Quarantine Setup Help

thomas_neil · Nov 14, 2023

Trying to come up with some christmas ideas for my wife. Trying to keep the fish side of it small this year since thats all she ever gets me.

I saw Petco is having a decent sale on tanks and air pumps currently so I might have her pick me up a quarentine set up.

I was thinking 2 10 gallon tanks and 1 20 gallon tank with an air pump and some air stones. This will be my setup for my planned 300 build so I want to make sure I have enough tanks to add the fish in groups.

I usually pay my LFS to quarantine, but that gets pricy and with the amount of fish going in the 300 I want to try it myself. I've never done it before so any suggests on equipment, what chemicals to use (besides copper) and test kits. I don't really even know where to start with the whole process besides I need a tank, PVC fittings, copper and test kits. My old LFS did a 3 step QT, does anyone know what they may have been doing? Usually took about 6 weeks with recovery time.

fishyjoes · Nov 14, 2023

I'll tell you about my setup and maybe you can take some hints from there...
I use a single 10 gallon for quarantine with a few PVC elbows, a heater, and air driven sponge filter. I only acquire one or two small fish at a time so this is fine for me.
I keep a solid lid on to limit evaporation and only fill the tank about 2/3 full so there are a few inches between the lid and water surface - this helps reduce mess due to the bubbles from the sponge filter.

As for the quarantine procedure itself, I use "copper power" and the hanna cppoer checker (HI702) and follow the quarantine protocol https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/

When I'm done with quarantine, it's usually a while before I get any more fish so I empty the tank, clean it all out with dish soap and let all those items sit dry until the next QT (I don't use any of that equipment for anything except QT)

Spare time · Nov 14, 2023

Here's what I recommend

1. Any container/tank
2. I put a cheap light on but this isn't necessary. This is just because my qt in the past has been in the basement without ambient light
3. Hang on back filter with a biosponge and a filter pad. Clean the filter pad frequently but only ever rinse the biosponge with tank water.
4. Biospira
5. heater at 81F (ideally with an inkbird or similar)
6. a powerhead (or airstone but I don't like the salt creep from airstone bubbles popping)
7. Hanna HR copper test kit + copper power or copper safe
8. Praziquantel (prazipro or fritz's version) or general cure.
9. a lid of some sort (mesh is best)

Optional: Paraguard for brooklynella, kanaplex for bacterial infections

thomas_neil · Nov 14, 2023

I definitely want to QT for pretty much anything you can think of. I've had some issues in past - which is why I started paying someone to QT for me as I didn't have the space in my old house.

I didn't think about heaters or lights, I'll have to see if any of those are on sale, maybe I can find some used ink birds to control them. I'm sure I have some old lights sitting around somewhere from past FW tanks or old ones I upgraded.

So, in theory I would:
1. Freshwater dip for 5 min (if it's necessary)
2. Copper with testing - isn't there something you add with the copper since it's a gill irritant to help the fish breath better?
3. Praziquantel
4. Paraguard
5. Kanaplex
Recovery for a few days (is this needed?)

I want to make sure everything is healthy and clean before adding to the tank, but also don't want to QT to much/long and have the fish die from stress.

Spare time · Nov 14, 2023

thomas_neil said:
I definitely want to QT for pretty much anything you can think of. I've had some issues in past - which is why I started paying someone to QT for me as I didn't have the space in my old house.

I didn't think about heaters or lights, I'll have to see if any of those are on sale, maybe I can find some used ink birds to control them. I'm sure I have some old lights sitting around somewhere from past FW tanks or old ones I upgraded.

So, in theory I would:
1. Freshwater dip for 5 min (if it's necessary)
2. Copper with testing - isn't there something you add with the copper since it's a gill irritant to help the fish breath better?
3. Praziquantel
4. Paraguard
5. Kanaplex
Recovery for a few days (is this needed?)

I want to make sure everything is healthy and clean before adding to the tank, but also don't want to QT to much/long and have the fish die from stress.

You only really need to do copper and prazi. The others are for specific cases. You don't ned to add anything with the copper.

Check out Jay Hemdal's QT guide on here if you haven't yet done so.

thomas_neil · Nov 14, 2023

Spare time said:
You only really need to do copper and prazi. The others are for specific cases. You don't ned to add anything with the copper.

Check out Jay Hemdal's QT guide on here if you haven't yet done so.

Is it one of his articles?

Found it, going to post a link in case anyone comes across this and wants to use!

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Spare time · Nov 14, 2023

thomas_neil said:
Is it one of his articles?

Found it, going to post a link in case anyone comes across this and wants to use!

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com