quarantine ?

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packfan2204

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Dec 5, 2003
Messages
188
Location
tulsa, ok
haven't had to use yet, but just wanted to know for future reference. I know ur not supposed to use rock or gravel, just pvc pipe, but even without those if u only setup a qt tank when u need it, how do u prevent cycling, constant water changes?
 
You can use a filer pad or similar that has been seeded in your main tank for a week or so to help keep levels down. Other than that, monitoring levels and water changes are required.

I learned the hard way. I have a filter pad in my sump right now. I just keep in there for when I do have to QT.
 
Agreed. Remember on of the procedures after you are done quarantining and transferred your livestock to you display tank, is that you need to sterilize your QT. I bought an extra filter pack for my little Topfin bio filter and leave one sitting in my display tank sump for bacterial culture growth. When I sterilize my QT, everything is sterilized including the filter in use. After sterilization and I have set up the QT again, I switch the filter packs. As such, you will not see the typical cycling, but you will have to pay very careful attention to the pH and nitrates. This means constant water changes and removal of uneaten food. HTH 8)
 
I have been keeping my Q tank running because I haven't had any sick fish for a while so I don't see the need to sterilize it and I pretty much get one fish after another. Before this I woudl just fill up my 10G Q tank with water from my display tank so the water already had a bunch of bacteria and such so the Q tank wouldn't really have to cycle.
 
YMMV. Just remember that you run the risk of having potential pathogens in your QT tank by doing that. Also the risk of transferring fish from your QT tank to your display tank that are infected or get infected in the QT but do not show any symptoms until after you have transferred it. Remember, the idea behind the QT is to leave the fish in a pathogen-free environment so that any diesase they may be carrying manifests itself in a minimum two week period.

I would seriously re-consider not sterilizing your QT. Anyone else with comments on this??
 
:?: With anemones I am not sure, maybe one of the anemone experts here can advise on that. For corals, it is recommeded that you use a coral dip. Kent makes one, Coral-D specifically for this. No quarantine necessary for these due to the high water quality requirements and the fact that I do not believe that they carry the same parasites or diseases systemically, that would present a problem for fishes. HTH 8)
 
There is no concern with pathogens or parasites from an anemone. They do not need to be QT'd or otherwise treated before entering the main display.

Cheers
Steve
 
I am rather new to using QT as well, but after battling with ICK in my main tank I would never it do it without one again. The procedure I use is to have my 10 Gal QT set up ready to go. When I am ready to QT a new fish I take a 250 Skilter packed with Bio balls off my main tank and put it on the QT and transfer 5 gal of water from my main tank to the QT.

If I do not think I will use the QT for a while put the skilter back on the main for extra filtration and let the 10 gal sit.

So far it has worked well for me.

Good luck,
 
Sam said:
YMMV. Just remember that you run the risk of having potential pathogens in your QT tank by doing that. Also the risk of transferring fish from your QT tank to your display tank that are infected or get infected in the QT but do not show any symptoms until after you have transferred it. Remember, the idea behind the QT is to leave the fish in a pathogen-free environment so that any diesase they may be carrying manifests itself in a minimum two week period.

I would seriously re-consider not sterilizing your QT. Anyone else with comments on this??

Well if I had a sick fish I guess sterilizing it would be a good idea however treatment of the sick fish in the Q tank would kill off the disease parasite long before I would add it to my display tank anyway making the Q tank "safe" again.

I hold the fish for a minimum of 4 weeks, by this time I can tell if there is something wrong with them or not. If there is I will use the required treatment and will not place the fish into my main display until that fish is back to 100%. I don't see how anything could be left in my Q tank making it unsafe for the next guest.
 
But are you sure? For me it is worth the extra step of sterilizing after each use, just to be sure there is nothing there, rather than assuming there is nothing. I am not advocating this to anyone, just sharing my experience and the information I have obtained from reading and other research. 8)
 
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