QT/Hospital Tank Question

[JoeH2014]

So my step son is taking the last of his fish with him to college this weekend, meaning that I will have a 10 gallon aquarium that I could possibly us as a QT/hospital tank. My question though is what do I keep in there in order to keep the BB alive? Never had one before but since I'm at the end of dealing with an ich outbreak, I'd like to start using one.

Thanks.

 

[gilpi]

You can get a couple of feeder gold fish?

 

[Andy Sager]

A QT and a hospital tank should be kept 2 different ways. For a QT, it can be kept as a "normal" tank with any fish ( similar in tank requirements) you plan on keeping. ie, goldfish if you want goldfish, warm water tropicals if you plan on warm water tropicals, etc. A QT is for observing your fish to ensure they are doing well and adapting to your water, feeding schedule, etc. as well as not coming down with any disease issues.
A hospital tank on the other hand, is best kept bare. NO BB, no gravel, a bare filter,etc as most meds will kill off the bacteria. This is why a bare, sterile tank is recommended when medicating fish. You will be doing water changes as directed with the meds so ammonia issues should not be a problem. Fish are in a hospital tank short term opposed to a QT which could be much longer.

Hope this helps

 

[ScotJudd]

Hi. When my QT is not occupied I dose the tank with a little pure ammonia daily, just to give about 1-2ppm, which drops to zero after 24 hrs. When I need to use it I drain it and refill with water either treated from the tap or from my main tank or even half and half. If when not in use the nitrates rise above 80ppm then I do a 50% WC.
When I have added fish for quarantining I have not had an ammonia or nitrite spike.


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[JoeH2014]

Thanks for the info. Just wanted to know what others did to keep their tanks going.

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[Andy Sager]

A QT and a hospital tank should be kept 2 different ways. For a QT, it can be kept as a "normal" tank with any fish ( similar in tank requirements) you plan on keeping. ie, goldfish if you want goldfish, warm water tropicals if you plan on warm water tropicals, etc. A QT is for observing your fish to ensure they are doing well and adapting to your water, feeding schedule, etc. as well as not coming down with any disease issues.
A hospital tank on the other hand, is best kept bare. NO BB, no gravel, a bare filter,etc as most meds will kill off the bacteria. This is why a bare, sterile tank is recommended when medicating fish. You will be doing water changes as directed with the meds so ammonia issues should not be a problem. Fish are in a hospital tank short term opposed to a QT which could be much longer.

Hope this helps

After thought
Another possibility for you: You can keep a secondary HOB or sponge filter in your main tank and when you need to quarantine fish, just move that "spare" filter into the qt tank. This way, it should have an established bacteria bed and there should be no issues with cycling ( providing you don't add a tremendous amount of fish ) . If the fish come through the QT period with no disease, you can switch the filter back to your main tank or sterilize it ( which I would do in any case) and start it again in your main tank.