reservoir float switches CLOSE. I get the text/email and know I have to mix a new batch of saltwater. If I don't get around to it in time the low water switch triggers another text/email and shuts down the entire AWC process.
I actually mix in a separate reservoir and let it mature there. Then when I am ready to use the saltwater, I move my two reservoir switches that reservoir and the AWC process picks up where it left off. Then I will mix a new batch of saltwater right away in the other reservoir if I have time. If you don't have a spare reservoir for this, you need to turn off the AWC process while you mix and mature the new saltwater. Skipping a day or two of continuous AWC will not matter to your fish. Turn on the AWC process again when the new saltwater is ready for use. This can be done automatically in an Apex controlled system; Apex can be setup to turn the AWC process on again a day or two later automatically.
Example dosing rates for continuous AWC for a 40 gallon tank:
40 gal x 128 fl oz per gal = 5 ,120 fl oz.
1 week has about 10,000 minutes.
40 gal can be exchanged in 1 minute increments with an AWC system at the rate of 5000 fluid ounces/ 10000 minutes = 1/2 fl oz per minute. That is roughly 1 cup in 15 minutes.
A weekly exchange of 25% would be dosed at 25% of that rate...or about 1 cup of saltwater per hour.
With an AWC you can increase or decrease the water exchange rate at will, merely by changing a setting on your dosing pumps. You could do 50% changes in the beginning and drop to 15% later on.
You will still have to mix batches of new saltwater. If you have a food-safe brute container you can mix a month's worth of water one time and turn on the AWC system. A month later you mix another batch. Or just pick up another tank and use it to source your saltwater to your AWC. Used tanks or even Brute containers may be easy to come by if you are in an aquarium club. You might even be able to borrow a tank or a brute.
Good luck and I hope your hospital tank works to get your fish back up and healthy.
fab
WATER CHANGES in a hospital tank serve, not only to reduce the concentration of ammonia, but also to export larval parasites and other bad stuff that may be in the water column.
Setup an AUTOMATIC WATER CHANGE system and change your water continuously. That will put an end to bucket brigades, slopping water on the floor, a lot of time consuming work ... and you don't have to match the temperature of the new water to the hospital tank water as you will be dosing tiny amounts of new water into the tank that should not affect its temperature, assuming you do have heaters for your hospital tank.
Automated water change is done using a pair of dosing pump's that are closely matched in delivery rates. One pump removes water from your tank. The other pump transfers an equal amount of saltwater from a reservoir to your tank.
It is wise to subordinate the AWC to a set of 3 or 4 water-level switches. I use float switches.
1. A high water switch keeps the saltwater transfer pump off when the switch indicates the tank is full.
2. A low water level switch turns keeps the old salt water removal pump off if the tank is too low.
3. A third switch in the saltwater reservoir senses low water in the reservoir keeps both of the AWC pumps off until you replenish the saltwater supply.
4. I also have a fourth switch in the reservoir positioned above the low water switch to indicate it is time to mix a new batch of saltwater. I position this switch high enough above the low water switch to allow a couple of days worth of water change before the low water level switch is CLOSED.
I personally use Neptune DOS pumps in my Apex controlled system. Apex reads the water level switches and overrides the AWC pump operations. Apex also sends me a text message and an email when any of the float switches are CLOSED. In practice only the two reservoir float switches CLOSE. I get the text/email and know I have to mix a new batch of saltwater. If I don't get around to it in time the low water switch triggers another text/email and shuts down the entire AWC process.
I actually mix in a separate reservoir and let it mature there. Then when I am ready to use the saltwater, I move my two reservoir switches that reservoir and the AWC process picks up where it left off. Then I will mix a new batch of saltwater right away in the other reservoir if I have time. If you don't have a spare reservoir for this, you need to turn off the AWC process while you mix and mature the new saltwater. Skipping a day or two of continuous AWC will not matter to your fish. Turn on the AWC process again when the new saltwater is ready for use. This can be done automatically in an Apex controlled system; Apex can be setup to turn the AWC process on again a day or two later automatically.
Example dosing rates for continuous AWC for a 40 gallon tank:
40 gal x 128 fl oz per gal = 5 ,120 fl oz.
1 week has about 10,000 minutes.
40 gal can be exchanged in 1 minute increments with an AWC system at the rate of 5000 fluid ounces/ 10000 minutes = 1/2 fl oz per minute. That is roughly 1 cup in 15 minutes.
A weekly exchange of 25% would be dosed at 25% of that rate...or about 1 cup of saltwater per hour.
With an AWC you can increase or decrease the water exchange rate at will, merely by changing a setting on your dosing pumps. You could do 50% changes in the beginning and drop to 15% later on.
You will still have to mix batches of new saltwater. If you have a food-safe brute container you can mix a month's worth of water one time and turn on the AWC system. A month later you mix another batch. Or just pick up another tank and use it to source your saltwater to your AWC. Used tanks or even Brute containers may be easy to come by if you are in an aquarium club. You might even be able to borrow a tank or a brute.
Good luck and I hope your hospital tank works to get your fish back up and healthy.
fab
It's hard to be sure with nasos because they get those splotchy stress spots, but it sorta looks like the beginnings of a bacterial infection to me (more info below). Bacterial infections are common (as a secondary condition) when a fish is battling an ongoing parasitic or worm infestation.
Why fish get bacterial infections: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacterial-infections.191511/
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arvind
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Thank you @Humblefish. I did treat him with Kanaplex when he was introduced into QT. Yesterday, I treated the tank with Prazipro. Since you suggest that it is not a good idea to mix anti-biotics with Prazipro, how long should I wait until Prazipro wears off so I can treat him with another round of anti-biotics?
72 hrs after dosing Prazipro, do a 25% WC and then run carbon for 24 hrs. After that you can resume dosing antibiotics.
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arvind
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Hello all, I am back again. QT is going on successfully. Today is 21st day in QT.
Why is this tank cloudy? I dosed Prazipro one week ago in this tank. Is that why?
There is also a brown deposit in the tank in the bottom which can be seen in this picture. Should I do a 50% WC? Will that take care of it?
The other QT is doing fine. Not cloudy at all.
Why is this tank cloudy? I dosed Prazipro one week ago in this tank. Is that why?
There is also a brown deposit in the tank in the bottom which can be seen in this picture. Should I do a 50% WC? Will that take care of it?
The other QT is doing fine. Not cloudy at all.
melypr1985
totally addicted
The cloudiness is usually a sign of a bacterial bloom which can happen when mixing meds. It happens sometimes when you mix prazi and copper. It happened once to me at the store I work at on my day off..... everyone freaked out until they got ahold of me and I talked them down lol. Anyway, a water change and increased oxygen would be a good bet here. I wouldn't think that the prazi has caused it though since it's only active in the water for a few days.
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arvind
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CP and Prazipro only. I am checking ammonia twice a week on this tank apart from the badge.
I did a 50‰ WC and it looks little better. I still see brown deposits in the bottom. It is probably from the bacteria and hope it subsides soon.
I did a 50‰ WC and it looks little better. I still see brown deposits in the bottom. It is probably from the bacteria and hope it subsides soon.
The 1% binder found in CP will sometimes cloud the water. This is normal. However, combining CP and Prazipro will often lead to a bacterial bloom, which starves oxygen out of the water and can turn dangerous. I DO NOT suggest combining those two meds in the future.
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arvind
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Noted. I have a powerhead facing the surface to help with the oxygen issue.
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arvind
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They breathe fine but the water is so cloudy that they can't see. Did a 80% WC yesterday and it is little better. BTW it is 14 days tomorrow in copper. Should I begin removing the copper?
It would be better to transfer the fish out of copper and into a holding tank. Two weeks may not be enough exposure time if the Cu level is dropped. By transferring the fish out, you are leaving any tomonts (which may not yet have hatched) behind in the original treatment tank.
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arvind
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I dont have access to another tank. Just went back and re-read your post on Velvet. Guess my only other option is to keep the fish in copper for two more weeks. What is the best way to treat the cloudy water?
I just looked back over this thread, and I'm not understanding some things. See below in red.
So, is it copper only left in the water? Or CP and copper?
So, is it copper only left in the water? Or CP and copper?
OK I gotcha now.
The problem is the Oxybispropanol (leftover from Prazipro) is still interacting negatively with Coppersafe, causing a bacterial bloom and thus cloudy water. A LFS I advise has this same problem when he mixes the two during his QT protocol, but he's never suffered any losses from it. Only thing you can do is perform water changes (and replenish the replacement water with copper.) Running carbon will clear it right up but will also remove some of the copper.
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arvind
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Ok. Guess I have to pull through another two weeks like this. Thank you for your response.OK I gotcha now.
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