quarantine tanks

[polarbear]

Well I was thinking about how many people really use them and wanted to ask how many people here have one. How do you set them up? Are they like a full salt water setup with skimmer etc.? If you have one can you share a picture of it. I'm trying to get some ideas for one.

[Robb in Austin]

The general recommendations are for a HOB that has been running for some time on an established system to seed it, some pvc pipes for hiding, and a basic light. Doesn't need to be huge, just big enough to house fish.

[polarbear]

I think if I don't use the 29 gallon for a sea horse tank I'll use it for my quarantine tank. It has a refugium and everything already. Do you think this is a good idea? I can still use it as a display tank but as a quarantine tank as well so if something happens it won't take a lot to fix.

[Robb in Austin]

Sure!

[+Hydro]

I think that quarantine tanks are very important, I have tried it both ways. I see a much higher survival rate because of it. My display is bright and there are lots of fish swimming around, some of them large. They hide and won't come out to eat and sometimes die. I setup a bare bottom 75 gallon qt temorarily when I get new fish. I take the UV sterilizer return and fill up my QT with sterilized conditioned tank water and then put fresh saltwater in my DT tank to make up what I pulled out. I have I have a couple of those air bubbler sponge filters that I keep in my sump so they are seeded with bacteria from the tank. I put them in the QT and hook up the airlines. I have several air stones in there as well to make sure there is plenty of oxygen. I have a small uv light that I run on the 75 gallon using a maxijet pump. There is some LR that I move from my my sump to the QT and some pvc tubes and fittings. It has no light and I keep the top covered. I QT the fish for about 2-3 weels and by this time they recoginze that I bring food and that they shouldn't be scared of me. By week 2 they are always begging at th glass when I walk up, and they regogzie the flake jar. This is a good time for them to chill out, have plenty to eat, and to learn how to eat new foods. I just recently bought a leopard wrass who is super cool. For him I added a small of sand which immediatelty went in to and was undergraound for about 2 days. He popped up and started eating mysid, then I got him to eak flake food. This wouldn't have been possibe in my DT because things are so much busier in there.

Also you could keep from spreading a disease to tankmates that can kill them. There is a guy here in Elgin that has a 500 gallon tank that lost 1/2 of his fish to velvet from a sick fish that he didn't QT.

Here is s pick of my temorary QT set and of the super cool leopard wrasse .

[+Hydro]

I test the nitrates and if they get high (over 20) I do a water change using sterilized display tank water and put fresh saltwater back in my DT. Usually with 5-6 fish in the QT I have to change the water once a week, if it were only one fish I wouldn't need to change the water at all. The seeded filter sponges do a pretty good job. I also throw in some hermits to eat any leftover food. I feed emerald entree with garlic and Zoe added once a day and then crushed flake food before I leave work. I don't overfeed each time, since there is little competition most of the food is eaten so they don't need much, plus overfeeding leads to poor water quality. There are a couple of powerheads that I point at the bottom of the tank to keep the bottom clean and for some water flow int the tank. And lastly there is a heater which is pretty important.

[mFrame]

I think if I don't use the 29 gallon for a sea horse tank I'll use it for my quarantine tank. It has a refugium and everything already. Do you think this is a good idea? I can still use it as a display tank but as a quarantine tank as well so if something happens it won't take a lot to fix.

It depends on what you plan to quarantine. If it's a new fish 2" or under, you can probably do what I do and use a standard 12g eclipse tank. You won't need a skimmer, lights, or any other expensive equipment as long as you do regular water changes. The small size makes the water change easy as well as making it easy for you to see and monitor the fish. Mine has stock light with a heater and a small maxijet powerhead. I throw in some pvc elbows to give the fish cover and they're easy to clean after treatment. Total equipment cost if you can find a used eclipse is about $50. When I'm not using it, I empty it and it doesn't take much room in the garage.

[Timfish]

I would say quarintine tanks are very necessary. I use UV sterilizer's on my display tanks and they certainly reduce the probability of a parasite introduced from a fish that is not quarintined taking out a lot of fish. However unless they are seriously over sized and set up properly with the right flow rate and turnover rate a significant die off can still be expierenced and it will be a significant source of heat. I have seen ich outbreaks clear up in reef systems with out any intervention (I'm guessing it is from the larval being eaten by the corals) but this doesn't strike me as very smart to rely on.

As far as setup I'd keep it as simple as possible and do frequent water changes. At the very least some proactive approach should be used for ich and velvet. Quarintine should last at least 30 days and if a new fish is added to the tank the clock gets reset to zero for everything in the tank. I'll also periodicly empty the tank, fill it with tap water and run it a little bleach, nuetralize it and let it dry out for a while.

[Crab Rangoon]

My QT procedure will vary a bit from fish to fish (goby / blenny / cardinal / ditherfish only get 2-7 days, but my Angels & Butterflies go for 4-8 weeks) - but I still STRONGLY suggest quarantining most fish.

I actually use the refugium section of my sump as my QT. It's absolutely perfect for me, since it doesn't take up any more space or equipment than I use day to day, there are pods around for the fish to feed on, I control the flow since it's fed by my UV sterilizer, and the fish have no competition for food - nor will it be swept away too quickly. In the event I am introducing a small, and relatively easy fish, I simply QT in a plastic basket inside the tank. If I'm introducing something like a Flagfin Angelfish to the display, and I already have another yellow Angelfish in the tank, I will keep the new fish in a perforated acrylic box for a few days, so the two similar (and otherwise incompatible) fish can see eachother & interact without doing any damage. This leads to FAR LESS aggressive behavior & damage once the fish is finally released.

[mFrame]

My QT procedure will vary a bit from fish to fish (goby / blenny / cardinal / ditherfish only get 2-7 days, but my Angels & Butterflies go for 4-8 weeks) - but I still STRONGLY suggest quarantining most fish.

I actually use the refugium section of my sump as my QT. It's absolutely perfect for me, since it doesn't take up any more space or equipment than I use day to day, there are pods around for the fish to feed on, I control the flow since it's fed by my UV sterilizer, and the fish have no competition for food - nor will it be swept away too quickly. In the event I am introducing a small, and relatively easy fish, I simply QT in a plastic basket inside the tank. If I'm introducing something like a Flagfin Angelfish to the display, and I already have another yellow Angelfish in the tank, I will keep the new fish in a perforated acrylic box for a few days, so the two similar (and otherwise incompatible) fish can see eachother & interact without doing any damage. This leads to FAR LESS aggressive behavior & damage once the fish is finally released.

It's not really a QT if you're doing it in your sump or an acclimation box. QT requires a separate aquarium to truly quarantine, otherwise you're just allowing the fish to adjust to your setup and preventing aggression. You're still allowing any parasites on your new fish to be exposed to your existing fish/tank, which is the primary reason I QT.

[Crab Rangoon]

I'm quite familiar with QT procedures & am one of the most preachy members around here on the subject but I was sharing what I do since I do not set up a stand alone quarantine tank (as I do not have space to set one up or store it, nor would I put most of my specimens in an un-cycled, un-established tank for QT - ever).

While I've never experienced any actual parasites on any of my fish, all new fish have their food medicated with both kanamycin & metranidazole for protection against internal and external parasites, and the fuge has 120-150x turnover rate through the UV at those times. The worst I've encountered was an Angelfish with Lymphocystis and that never spread to the display, or any other fish. Also, I don't necessarily "QT" the smaller ditherfish in the baskets for a means of quarantine - I do it so that they have a comfortable transition to the aquarium post-acclimation, and don't get jumped by any fish or critters, much less sucked up by the MP40.

Just thought I'd try to bring up some helpful options for all the people who aren't able/willing to invest in a standalone quarantine set-up - the thought of spending $60 and taking up some counter or floor space is enough to make MOST of my customers in the past shy away from considering it. If in-tank isolation is the next best thing they can do, I encourage it over putting the fish directly into the tank to swim & interact with all the existing fish.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Crab Rangoon

[Crab Rangoon]

You're still allowing any parasites on your new fish to be exposed to your existing fish/tank, which is the primary reason I QT.

And on this note, my primary reason is to protect from aggression, and ensure the fish is healthy, and happy & eating well. A fish that is eating with gusto, behaves comfortably, and has packed on some weight (while eating medicated food none-the-less) will not be a fish that is easily taken by parasites or other illnesses. A happy, healthy, hungry, well fed fish will be massively more resilient to disease - but most people look that over and go about things the hard way.

In my case, 9 times out of 10, I'm introducing an Angelfish or a Butterfly fish into a tank full of established Angels and Butterflies. They do not naturally get along from the get-go, and if I haven't personally trained the fish to accept food with gusto, then it doesn't have a fighting chance of getting anything during feedings.

While parasites and infections can be present on newly acquired fish, you see nearly 10x more posts about issues with their new fish accepting food - if separated and trained on the food before introduction, this can be avoided 99% of the time. With this in mind, the use of copper during QT when it's not actually called for can be a downfall, as copper treatments massively decrease a fishes appetite. I suggest that people who *do* quarantine their fish do so without medicinal baths until a specific medication is called for - I don't know what's going on now, but for years people QTing their tangs would do so in a copper dosed tank, and have the fish wither away even though they were ich-free. Come time to introduce them to the DT, they're often not weaned off of the copper dosage, and the transition can be enough stress for an ich breakout on the fish all over again

[polarbear]

Thank you to all of you who have suggested different ways you use quarantine tanks. Everyone has their own ways of doing things and not all of us will agree on every way. For me, I will be using a seperate tank for the quarantine tank becuase i dont want anything to go wrong. thanks again to everyone that responded and please give more feed back if you have any.

[Derekreefer]

Eclipse for the win.....unless your QT'ing a tang ofcourse......then you need two eclipses

[Timfish]

Randy makes two very good points. First making sure your fish is eating well before putting it in your display tank will lead to far fewer mortalities. 2nd is the caution about using copper, I also feel it causes more problems than it solves and have used either hyposalinity, metronidazole (I think Kick-Ich uses a variant) or my favorite UV sterilizers. In my QT tanks the average is 1W per 2 gal.

. . . nor would I put most of my specimens in an un-cycled, un-established tank for QT - ever) . . .

I fully agree (well, I wouldn't do any fish at all), but didn't see that anybody was actually advocating it.

[mFrame]

No offense meant Crab, I was just pointing out that what you were recommending was more for acclimation than for QT. You segued from saying that your QT procedure varied from fish to fish and then dove into how you used your fuge for acclimation. I pointed out the difference for inexperienced reefers who might find the thread and misunderstand, thinking that using a fuge or an in-tank basket actually provides an effective quarantine from pest or parasites.

In my experience, early on I purchased a small Kole tang from an LFS. Upon getting it home, I acclimated it and dropped it in my 90g tank. Immediately upon seeing it hit the water my actinics picked up dots of white all over the fish. Argue what you will about ich, but I had never had it on my fish prior to them being exposed to the new tang. Within three days half of my fish were dead including my favorite 5" long green mandarin that ate frozen. I was devastated. Quarantining him upon purchase for a few weeks would have allowed me to observe him in a more contained environment and upon seeing the ich I would have been able to treat him without fear of medication effects on my main tank.

Likewise, a few months ago one of my newly acquired clownfish came down with cotton-mouth. I was able to put him in the eclipse and treat him until he recovered.

I agree with you that most fish we purchase often won't be bothered nearly as much by parasites as they will from the shock of being dropped in a new tank and finding their niche in the pecking order. All of our goals are the same, to add healthy fish to our tanks at times and to insure that the fish prosper as well as to safeguard our existing livestock. We just do what we can to try and prevent new reefers from suffering fish losses.