Quarantine tank

[Abiduwhabi]

Hey guys,

So, I've always had a quarantine tank setup and running as I've always been rotating my stock. I have my tank set up in the kitchen so I can keep a close eye on the new or sick fish with ease and can possibly catch something that I wouldn't of seen when they are somewhere else.

My wife has decided that she would like to take back control of her space. SO, my question is if I decided to take down my quarantine do you guys think I would be ok to piggyback the filter on one of my larger tanks and then pull it off when I need to use the Qtank?

My only concern with this is possible contamination.

 

[maxwellag]

What illnesses has the filter media been exposed to? If you've been dosing meds, then most of the pathogens (if any) still on the filter media are likely dead. With that said, if it were me, I wouldn't take the risk. I would take the quarantine tank down and then set it back up again when you need to. You wouldn't have cycled media, so you would need to move a bit of cycled media from an established tank into the QT tank filter. This would avoid contaminating the larger tanks.

 

[Abiduwhabi]

Well, I was thinking of that, but would the non cycled tank (even if I used some old media it would still take time to cycle) cause more unneeded stress on the sick or new fish?

I guess an easier way about this is just to ask how you all do your quarantine tanks.

 

[maxwellag]

Well, I was thinking of that, but would the non cycled tank (even if I used some old media it would still take time to cycle) cause more unneeded stress on the sick or new fish?

I guess an easier way about this is just to ask how you all do your quarantine tanks.

If you move enough cycled media into the qt tank filter, it will pretty much already be cycled.

 

[Coyne]

Your original plan of using the QT's filter in your main tank until it's actually needed would be fine, as would the transferring bio-media plan.

If you ARE treating an illness, it would be best to clean every thing with bleach before putting it back with your main tank, and just let it re-establish new BB for the next time you need it.

 

[Abiduwhabi]

That sounds good coyne, 90% of my usage out of it is for new fish. So, if I use it for illness purposes I'll just scrap the media, clean it out and recycle the filter on my big tank.

While I understand using current media in the q tank I don't want to dig in my canister each time.