how to set up a hospital/quarantine tank

[mr funktastic]

i need to set up a quarantine tank due to a small ich outbreak in my tank. i am just curious the best way to do this. i was thinking about just using a small 10 gal tank. put a thin layer of crushed coral in it and adding some dry rock. i was going to take 5 gal of water from my established tank and then use 5 new gallons of water. and just run a penguin 350 HOB filter with some carbon sponge and some filter floss. i am just curious if this tank will still need to cycle? there wont be any live rock in it. and i will be using the cycled water. i was gonna throw a few pieces of the rubble from my sump in the filter aswell for some of the beneficial bacteria. i will do the weekly water change with my main tank untill the ich is gone.

does that seem like a sound plan or am i missing anything?

thanks in advance

 

[TheTodd]

You do not need sand/crushed coral or rock. You want the QT "bare bones". Glass bottom, a couple pieces of PVC pipe for the fish to use as hiding places (home depot, lowes, etc have that), a heater and a small filter and/ or a pump to keep water moving around.

I would not add water from your DT as it just adds more Ich to the mix. Keep an eye on parameters, as they will swing due to not being cycled. Be ready to do water changes. The rubble could work a little, you would just not want to put it back on your sump after. Some people keep a sponge in their sump to use for QT.

Leave your DT fallow for six weeks, while treating your fish in QT (copper or hypo) and in the end, you have Ich-free fish and an Ich-free tank. The only way it ever comes back is if you do not QT future additions. If you go that route and don't QT, be ready to repeat all of the above again and again down the road.

 

[mr funktastic]

I guess the spong idea makes sense. Let it sit in the sump a few days to build up with bacteria and put it in the filter in the qt. I will be qt everything from now on so I don't have this problem again.

 

[TheTodd]

I actually think some people use the sponge like a piece of live rock and just use a power head to keep water moving. No mechanical filter.

 

[mr funktastic]

hmm. would there be any negative side effect to using the HOB filter? its a large one designed for like 55+ gal. would provide a lot of flow and surface agitation. i do have a powerhead i can throw in for flow. im just worried about nitrate build up and a mini cycle.

 

[jcolon]

i need to set up a quarantine tank due to a small ich outbreak in my tank. i am just curious the best way to do this. i was thinking about just using a small 10 gal tank. put a thin layer of crushed coral in it and adding some dry rock. i was going to take 5 gal of water from my established tank and then use 5 new gallons of water. and just run a penguin 350 HOB filter with some carbon sponge and some filter floss. i am just curious if this tank will still need to cycle? there wont be any live rock in it. and i will be using the cycled water. i was gonna throw a few pieces of the rubble from my sump in the filter aswell for some of the beneficial bacteria. i will do the weekly water change with my main tank untill the ich is gone.

does that seem like a sound plan or am i missing anything?

thanks in advance

IMO .. With regards to Ich, you treat the whole tank. Once you see the the "salt grains"' you can safely assume it's in the water, thus all fish are exposed.

Turn your heater up slowly to 88F, add and airstone for aeration and be ready for PWC's.

Other illnesses do require QT, but Ich can be cured by heat treatment.

 

[mr funktastic]

as a full reef tank i worry that the temperature will kill more then just the ich. and at the cost of the set up i think a 15 dollar tank and a few extra pieces of equipment i have laying around is a better option. but i would like second opinions on the heat treatment

 

[TheTodd]

Other illnesses do require QT, but Ich can be cured by heat treatment.

That is absolutely not correct. Yes, the entire tank is infected, but heat does nothing more than speed up the life cycle. Read all of the articles out there on saltwater Ich and you will find none that agree with the idea that heat and and an airstone will cure Ich. That sounds more like a freshwater Ich treatment, but marine is very different.

Copper or Hyposalinity cure the fish in a QT, which you would not do in a DT. A fallow DT for six weeks lets the Ich die off due to not having a host. Garlic can help boost the immune system, which is good to help the fish, but is not, at all, a cure.

Store bought remedies are treatments, not cures. Freshwater dips do not get everything. Cleaner shrimp or wrasses do not get everything.

 

[jcolon]

as a full reef tank i worry that the temperature will kill more then just the ich. and at the cost of the set up i think a 15 dollar tank and a few extra pieces of equipment i have laying around is a better option. but i would like second opinions on the heat treatment

Oops .. I thought I was posting this on another Ich related thread ... for freshwater. Salt water Ich would probably have other methods other than heat.

 

[jcolon]

That is absolutely not correct. Yes, the entire tank is infected, but heat does nothing more than speed up the life cycle. Read all of the articles out there on saltwater Ich and you will find none that agree with the idea that heat and and an airstone will cure Ich.

Haha.. It's what happens when the kids are talking to me in one ear while I was thinking I was on a freshwater Ich question. freshwater you can get away with heat and PWC's ... Most of the time. There always seems to be that one or two strain of Ich that's more heat resistant.

 

[TheTodd]

Darn kids! Got two of my own.

 

[jcolon]

Haha.. Wouldn't you know it, after my last post, I went onto a FW ich thread.
The OP is dealing with the worst heat resistant strain of ich seen in 40yrs of fish keeping.

And yep, kids seem to have impeccable timing.