Spur of the moment quarantine tank set up

[bruno3047]

Made an impulse buy of some new fish yesterday that’ll be coming tomorrow so I needed to set up a quickie quarantine tank. Here’s a photo of what I did. 20 gallon tank with canopy and LED light strip on a timer. Preset heater. Two sponge filters driven by a 40 gallon air pump. Small powerhead and spray bar for circulation. Small rocks and sand from my DT and a few larger rocks from my vat of rocks waiting for the new tank. The key here is the sand, which contains almost all of the beneficial bacteria necessary to avoid a cycle in the quarantine tank. As you can see, there are some spots of algae emerging. Algae growth is beneficial in a quarantine tank as it consumes ammonia and other nitrogen-based compounds.

 

[ReefEco]

Looks good! What are you doing for top-off? That would be my only concern - salinity stability in a small water volume. But if it is just fish, no coral, then less of a concern. I like your dedication to QT, even in the face of an impulse purchase!

 

[vtecintegra]

Nice. Proof anyone can set up a quarantine for everyone who says they don't have the room.

 

[bruno3047]

Looks good! What are you doing for top-off? That would be my only concern - salinity stability in a small water volume. But if it is just fish, no coral, then less of a concern. I like your dedication to QT, even in the face of an impulse purchase!

I fill the tank to just above the black plastic molding to where I can’t see the water surface from in front of the tank. When I can see the water surface after evaporation, I just add RO water until the water surface can no longer be seen.

I think it’s just as important to train the fish to eat before adding them to your DT as it is to screen for diseases. I used to end up overfeeding my DT trying to get new fish to eat. After being trained in QT, they know when it’s feeding time.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Not planning on using any meds? Is this just an observation tank?

If you are planning on treating the new fish with meds like copper, then all the rock and sand isn't advisable.

If the new fish show up with any parasites like ICH, all that sand and rock will now be infected with ICH and will then need to be quarantined fallow for 45+ days in order to be safe to use in your new tank.

I don't use any live rock/sand in my QT tanks.

 

[bruno3047]

If it becomes apparent that I need to treat the fish with meds, I’ll remove all the rocks and replace them with some PVC fittings. The sand will stay because that’s my main biological filtration. The sand will absorb some copper, so I’ll have to stay on top of the copper levels and add as needed. In my experience, the sand reaches a saturation point with copper relatively quickly. Two or three days, at most, after which the copper levels become stable. The sand will then be thrown away after. It’s not that much. The rocks will go back into my vat which is filled with tapwater.