QT tank just saved me a lot of work

[Biggen]

Well I have always used a QT tank the past. However, all my fish were always disease free so I thought it was more of a "piece of mind" thing, at least for me. Well this morning I went to feed my new Ocellaris clown I got from the LFS last week. He has been in QT for a little over a week and was doing great. Always wanting to eat and swim, I figured this would be another "run of the mill" QT process and he would be out in about two weeks. I noticed immediately that he had white spots covering his body and fins. Yup, Ich... What is amazing to me is how fast this stuff cropped up. Overnight it seems.

Now I am dripping out the SW from the tank and replacing it with FW. I will give him the Hypo treatment for 4 weeks and then re-evaluate from there. Just thought would share this news. I know the more experienced reefers have probably dealt with this, but this is a first for me.

 

[jamal-188]

I learned the hard way about Q tanks The last couple fish I bought I put in my Q tank and had problems with the yellow tang with I am still currently treating w/ hyposalinty and fianlly decided on medication for bacterial infections. He's doing much better BTW.

Anyway I also learned the hard way that when doing hyposalinty you must monitor alk and pH closley. My alk dropped rapidly with forced the pH down causing more complications with my already sick fish.

 

[fishfreek]

Chear Chear for QT.

 

[ellisz]

why not treat for ich with meds vs hyposalinity? Are clowns not good to treat with copper?

 

[Biggen]

why not treat for ich with meds vs hyposalinity? Are clowns not good to treat with copper?

No fish is "good" at being treated with copper. Not only does copper stress the fish, but it also puts a strain on the biological filter. Copper should only be used if the fish is so far gone that one doesn't think he could make it through 4 weeks of hypo. And even then, this is a double edged sword as if he is this sick, he may not be able to survive the copper treatment anyway.

Plus hypo is cheaper on the pocket. Not only do I not have to buy copper meds, but I also don't have to spring for a copper test kit which is recommended when dealing with copper.

 

[GrndHog]

Do you automaticlly use the hyo treatment on every fish or just the ones that come down w/ ich?

Do you leave your QT up and running or set it back up every time you get something new?

I just set a 10 gal qt up, and thought I would just leave it running, thoughts?

 

[jamal-188]

Do you automaticlly use the hyo treatment on every fish or just the ones that come down w/ ich?.

You may as well just start treating the fish right away. Hypo is not stressful on the fish so not point in waiting until something comes along

Do you leave your QT up and running or set it back up every time you get something new?

It depends, do you buy fish back to back or wait a while in between. I think most people take the Q tank down then just fill it with water from their display tank when they make a new purchase.

 

[firerescue2002]

I think most people take the Q tank down then just fill it with water from their display tank when they make a new purchase.

Is this how you avoid cycling the QT tank. Also QT filtration what is recomended.

Andrew

 

[ellisz]

I had not read to much on here of people using hyposalinity except on puffers. I have read alot about using meds though. Maybe they are non-copper based?

Good to know...

Is this how you avoid cycling the QT tank. Also QT filtration what is recomended

Most people will seed some type of filter media in their main tank to put in the QT. This will have some beneficial bacteria to help with the water parameters. You will need to monitor it closely though. Without the seeded filter media, you will probably have to do daily water changes and you still might not be able to control ammonia. Might depend on how big your QT is. With a 10 gal, levels will rise quickly.

HTH

 

[Biggen]

GrndHog wrote:

Do you automaticlly use the hyo treatment on every fish or just the ones that come down w/ ich?

I actually would not do this. Although hypo is relatively safe for most bony fish, it is not 100% safe. It is better for the fish to make sure he actually needs treatment before a treatment regiment is initaited.

Do you leave your QT up and running or set it back up every time you get something new?

Technically, you should break the tank down, sanitize, and then start over again. But I am sure a lot of people skip this step.

I just set a 10 gal qt up, and thought I would just leave it running, thoughts?

It should be fine. I think you may get bored with a "box full of water" sitting in your room with no substrate, fish, etc...

firerescue2002 wrote:

Is this how you avoid cycling the QT tank. Also QT filtration what is recomended.

Not really. This just keeps the water parameters the same for the fish when moving to a new tank. The filter you would use on the QT must have sufficient bacteria to support the fish in quarantine. We have a great website in our articles section on setting up a QT:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=17

ellisz wrote:

I had not read to much on here of people using hyposalinity except on puffers. I have read alot about using meds though. Maybe they are non-copper based?

Meds that don't use copper have little to no effect on ich. At least not that is proven yet. That is why hypo is such a touted treatment. Anything to avoid adding copper to the water is a good thing.

 

[steve-s]

I had not read to much on here of people using hyposalinity except on puffers. I have read alot about using meds though. Maybe they are non-copper based?

There is no reason why you cannot use hyposalinity on puffers providing it is done properly. They are much less tolerant of copper meds and can actually make matters worse in most cases. If copper is needed, the best recommendation is SeaChems Cupramine. It is quite effective and not nearly as stressful. The main concern with puffers is also secondary infection and often require antibiotics as well. Maracyn II and double the dose for 7 days should take care of most problems that will arise with parasitic secondary infections or most likely in their case cloudy/infected eyes.

The only "fish" that cannot be safely treated with hyposalinity are non-boney fish such as sharks and rays as well as all inverts both sessile and mobile.

Cheers
Steve