Quarantine tanks

[Iceman]

How do you guys maintain a quarantine tank? I don't have one, I know, bad fishkeeper!!  :oops:  I plan to buy some new fish soon and was wondering how to maintain a quarantine tank. How do you maintain the proper water parameters such as biological filtration with no fish? I guess I've been lucky in the past by not getting any sick fish. But I don't want to take any chances now as some of my fish are quite old and I don't to lose them to a new sick fish. I have not got any new additions for well over a year. Some of the current fish have been in the tank for many years and it would be a shame to lose any to me not having a quarantine tank.

[Jim]

I too don't have one but i've tought about it.

I may use a 10gal for it and just keep it running with only substrate (unecessary) in the tank. Then when a fish gets sick i take the filter media off of my other 10gal and use it in the quarintine tank so it has more bacteria (if you have the same filter)

If you get a quarantine tank i don't think the substrate is necessary as long as you have media with plenty of bacteria.

You could also add water from another tank for more bacteria as long as the nitrAte is not too high.

Jim

[Mettle]

There are a few ways that a qt tank can be maintained. First, I know of some people who keep snails in their qt tanks for a constant and ready source of waste being produced. (The snail lovers on the forums will probably dislike that! :lol: ) And I know some people that keep some fish in their qt tanks which to me defeats the purpose.

I recommend any of the following...

One is 'feed' the tank on a regular basis. This can be done with actual fish food which will rot in the bottom and produce ammonia. Or you can actually buy pure ammonia from the grocery store and give it a dose on a regular basis. This also feeds your good bacteria. Both are ways that people do 'fishless' cycles and will require some parameter testing before putting the fish in.

Another manner in which this is done, and would be the way I'd probably do it, is somehow keep cycled media going on another tank. This could be as simple as having a power filter (hang-on-back) going on one tank that you can simply switch over to the new one when the new fish arrive. Or another thing that I thought up, and what I will probably end up doing myself, is using one of the tray levels in my Fluval 404 for an appropriate sized bunch of Aquaclear bio-max media and simply leave it in there until I need it and then toss it onto the tank when I add the new fish.

Just some different ways/ideas on how to do things as this idea has also popped into my mind.

[Iceman]

So if I transfer filter media from an established tank filter, like bio rings or poly wool, into the filter of the quarantine tank, I should be good?

[Jim]

yes.

[Glenn]

Hey,

Check out sites like http://www.wetwebmedia.com and http://www.aquarticles.com

The most basic system I've seen in the sites are to have a spare aquarium available, always leaving a suitable filter on your main system.  When you need to quarantine something, do a 'water change' on your main system, sending the waste water to the smaller aquarium, moving the suitable filter over.  No substrate, just the tank, a heater, filter and light.

Glenn

[Mettle]

So if I transfer filter media from an established tank filter, like bio rings or poly wool, into the filter of the quarantine tank, I should be good?

Well, it's not an exact science. And there will be something equivalent to a mini-cycle most likely. But nothing like the full cycling of a brand new tank.

[mseguin]

I generally have a fish or two in my quarantine tank. Until eventually that tank becomes a functional tank, and then a new tank is needed to be a quarantine tank. It depends whether yuo only want it as a quarantine tank or also as a hospital tank.

[darkdep]

I have a little Aquaclear mini that is my quarantine tank filter.  I keep it running on another tank until needed to keep it cycled, then just move it to the 10gal.