how to set up a saltwater quarantine tank?

[TimaT]

Turning my 10gal tank into a quarantine tank. how do you maintain? (if it's empty wont the bacteria die off) do i need to cycle it? or just do frequent water changes?

what are the benefits of a quarantine tank?
How long do you keep a fish in there?
What to look for while keeping a fish there?

 

[uh.oh...]

Quarantine tanks keep your new live stock away from your dt until your sure they don't have the plague. Otherwise you can nuke everything. You can leave it empty, and keep a hob filter to add when there are live things. Just keep some filters in your other tank or sump or hob filter so they're full of bb for when you need them.

 

[uh.oh...]

Keep a fish in there for at least two weeks, maybe 3, or if you're really scared 6 months to a year

 

[uh.oh...]

Look for parasites, ich, marine velvet and hitchhikers. Medicate while there in there. Just be sure to throw away the old filter, don't want to put anything but the fish into your dt when the time comes

 

[Ingy]

Turning my 10gal tank into a quarantine tank. how do you maintain? (if it's empty wont the bacteria die off) do i need to cycle it? or just do frequent water changes?

what are the benefits of a quarantine tank?
How long do you keep a fish in there?
What to look for while keeping a fish there?

My QT tank is stored in my shed. The biopad for the filter is in my sump staying active and waiting use. So no need for cycling. But yes, you still have to do frequent water changes compared to your main tank.
The advantage is stopping any unforeseen disease from getting into the main tank. Some will even add meds to a standard QT as preventative medicine (I don't ).
You can also use it specifically as a hospital tank but leave and carbon out of the filter when you do.
Add a few short lengths of PVC pipe around 2-3" diameter for hidey holes.
Putting a tang in a 10 gal QT tank adds stress so perhaps not as long as some other fish. Look for ich or other issues.

 

[TimaT]

:d :d :d :d :d :d

 

[TimaT]

thanks Ingy
good stuff. would you recommend a 10gal quarantine? or will it only stress the fish out?

 

[uh.oh...]

I have a 29. They're easy to get a hold of, and work with a few larger filters

 

[Ingy]

thanks Ingy
good stuff. would you recommend a 10gal quarantine? or will it only stress the fish out?

Use whatever you can. A 10 gal should be fine for most fish, especially if they are young. A couple weeks for 1 fish or a small number of schooling fish will be ok. But a full grown tang in a 10 gal tank might be worse off for it.