If you do a search on quarantine tank here you should find some information, also I think that there is an article in the articles section. Basically a QT (recommended for all new fish) can be nothing more that a standard 10G tank. I will tell you what I have so you can get an idea of how this works. I bought a 10G starter kit from Petco for about $50. That included tank,
HOB filter, hood, light and heater. Now I also use a
FW dip for all of my new fish livestock, but basically, you have to consider all new fish you acquire and the water they are in as having parasites and all sorts of icky stuff in it (at least the mental image of it
) With that said the goal would be to not contaminate anything else with that. I have utensils (nets, buckets etc.) that I use specifically and only for the QT tank. So my procedure is to fill up the tank with either water from your main tank, or fresh pre-mixed saltwater, check and adjust the temp and salinity. If you use a
FW dip, there is a whole procedure for that, if not, follow the usual acclimation procedure for new fish and then net the fish and place in the QT tank. Avoid getting any of the transport water in the tank. I also keep a spare filter for the QT tank in my diaplay tank sump so that after I set up the tank and before I introduce the fish, I swap out the existing filter for the seeded one. This is necessary because at the end of the quarantine period (minimum 2 weeks) the QT tank should be cleaned and sanitized before adding new fish to it. It is also recommended to keep the lights low initially to help de-stress the fish. There are a variety of ways to do this. So by keeping a spare filter in the main tank I always have a bed of bacteria ready. Simplistically this is about it. You should also add some hiding places for the livestock in the tank and nothing else, no sand or gravel etc. It is recommended and I use, cut sections of 2"
PVC pipe for this and it works well.
So in summary, it is recommended to:
Quarantine all fish
Quarantine for a minimum of two weeks
Use display tank water or fresh seawater for filling the QT
adjust temp and salinity
Acclimate fish
Add to QT (do not add any shipping water)
When ready to add to the display tank, acclimate with display tank water and add fish to the main tank (do not add QT water to the display tank)
HTH 8)