Setting Up A Quarantine Tank and How To Quarantine Fish; A Guide

booth2010

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Alright. I really should do a qt tank but I really don't have the room for one (plus with the 75g freshwater in one room and 30g salt in another I don't think my dad or fiancé would be happy if I set up yet another tank even for a month
 
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Squishie89

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Alright. I really should do a qt tank but I really don't have the room for one (plus with the 75g freshwater in one room and 30g salt in another I don't think my dad or fiancé would be happy if I set up yet another tank even for a month
It really is an investment, not just money wise, but progress wise. All it takes is one fish. But I can understand. Good luck.
 

MrsDragon

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I'm assuming your quarantine tank can double as your hospital tank given what you said about one of your fish (I think it was) getting beat up. Do you keep this tank set up permanently and just change out the water after use if there's an issue or do you set it up as needed? I'm thinking about what Booth said in regards to space - also if I have another tank set up the temptation would be to fill it or use it as a frag tank. :) If you set it up fresh, what do you do about temp? I had my water parameters crash in a tank due to a coral death and had to set up a tank quickly to transfer fish and corals into and I didn't want to use the water from the other tank.

Hope this makes sense. Just trying to get my head around it because with freshwater tanks I cheat when I need a hospital tank quickly and just boil the kettle to bring the temp up to what I need.

Thanks
 
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Squishie89

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I'm assuming your quarantine tank can double as your hospital tank given what you said about one of your fish (I think it was) getting beat up. Do you keep this tank set up permanently and just change out the water after use if there's an issue or do you set it up as needed? I'm thinking about what Booth said in regards to space - also if I have another tank set up the temptation would be to fill it or use it as a frag tank. :) If you set it up fresh, what do you do about temp? I had my water parameters crash in a tank due to a coral death and had to set up a tank quickly to transfer fish and corals into and I didn't want to use the water from the other tank.

Hope this makes sense. Just trying to get my head around it because with freshwater tanks I cheat when I need a hospital tank quickly and just boil the kettle to bring the temp up to what I need.

Thanks
I personally set up as needed. If in an absolute pinch, you can make up a new batch of saltwater, let it mix as long as you can and set up the tank (make sure to check the salinity!). You start heating as soon as you can. I would try to get temps in the high 60's or so before transferring, I will try and look into that next week. You can also use 2 heaters to try and heat quicker I believe. But smart not to use the tank water, no sense in getting them out just to put them back into the toxic water!
And to answer your first question; yes a tank set up as I explained can be used as a hospital tank, BUT, and this is a big but; if you use chemicals like copper, you need to be careful to try and not use the tank ever for inverts or coral as copper can seep into the silicone or acrylic and leech out later on. I bleach my quarantine tank if a fish died in there or if chemicals were used (or both), I am not sure if this kills the copper though. But I just leave my system empty, have sponges in the sump, and I always have 15g (soon to be 20g) of RODI on hand if needed (although if in a pinch you can use tap water and Prime). You do what you can in an emergency.
 
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Squishie89

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Thanks for the help, Pete!

Your RODI should take care of that. Sometimes it is best to double check your water supply and what they put in your water, and then check that your RODI unit takes those things out. Sometimes the RODI's do not take out chlorimine I believe it is.
 

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Thanks for the help, Pete!

Your RODI should take care of that. Sometimes it is best to double check your water supply and what they put in your water, and then check that your RODI unit takes those things out. Sometimes the RODI's do not take out chlorimine I believe it is.

The ro alone won't remove chloromine, but with the addition of a di unit it will.
 
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This may have been answered, I didn't feel like reading the whole thread, but what do you do about those spur of the moment I got to have this fish purchases and your QT tank is not set up at that moment?
 

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I am ghost feeding my qt tank right now, can someone explain to me how a sponge filter works. I bought one on recommendation from my fish guy but don't really know enough about them to know how they work. I filled my tank yesterday and should be ready in about a month for my first qt.
 

BigMike81

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I've got a question about cycling my quarantine tank. Its a 55g with sump and bioballs. I am at 4ppm ammonia and am stuck there. What do I do to get this cycle going in the right direction?
 
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Squishie89

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I've got a question about cycling my quarantine tank. Its a 55g with sump and bioballs. I am at 4ppm ammonia and am stuck there. What do I do to get this cycle going in the right direction?

Add some bottled bacteria.
 

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