Quarantine tanks: please tell me what do you think.

[Ali-fish]

Hi all,

I have couple of questions about the QT as there are so many people wrote about quarantine. Some say build it from scratch, some say you can take water from the display tank. Some people say wait 10 days and other say 30 days before moving the fish to DT.

Ill share what I did so far and please tell me what do you think, what else shall I do/ don't to make it better.

I got myself two 35$ tanks, two 25$ skimmers, two 20$ filters and two heaters. Live sand and API Stress Zyme and API quick start.

So I filled the tank with tap water and mixed the salt. I kept the salinity level at between 0.010 to 0.012 (Ive been told that this will kill any disease the fish might carry within its body) adjust the heater to 28.

One of the tanks was filled up to 2 inch of live sand and the other with just a very little live sand (am experimenting myself which one is better for me and for the fish of course). I added the Stress Zyme and the Quick Start to the tanks and waited 10 days.

Here is a picture of the tanks before adding any fish.



I was so excited and rushed things by adding the fish after 10 days without checking the nitrite, nitrate and ammonia. The fish were so happy and active for almost a week. They were eating good and looks healthy. Couple of days ago, one of tank that I was feeding more than the other, three fish died and when I checked the water, the results here in the picture . I am almost that no leftovers were their in the tank. But maybe I was feeding more than what it need and the fish in this period should survive with the minimum before moving them to the DT.

The other tank is doing good so far and the fish doing good too.

Here is my first question, the oldest fish completed 10 days in the QT. Can I move to the DT? A friend of mine said wait 45 days before adding any fish to DT so if there is any kind of disease in the water, it will be gone. ( I had a clown fish that was added directly from the shop to DT and got sick and died after one week)

Other questions will follow up once I receive your feedback.

Please excuse my language as english is my second language.

Thanks in advance for your help

Regards
Ali








DT size is (150*60*60) cm
Sump tank size is (95*45*55) cm


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[Sniperhank]

I think a week observation is fine. My only critique to your QT tanks is the sand. I'd take it out and put it in your display, as long as you haven't added any meds to the QT tanks that is. I say this for that very reason. If you have to pull a fish from your display to treat it with a copper based med, it will leach into the sand and you'll never be able to QT any inverts in that tank.

 

[Ali-fish]

I think a week observation is fine. My only critique to your QT tanks is the sand. I'd take it out and put it in your display, as long as you haven't added any meds to the QT tanks that is. I say this for that very reason. If you have to pull a fish from your display to treat it with a copper based med, it will leach into the sand and you'll never be able to QT any inverts in that tank.

This is what I did after the fish died. Took the sand and dumped it to the sump tank of my display tank. And then changed the water twice to lower the ammonia but still it is not 0!! I kept it running to complete the cycle.

Can I move the fish from the QT to the DT? Or wait more? I don't want to mess with my display tank.

Here is a picture of the fish in my QT.






DT size is (150*60*60) cm
Sump tank size is (95*45*55) cm


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Sniperhank]

You mean the ammonia in your QT tank?Just do larger water changes to bring it to 0.

And in terms of moving your fish over, if it looks healthy after a week I say move it.

 

[Ali-fish]

You mean the ammonia in your QT tank?Just do larger water changes to bring it to 0.

And in terms of moving your fish over, if it looks healthy after a week I say move it.

First water change I say was about 3/4 of the water. The ammonia was about 0.25 - 0.50 ppm. Then i changed again say 1/2. Yesterday test of ammonia was .25 ppm!!


DT size is (150*60*60) cm
Sump tank size is (95*45*55) cm


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[Ingy]

You've missed the purpose and capabilities of a QT. In its truest form a QT is a regular tank for you to observe fish for any illness. As such it can house the BB you needed for the 'cycle' you mentioned. No medication or treatments can be done, but equipment and rocks from the DT or sump can be used to hurry or even negate a cycle. As such, food becomes nitrate in the process. After the observation period, when the fish are put in the DT you can put the rock, filter pads and PVC fittings back in the sump , ready for next time.

But you didn't do that. You used a hyposalinity treatment. That means no BB (or very little) will survive. Food becomes ammonia and stops there. If significant wc's aren't done levels become toxic and fish die.

I don't mean to sound too critical, but often people think that just because they don't use medication in their hospital tank then they can treat it like a qt. Sadly, and critically that is not true. ANY form of treatment in a tank makes it a hospital tank which includes hyposalinity. And that means significant daily water changes.


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[Ali-fish]

You've missed the purpose and capabilities of a QT. In its truest form a QT is a regular tank for you to observe fish for any illness. As such it can house the BB you needed for the 'cycle' you mentioned. No medication or treatments can be done, but equipment and rocks from the DT or sump can be used to hurry or even negate a cycle. As such, food becomes nitrate in the process. After the observation period, when the fish are put in the DT you can put the rock, filter pads and PVC fittings back in the sump , ready for next time.

But you didn't do that. You used a hyposalinity treatment. That means no BB (or very little) will survive. Food becomes ammonia and stops there. If significant wc's aren't done levels become toxic and fish die.

I don't mean to sound too critical, but often people think that just because they don't use medication in their hospital tank then they can treat it like a qt. Sadly, and critically that is not true. ANY form of treatment in a tank makes it a hospital tank which includes hyposalinity. And that means significant daily water changes.


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Love what you wrote here. I am following instruction from people who are suppose to be more experienced and it seems they have limited knowledge. Anyway, so what do you recommend for my QT? What is the right set up and what shall I do when I buy a new fish?

Please note that there are few shops that supply saltwater fish where I live and people usually race to buy anything that comes within 2-3 days.the shops are not well organized comparing to what I see from pictures of shops in US or other countries. So you see that all small fish put in one tank, all the large fish in one tank and they care less if the fish are sick or fight with each other because people will come and buy them at the end.

Thanks


DT size is (150*60*60) cm
Sump tank size is (95*45*55) cm


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice