New QT/H/B Tank

[Sonia]

ok, I went out and bought an extra tank today, with the intention of using it as a quarantine/hospital/breeding tank (depending on what's going on...). I read up a lot about what to do and think I have a plan, but there are still a couple things I'm unsure of...
I bought a 10 gallon tank, with 2x25W incandescent light bulbs, a 50W heater and a Marineland Bio-Wheel Mini Power filter. I know incandescent lights aren't great, but it was a really good package deal and I figured it would be fine for this kind of tank.
I was thinking that I'd throw the filter into my main tank so that the filter bacteria stays alive while there are no fish in the QT tank. To do this, would I just throw the Bio-Wheel and cartridge (contains carbon and sponge) in a corner of the aquarium, sitting on the gravel??
I'm not going to put any gravel in, this seems to be what most people recommend. Aren't my fish going to hate it without the gravel though? What's so bad about putting gravel in?
I cut off some extra Hornwort from my main tank and put it in the QT tank to float (it just looked way too desolate with nothing). I was thinking I could put a few hardy potted plants as well. Willl the plants survive without any fish if I add some fertilizer now and then? Is the lighting sufficient for them to survive?
Also, when there are no fish in the tank, could I leave the filter in and just add in some food now and then to keep the bacteria alive? How long can bacteria survive without any fresh ammonia/nitrite to nibble on?
So... I think that's it. Please feel free to let me know if I'm overlooking anything. Thanks in advance!!!

 

[BrianNY]

Ahh Sonia, I think you have mixed motives here . A QT/hospital tank is just that. Makes no difference what it looks like. Your fish care less about the look of your tank than you do. Trust me on that.

As a rule, if you don't over stock a QT tank, you needn't worry too much about it being cycled. I would seed a sponge filter from another tank and place it (with water from the same tank) in the QT tank. But only when I'm going to use it. I worry less about a cycled tank for medicating because so many of the meds kill off the bacteria anyway. IMO, this new tank of yours, if used for the purpose of QT/hospital, should only be set up when the need arises. Kudos to you for taking this step

 

[BASSNMAN]

Sounds like you got the general idea. The reason for no gravel is if you do have a sick fish, you need to sterilize the tank after you take him out and it makes vacing easy. If you are going to leave the tank empty between uses, just hang your little biowheel on your main tank. Many live plants can not take meds, so if you feel you need something, put in a plastic plant. Easy to clean after use. If you want to keep the tank up and running, you could put in a couple of male mollies to maintain the biofilter. Just move them to the main tank if you need to quarintine something.

 

[QTOFFER]

I too have a 10 gal quarrantine/hospital tank with a Penguin mini. When there are no fish in the tank, I just keep the biowheel floating in one of my established tanks. Some people completely break down the tank between uses - the choice is yours. I guess I'm too lazy! I keep it running (filter cartridge only, no biowheel) and temperature controlled all the time. That way, I'm all ready to go in case I have to treat a sick fish, or if I suddenly go on a lfs spending spree.

When fish are present, I light the tank using a timer. Otherwise, the light is off. Your incandescent light will be more than adequate - you just want to give the fish some sense of night vs day. Live plants in the QT tank are not a good idea because you want to be able to disinfect everything in case you use the tank to battle some nasty bug. That's the reason most of us don't put gravel in there either - makes it that much easier to tear down and disinfect.

Fish have no aesthetic sense whatsoever. They don't care about gravel and decor. I would, however, put a piece of clean PVC pipe in the tank to provide them with a place to hide. Plastic plants serve the same purpose. Avoid rocks, driftwood, and other porous items that are hard to disinfect.

The only other thing you should get is a net, algae scraper, and siphon hose/bucket for exclusive use with the quarrantine/hospital tank. Alternatively, you could disinfect these items between uses, but that is a pain. After all, there's no point in separating sick or new fish if you still use the same equipment for everyone, right?

 

[Sonia]

Thanks a ton!!! You've put all my concerns at ease!
So I'll seed the bio-wheel right now so that I can quarantine the next fish I get (hopefully soon!!!) and I'll stop worrying about decor... maybe just a couple flower pot caves depending on what fish I get. I do have mixed motives... though I know I want to keep this tank for sick/new fish, I have to fight the urge of making it pretty by stocking it with tons of plants and permanent fishy residents! Hopefully I'll get another tank for that soon enough!
By the way, should I be concerned about the incandescent lights creating temperature fluctuations? I really appreciate the help!!!