What Filter and Lighting for QT tank?

[piscivorous]

I am reading threads and articles on setting up a quarantine tank and I am wondering what others might suggest as the best all around setup? My main tank is a 55, and I don't intend to have a whole lot of fish in there, but still.....so I was thinking a 10 gallon tank at a QT tank. My biggest question is what to do about the filter and lights.

It seems many folks use the Aquaclear filters for filtration? Is this true? Just keep a "new" filter in the sump of the main tank until it is needed for the QT tank...after use, toss it and place a new filter back in the sump for future use in the QT tank? By leaving it in the sump, I am assuming you are just letting it float in the sump somewhere out of the way?

What about lights? I have no idea on lights. Can you buy sufficient lights for a 10gal, or is it more cost effective to go with something like a 20gal? Seems many folks are using 10 gallon tanks for QT tanks, so I am assuming people are easily finding sufficient lights for use in their QT tanks, but what are people using?

[arrowheadpuffer]

Unless you are quarantining something photosynthetic, all you need is enough light for the fish to see the food, and you to see it.

Filter wise, a sponge filter is sufficient, I had a old Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel 150, its only like $20-25 or less for a smaller size. I like it because all I need to do is toss the biowheel in the sump when I am not using the QT, and its ready at a moments notice.

[piscivorous]

Yeah, but then don't you need to buy a new biowheel once you've used it. Sounds like some folks uses their filters and then stick them BACK into the sump...it would seem to me like this is just asking for trouble...inocculating your main tank with whatever was in the QT tank. By using a cheap filter you can go out and buy a new filter once you're done with the QT tank and just stick the new filter in the sump to prime it for the next time you need the QT tank.

As for lighting, it seems one is supposed to use the QT tank for corals as well. If nothing else, I would probably want to use the QT tank for corals to insure nothing came in on the rock that they are mounted to. So I would think you would need some kind of sufficient light for corals as well.

Anyone with suggestions...filter vs biowheel? Lighting? :hmm4:

[piscivorous]

anyone?

[arrowheadpuffer]

Yeah, but then don't you need to buy a new biowheel once you've used it.

Just wash off the biowheel with some tap water, clean off the crud and let dry in the sun for a few days, nothing will be living on there after that. Then toss in the sump in a high flow area and it should be re-seeded in a week. It works the same way with a foam air powered filter. Only draw back to the penguin filter is that the filter pads come with carbon in them. So if I need to add meds for the fish I take out the pad.

I dip my corals before I put them in the DT, QT is better however. So I cant say much about that...

[Jacob Sellers]

I would recommend that you discard the filter after treatment, particularly if you treated with any meds.

I use a small aqua clear HOB filter and a standard fluorescent light. I store a couple of poly filers (with the carbon removed) in my sump so that I have a cycled pad on hand, but I always discard the filter after use. The filter pads are inexpensive and it not worth taking any chances.