What should the salt gravity be on quarentine?

[luv4scjjt]

I have heard of some pet shops lowering the salt in their tanks to keep ick away. Is that what we should do in quarentine tanks or does that just stress the fish so it then gets ick in display tank? Any help on this would be great. I'll be putting my new lion in quarentine this week before he goes into display.

[eskymick]

I would start my quarantine at a SG matched to that of the pet shop system, and then slowly raise it, over the course of the quarantine process, to the SG of the display tank.

[luv4scjjt]

SHould there be anything at all in the quarentine besides the marine salt. Any chemicals or garlic or anything. Or just salt and water. And a pvc for the fish to hide in of course. No sand, no rock, nothing??

[bamf25]

My qt system

1. 40b tank
2. heater
3. Thermometer
4. HOB filter with seeded filter spong, mine does use a bio wheel which I like
5. Two Pieces of 1 1/2 inch pvc pipe.

I use the same salt as my DT, and try to keep the tamp the same. When possible I start the qt at the LFS salinity, and ajust it based on need after observing for a few days. If I see ick I lower to do hypo. If I see no sings of ick after 10 to 14 days, I start to raise the salinity to match my DT. I do not put rock or sand in there. If you can stand to lose the rock or sand some people may put rock in the QT, but it can't go back into the DT ever as a rule. If you want sand for biofiltration you can put a cup of it in there, but it needs to stay in the cup, do not spread it around. That may add some bio filter. You have to remeber that the ick larval stages live in the sand and rock for a brief period, so if treating or suspecting ick you do not want them to have a hiding place.

[billsreef]

To have any effect when treating ich, the salinity needs to be lowered to 1.009 to 1.010 for 3 to 4 weeks. However, the salinity many LFS run at, while lower than full SW, is not low enough to have any effect on ich ;)

[luv4scjjt]

Thnak you guys so much. That helps a lot. :celeb3:

[Sport507]

I set mine up the same as my DT that's where they are going to live. I do always ask the LFS what they are running the SG at though and if it not off over .002 I don't stress over it.