Q/T Tank Questions

[Ziggs180]

Due to several issues with my main tank, I'm considering starting up a Quarantine Tank. Due to space issues, I'm limited to a 5 Gallon Tank. I will be using the heater from my 29 Gallon, since at the moment its not even being used due to temperature in the tank being 80 Degrees. I'd rather not buy a filter if one is not needed, could i use the filter media from my 29 Gallon and just throw it in the Quarantine Tank?

My only issues would be that I dont want the Quarantine tank itself getting infected by pathogens present in my Main tank. Also, does the PH of the Quarantine tank have to match the PH of the main tank? There will be a difference of between .2 and .4, becuase my main plant has lots of plants and driftwood lowering the PH from standard tap water.

 

[librarygirl]

I'm not an expert at QT tanks but I'll try to help some:

Is there reason to suspect you have pathogens in your main tank now? A QT can be used to quarantine new fish for a while before they go into your main tank, or/and used to quarantine a fish that's showing signs of symptoms in your main tank. However if the whole main tank is showing symptoms then you may need to just treat the whole tank.

You may not need a filter on the QT, although it wouldn't hurt. What you could do is buy an extra small filter and run it on your larger tank. Then when you need to us the QT, take the small filter off and it'lll pretty much instantly cycle the smaller tank since the larger tank's bacteria would have been transferred to the filter (I'd toss any filter media after the QT and clean the filter and then start over with new media before putting it back onto your main tank).

For filling the QT, what you could do is fill it half full of water from your main tank, and then refill both with fresh dechlorinated water. That way the water stays pretty consistent between both tanks.

Hope this helps.

 

[jcolon]

Due to several issues with my main tank, I'm considering starting up a Quarantine Tank. Due to space issues, I'm limited to a 5 Gallon Tank. I will be using the heater from my 29 Gallon, since at the moment its not even being used due to temperature in the tank being 80 Degrees. I'd rather not buy a filter if one is not needed, could i use the filter media from my 29 Gallon and just throw it in the Quarantine Tank?

My only issues would be that I dont want the Quarantine tank itself getting infected by pathogens present in my Main tank. Also, does the PH of the Quarantine tank have to match the PH of the main tank? There will be a difference of between .2 and .4, becuase my main plant has lots of plants and driftwood lowering the PH from standard tap water.

A 5gal should do fine for a QT hospital tank ... you'd like to have it's parameters match your display tank as closely as possible, but there's bound to be some variances ... like pH for example. A .2 - .4 difference shouldn't make much of a difference.

A small filter ... like librarygirl mentioned .... could be added to your DT and then put on the QT when needed... instant cycled tank basically. Honestly since your probably going to do constant PWC's on a hospital QT, ammo,nitrite, nitrate buildup shouldn't be much of an issue. When I QT's my GreenBarb for a white fungus patch on it's body ... I was doing 25% - 50% PWC's everyday and just ran an air-stone.

If your also planning to use it as a QT for new stock, then yes you'd want to do a thorough cleaning if you just used it as a hospital QT. A scrubbing with a bleach solution will kill any parasites / pathogens .. then just rinse with tap first to wash of most of the chlorine residue ... then use de-chlorinated / treated water for a second thorough rinse to get rid of any remaining chlorine residue.

 

[Ziggs180]

I'm in luck. My friend gave me her 5 Gallon fish tank, because she didn't want it anymore. Filter was included, so i will be using that.


Thing about what i've noticed is, the fish currently in the tank are showing no symptoms of any disease/parasite. However from researching, i Believe that there may be opportunistic parasites or fungus that attack the fish when its to stressed out and its immune system is very low. This is why i want a Quarantine tank to keep the fish as stress-free as possible when buying from LFS or ordering online.