Quantine tank setup

[MarinaClown]

Why not quarantine these? Wont they bring ich into your DT if you dont?

They are very very hardy fish due to their thick slime coat and ich cannot easily penetrate it. Angels and tangs are complete opposite. Now, would it be good to QT all fish? Absolutely.

The best way to do it in a QT is to put live sand in tupperware for a leopard wrasse to sleep in or for a diamond goby to sift. Putting a fish like that in a bare bottom tank is in my opinion cruel. I have seen diamond gobies and leopard wrasses in BB tanks at a fish store. You know what they look like? Sick and depressed. A sand burrowing wrasse can actually damage its mouth in a BB tank and that will cause more harm than good.

Back to my reasoning... If you treat fish preventively with medicine like I do, that live sand cannot be put back in the DT. Even if no treatment is done I would still not put the sand back and just get rid of it. That's a lot of sand to throw away every time you add a goby or a wrasse. Might it be worth the expense? Many might say yes but I don't think so. My reasoning is based on personal experience, talking to LFS owners (yes plural) and online research.

 

[MarinaClown]

To clarify, if I lived in a remote part of the country and were buying fish online I would absolutely QT any and all species due to unknown conditions of water from which the fish is coming as well as stress of transportation. I am lucky enough to live in a metropolitan that has some really reputable fish stores. One of them, Vivid Aquariums, QTs fish before selling it to its customers. Another store I go to puts dates on tags so you can tell how long the fish has been in the store. I buy ones that have been there 2-6 weeks. So, I do take a lot of precautionary steps before buying fish.

 

[Grizz]

I QT everything fish corals inverts you name it. Hell even my hands get a close look before going into my tank

 

[wrasse326]

They are very very hardy fish due to their thick slime coat and ich cannot easily penetrate it. Angels and tangs are complete opposite. Now, would it be good to QT all fish? Absolutely.

The best way to do it in a QT is to put live sand in tupperware for a leopard wrasse to sleep in or for a diamond goby to sift. Putting a fish like that in a bare bottom tank is in my opinion cruel. I have seen diamond gobies and leopard wrasses in BB tanks at a fish store. You know what they look like? Sick and depressed. A sand burrowing wrasse can actually damage its mouth in a BB tank and that will cause more harm than good.

Back to my reasoning... If you treat fish preventively with medicine like I do, that live sand cannot be put back in the DT. Even if no treatment is done I would still not put the sand back and just get rid of it. That's a lot of sand to throw away every time you add a goby or a wrasse. Might it be worth the expense? Many might say yes but I don't think so. My reasoning is based on personal experience, talking to LFS owners (yes plural) and online research.

I don't have really reputable places. Had one that used to be good but the last time I was there it looked like all the fish were sick. Only stores here that have saltwater fish have ick. So after leaving my tank empty for 12 weeks to get rid of ick I'm going to quarantine everything for 4 weeks at least. If I do quarantine wrasses and gobys do I just not treat with copper? And couldn't I just leave the sand in there instead of throwing it away? Also do hawkfish go in this category also? Have an arch eye waiting in another tank to be
reated with my other 3 fish once I'm done treating my current 3 fish. My quarantine tank is a 37 gallon

 

[Grizz]

Fresh water fish get ich too. IME copper is the best way to kill ich BUT you must do it in a QT tank. The tank can never be used to house inverts or coral as the silicone can hold and release it into the system. I QT my coral in a rubber maid tub You can leave the sand in the QT (tupperware bowl) just rinse it when your done with any QT.

 

[Lshann14]

How big of PVC should I use for a 3" PBT in my Q-Tank

 

[Fishman007]

Fresh water fish get ich too. IME copper is the best way to kill ich BUT you must do it in a QT tank. The tank can never be used to house inverts or coral as the silicone can hold and release it into the system. I QT my coral in a rubber maid tub You can leave the sand in the QT (tupperware bowl) just rinse it when your done with any QT.

Why QT coral? Wont they stress without proper lighting?

 

[Grizz]

How big of PVC should I use for a 3" PBT in my Q-Tank

I use 4 inch fittings in my tank

 

[Grizz]

Why QT coral? Wont they stress without proper lighting?

I brought red bugs into my system once, never again I use my old 4 bulb T5 over my QT tank most coral are QT'ed for 2 weeks fish 4 weeks unless they show signs of something

 

[Fishman007]

I brought red bugs into my system once, never again I use my old 4 bulb T5 over my QT tank most coral are QT'ed for 2 weeks fish 4 weeks unless they show signs of something

One Q, what are red bugs?

 

[Sniperhank]

Small bugs that are very hard to see that are red. They eat acros like candy.

 

[MarinaClown]

If I do quarantine wrasses and gobys do I just not treat with copper? And couldn't I just leave the sand in there instead of throwing it away? Also do hawkfish go in this category also?

If you are bringing fish home that has ich you can't keep the sand because the parasite will live in it. So your QT will be carrying ich and completely defeat the purpose of having it. You can try hypo salinity of course. Theoretically it should kill all ich including the ones in the sand bed but who knows if it will kill it. May be posters with FOWLR tanks can pitch in here if they have treated their main tank with hypo salinity and did not throw away sand.

A hawkfish is a go for QT. I considered a flame hawkfish and specifically asked a fish store owner about QTing it. He said hawkfish would be fine but not a goby or a wrasse.

 

[huma-huma]

hypo kills off ANY living bacteria in a tank...it doesn't differentiate between good or bad. so doing hypo on a dt would undo all the cycling process you go through.

 

[MarinaClown]

Look for tags like this. They will tell you how long the fish has been in the store. If it survives a fish store for that long chances are it will thrive in your tank. I got a blenny today. My only algae eating fish. Need it badly. Lol

 

[wrasse326]

If you are bringing fish home that has ich you can't keep the sand because the parasite will live in it. So your QT will be carrying ich and completely defeat the purpose of having it. You can try hypo salinity of course. Theoretically it should kill all ich including the ones in the sand bed but who knows if it will kill it. May be posters with FOWLR tanks can pitch in here if they have treated their main tank with hypo salinity and did not throw away sand.

A hawkfish is a go for QT. I considered a flame hawkfish and specifically asked a fish store owner about QTing it. He said hawkfish would be fine but not a goby or a wrasse.

I don't want to do hypo. And I've posted on another thread about my own qt tank that I had a thin layer of sand in it and nobody told me that they wud live in the sand and not be able to be killed with copper. So how do you keep ich out of your main tank if your putting a wrasse or goby in without quarantining it because you can't have sand in the qt

 

[wrasse326]

And then what's the point of putting sand in the qt in a Tupperware bowl so you can put a wrasse or goby in there if it's not even going to do any good to treat with copper in there because they will just live in the sand bed? Are you saying my 4 weeks I've been treating for copper has been for nothing and that my 3 fish could still have ick just because I have a little bit of sand in there?? How does copper not get into the sand and kill the ick?

 

[Grizz]

ICH don't stay in the sand once it hatches it enters a free swimming stage that's when most treatments will kill it That why we QT and treat for 4-6 weeks so we can be sure to catch it at the right time When i QT gobys or any other sand dwellers i put the sand in a small bowl this lets them burrow and lowers stress for them.

 

[wrasse326]

Ok so the 4 weeks of treatment hasn't been for nothing. Do I take that sand out and throw it away when I get the fish out?

 

[Grizz]

I dont, I rinse it with tap water and let it dry for next time. I do keep it in a bag marked Copper so it dont get mixed with any other sands
All my QT stuff get cleaned with tap water and vinegar The HOB gets refilled with new poly-fill and is put back on the sump to be reseeded for next time.

 

[Oscarr19]

I dont, I rinse it with tap water and let it dry for next time. I do keep it in a bag marked Copper so it dont get mixed with any other sands All my QT stuff get cleaned with tap water and vinegar The HOB gets refilled with new poly-fill and is put back on the sump to be reseeded for next time.

If there is a case of ich, it is better to clean with a mild Clorox solution though, right?