Need to setup a QT tank

[+Hydro]

I'm setting up a QT tank at my office for all incoming corals and fish. I want it to look good so I'm going to make a miniature version of my display tank. I will build a metal frame for the stand and canopy and then cover in the same wood I have on the DT. I plan to quarantine fish and corals for at least 6 weeks so I want it to be setup propely and running all the time. I'm also going to be taking small frags of all my favorite corals and put these in the tank as insurance. I plan on buying a 36" wide tank because I have (3) 36" t5 fixtures that I want to use for the lighting (no mh). I'm also going to have Aqua Mags make me a faux rock bottom with 2 large custom rocks to go in the center. I'm going to have him attach the rocks to the base with magnets so that I can easily take them out to dip if necessary. We will probably keep some ich resistant docile fish in there. I had a couple of things that I had to make some decisions about.

Question #1

I'm trying to decide on a size, I can get a 65 or a 90 gallon in 36" length. Both are 25" tall (which matches my other tank), 18" deep for the 65, and 24" for the 90. There is $100 difference in the cost of the tank and the sump would cost the same. But then cabnitery, stand, canopy, rock, sand, water changes and more power heads would cost extra too. On one hand the extra gallons adds 1.5 square feet on the bottom which gives me more room for my insurance corals, a larger body of water for stability, and more room for larger fish that may need to be QTed (tangs). On the other hand its more expensive and 90 gallons seems excessive for a QT, the water changes will be bigger and cost more, and there will be a little more tank maintenece.

Question #2

Should I set this up seperately from my other system or tie it in? If I tied in the QT tank in with my DT I would put a large UV light on the return line so that parasites can't make it to the DT. The advantage to this is I wouldn't need a sump or skimmer and I would only have to maintain the paramters in one tank. The disadvantage is that it will be complicated to tie it in, I would have to buy and expensive UV light to be large enough to disenfect all of the water returning from the tank.

Question #3

If I keep the systems seperated I could either use a sump and skimmer mounted underneath the tank or I can just use a hang on skimmer instead. Obviously the hang on skimmer is much much easier...and I wouldn't have to have a reef ready tank which would save me about $300 (no sump, pump, no over flow in the tank). What is the disadvantage of a hang on skimmer and no sump? There aren't going to ever be lots of coral or fish in this tank so can I get away with it?

Thanks

[JasonJones]

1. If you have the room, I would go with the 90. More space, more water volume, more stability. Especially if you split the tank, as discussed below.

2. I would set it up separately. If you need to medicate, you can do so without worrying about your main tank. You can also just use water from your main tank to help ensure you are getting the bacteria and things you need. You also will ensure you are not introducing anything to your main tank. I would be hesitant to trust a UV 100%, and with a tank as large as yours and with the substantial investment of corals and fish, I just wouldn't chance it.

3. I think the hang-on would be fine. This is a quarantine, so you are just worrying about checking things for parasites. You don't need pristine water and coral colors. Especially in a quarantine, I would follow the KISS principle.

If I had the option, I would split the quarantine tank in half and make it two systems, one for corals and one for fish. That way you can medicate or treat each separately with the medication that is best for each. That, or if you only needed to treat certain fish, you could put the others in the non-medicated side. I think it would just allow a lot more options.

Edited December 12, 2010 by JasonJones

[+etannert]

It seems a little odd to put your 'insurance' corals in a tank where there's a chance they'd be exposed to nasties coming in from foreign corals... I think the idea of banking your nicer corals is great, but shouldn't they be away from a QT set-up where the whole idea is you don't have to worry about the pests that might come in?

[Myvirtue]

i would give you some cheap advice that i got, but i would have to charge you a outrageous price first

[+Hydro]

It seems a little odd to put your 'insurance' corals in a tank where there's a chance they'd be exposed to nasties coming in from foreign corals... I think the idea of banking your nicer corals is great, but shouldn't they be away from a QT set-up where the whole idea is you don't have to worry about the pests that might come in?

Well yes I understand your point. The pests that I'm mainly worried about are red bugs and AEFW. I plan to treat the QT regularly with interceptor for the red bugs so that's not really a problem....and if I did introduce AEFWs I would treat all of the corals for it. Seems like a big deal but really its not. If a coral was discovered to have AEFW it would need to be treated anyway and to mix up a few gallons of dip instead isn't much harder. AEFW don't kill a coral immediately, there are signs and as long as those signs are spotted quickly usually they don't spread very far. This is why I'm only putting a couple of large rocks in there that all the coral would be mounted to, that way I would only need to dip the 2 rocks if necessary.

[+Hydro]

i would give you some cheap advice that i got, but i would have to charge you a outrageous price first

BTW speaking of outrageous...I added all this up and its nearly $1,700! Jeez this hobby is expensive! I'm really considering whether its worth it or not, the cost plus the maintenece.....hmmmm. It is really hard to justify spending that kind of money. There is no way to make it any cheaper and still make it attractive, even if I go smaller I can only save a few hundered dollars...nothing significant.

Tank $300

HOB Skimmer $250

Rock $250

Wave box $300

Stand $200

Cabinetry $400

[Myvirtue]

im glad u liked my tease lol. but yah theres nothing cheap. hope everything works out for yah

[DaJMasta]

That sort of sounds like a frag/second display tank more than a quarantine. I can understand wanting to make it nice, and perhaps really large specimens would warrant a 90G QT, but the whole thing seems closer to another regular tank than a quarantine.

Treating the tank regularly with interceptor and FWE is probably not a good idea, it's like taking antibiotics regularly and there's significant risk for organisms developing a tolerance to the treatments.

Treating the tank as a whole will require less of the treatment with a smaller overall capacity.

Having lighting is important if you're going to QT all your corals, but a lot of live rock, a sand bed, or even a lot of places for things to hide is NOT a good thing. I would recommend keeping the tank bare-bottom with flow to keep detrius from settling. It will give you a better idea of what's living in the tank. I also would start it with all dry rock and maybe a piece from your main tank or just what comes in on frags - the extra organisms in good live rock are not the important thing and the risk should be avoided.

Definitely add a UV sterilizer and a reasonable skimmer. This will give you options of removing fish from your main tank if the worst strikes, and will clean up the system if something takes a nose dive in QT.

Don't link the tank to your main - then it's not a quarantine.

Stability of parameters is nice, but consider the bioload. Hopefully, you'll be running less than a full bio load worth of critters in the quarantine and basically not feeding corals unless they're in recovery. There's no requirement to keep pristine water conditions or bring out the full color of frags, you just have to keep them alive and healthy, keep the water fairly clean, and be able to see and treat any nasties that come along with things.

At least that's my take on it. If you make it too complicated and like a normal tank, it will only make it harder to diagnose actual problems - though it may be fun just to have a second tank.

[+Hydro]

Thanks for the suggestions, after much thought I've decided not set up the QT. It will cost too much and will be a whole new tank to take care of, I just can't justify it. Instead I have a QT plan that I'm going to have to take my chances with. For new corals I'm going to setup a temporary 10 gallon aquarium and treat it with interceptor for 12 hrs to kill red bugs. I will inspect it then dip it for AEFW (or anything else) and place it in my frag tank to keep an eye on it;. I'm also going to dip the coral once a week for a month in case there are any eggs that I missed. After a month I will then move them to the DT. For fish I'll temporarily set a 75 gallon tank that I have and buy a HOB skimmer for it. I'll QT them for 6 weeks in this tank and then take it down. It will be an inconveince but doable.

[don duncan]

why not just set up a small biocube?

[+Hydro]

why not just set up a small biocube?

I wanted something to put larger fish in. From now on were are only buying larger fish, they seem to have a better survival rate. I've got a 75 gallon bowfront that I can temporaily setup for incoming fish and I will just use the 10 gallon for the coral. I'm only going to get a HOB for the 75 gallon and a few power heads and a sponge filter and call it good. This should be fine for one large fish just for QT.