quarantine tank

[dirk33]

I'm new to the hobby but have ready many places how important it is to quarantine fish before adding to your tank.
I only have a 29g biocube but I went ahead and got the supplies to set up a 10 gallon quarantine
Small heater, sponge with air pump for filtration, thermometer and small light.
I have a couple questions.
Should I let the sponge sit in my biocube to build beneficial bacteria? If so how long does it need to be in the tank before i can set up the quarantine.

Also, what exactly is the quarantine process? Do I need to add anything to the water to treat the fish right off the bat? Or should I just be monitoring the fish, and only treating if he appears sick? I have a friend who always treats with copper... Is this necessary?
Thanks for any help
D

 

[fort384]

Only treat if they appear sick. You will want to QT for up to 2 weeks and monitor for signs of sickness or disease. This applies to coral as well.

As far as beneficial bacteria, a couple of weeks in the main tank out to be fine. Just be sure to transfer the sponge back when nothing is in the QT tank so you can always have the QT ready to go.

QT is a really good idea - not everyone does it (including me, I lack the space), but without it, we really are playing Russian roulette every time we add a new living thing to the tank.

 

[Sniperhank]

In terms of using a sponge or whatever for bacteria into a QT, you should avoid it. The point of a QT is to allow you to use copper based medications if need be as copper will kill off all of your inverts and leach into your rock/sand, preventing you from having them forever with the setup you have. You avoid having to use media and the need of bacteria by doing daily water changes on the QT before dosing with medication.

If you are still wanting to use filter media on a QT to provide the bacteria, even though copper based medications will kill them all off, just don't put the media back onto the DT. Copper obviously will not be an issue if you dont' have to treat the tank, but I have known of people to treat all new fish no matter what.

 

[dirk33]

I have to have some sort of water movement don't I? Do you use a hang on filter instead?

 

[fort384]

Yes, good point. If you use Cu based meds in the tank, you would not want to put it back in the DT. If however, after a normal QT period everything looks ok, it would be fine to return it to the tank.

Always better safe than sorry though and sponges are cheap.

 

[Sniperhank]

I guess you are right about sponges being cheap Fort. I got tired of them and went cheaper on my tanks...panty hose on the ends of all PVC!

 

[fort384]

Lol nice.