Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by Olof

Hello Bnumair,

Of all the 100's, if not 1000's, of threads I've read here I still can't figure out how I missed this one for so long.

Here's my understanding and plan moving forward. Please comment.

1. I have a 20gal QT that I setup yesterday. Tank has small pump for flow, airstone, heater, and is covered with egg crate. No mechanical filtration as I'll be adding some sponge media to the tank once I place my first fish. Or, do I go ahead and place in QT ahead of time? I assume I can never place this media back in DT since I'll be using Prazipro? I know I can't place in DT if I end up treating with copper.
you should add the established sponge from DT in the QT right away so it gives enough time for bacteria to establish on and into the new QT. This sponge can be take back to DT after using Prazipro but NEVER after copper treatment. (i personally never take back anything from QT as precaution)
2. Fish will be acclimated per procedures posted all over this forum. Let bag volume double, dump 1/2, let it double again then fish is ready for release into QT. QT salinity will be set to match LFS, raised as needed over next 6 weeks to match DT.
that a good approach. i wouldnt change anything at this step.
3. I'll be dipping/rinsing the fish with fresh SW prior to placing in QT. Should I use a medicated dip/rinse? If so, what?
i wouldnt do a saltwater dip. if u really wanna dip then do a fresh water dip with temp at same at QT and ph also same as QT. or u can do a prazipro dip in some QT's water. I personally will just acclimate and place fish in QT as prazi will take care of most of the parasite problem over next 2 weeks and why subject the fish to several levels of stress.
4. I see where you Prazipro treat all your fish. I assume I don't start this treatment until after the first 24hrs? I've also read not to feed them for 24hrs either as the fish should be concentrating on 'relaxing' in the QT. Two pieces of 2" pvc will be placed in QT so they have somewhere to hide.
That is true. let the fish properly acclimate to the new home (QT) give it 24-48 hrs to adjust and then start feeding and prazipro treatment.
5. Run Prazipro treatment for 2 weeks then start removal via water changes. Add some carbon at this time to also remove it?
correct. 2 weeks of prazipro then water changes and run carbon.
6. Leave fish in QT for an additional 4 weeks and observe. Hopefully all is well and specimen can be released in DT after 6 weeks total.
correct. if after 6 weeks of QT no ich or any other disease is observed then release fish in DT.
7. I'll have new saltwater mixed and ready to go at all times. Is there a specific schedule to water changes or only as Ammonia, Nitrites, etc dictate? I'm planning on 5gal water changes. Is that too large or does it matter?
always keep 2-3 times the volume of ur QT for emergency water changes. i keep 55gal saltwater ready at all time. In an established QT i try not to do any water changes while in treatment but incase there is ammonia and nitrite creeping up then u need to do so and dose accordingly.
I think that's everything. I'm planning on picking up first two fish ( clowns ) on Thursday. Anything I'm overlooking?

Thanks in advance,

i think you have everything under control and thanks for reading and being very clear and having a plan before hand. this is the best thing u can do for urself and ur fish, Plan and read,
Good luck and happy reefing.

[Olof]

Excellent. Many thanks for the guidance, confirmations, and prompt response.

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by Olof

Excellent. Many thanks for the guidance, confirmations, and prompt response.

No problem, feel free to ask anytime. i lurk the threads all the time and try to get answers as quick as possible.

[bnumair]

This question has been brought up and has been emailed to me a few time.
Is skimmer required in QT system?

to answer for a fish only QT: NO
for QT'ing corals: YES

[venom550pm]

Great thread! great information and kudos to you for answering all the posts, that is impressive! I have two questions"

1. You talk about a tank transfer as a form of getting rid of Ich, how is this going to help? I must be missing something, if you put the fish in a new tank isn't there a chance there will still be Ich on the fish? I believe there is a life cycle for Ich so some days it shows up on fish and others it doesn't.

2. As to the above post, when are you doing a quarantine thread for corals, i would definately tag along for that thread too!

Thanks again for this!

[venom550pm]

Just read about the transfer method, i get it.

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by venom550pm

Great thread! great information and kudos to you for answering all the posts, that is impressive! I have two questions"

1. You talk about a tank transfer as a form of getting rid of Ich, how is this going to help? I must be missing something, if you put the fish in a new tank isn't there a chance there will still be Ich on the fish? I believe there is a life cycle for Ich so some days it shows up on fish and others it doesn't.

2. As to the above post, when are you doing a quarantine thread for corals, i would definately tag along for that thread too!

Thanks again for this!

Well thanks for ur kind words. Also sorry for a bit late response but i see you already got to the transfer method and figured it out.
in short parasite drops off the body and stays behind in the last tank and thus reducing quantity of parasites as u transfer tanks.
Qt for corals is also an interesting subject and i get asked a lot on this topic. I will write something up on it this weekend and post on my blog as sticky's are quite full on this forum but i will post a link here for everyone to know.
Thanks for bringing it up and will definitely a good topic.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask and good luck.
happy reefing

[jimmy007]

Hey bnumair my DT tank fishes has ich and want go get rid if it. Can you show mg how the hypo method work? Thanks in advance.

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by jimmy007

Hey bnumair my DT tank fishes has ich and want go get rid if it. Can you show mg how the hypo method work? Thanks in advance.

Jimmy i am sorry to hear this.... hypo or any ich treatment is well performed in QT. if you dont have one please setup one using methods mentioned in this forum. Hypo is basically a process where salinity is dropped to a certain level which does not promote ich parasite (in short)
here is a beautiful link on hypo written by Sk8r. She is a knowledge power house and i highly recommend you going through this link. it will help you a lot and Good Luck.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1991470

[jimmy007]

Thanks for the link I will read it.

[Spscraze37]

Never knew you could just buy filter floss instead of inserts.

[Cymonous]

I just setup my quarantine tank yesterday. I took some water from my DT and filled the rest with freshly mixed saltwater. I have a heater, filter with just filter floss, air pump with air stone strip and a couple 2 inch elbow PVC pieces. Is the air stone and pump required? The filter does make a little water movement. Or is that not enough? Does the air pump need to be ran 24hrs a day or just a couple hours that I can set with a timer? The air stone strip makes a lot of noise, bubbles and not helping with water loss. I was maybe thinking of getting a small stone instead and also a valve if I have to.

I don't have any livestock in there yet. Do I start ghost feeding right away or wait a couple days and just put in a few pellets of food?

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by Cymonous

I just setup my quarantine tank yesterday. I took some water from my DT and filled the rest with freshly mixed saltwater. I have a heater, filter with just filter floss, air pump with air stone strip and a couple 2 inch elbow PVC pieces. Is the air stone and pump required? The filter does make a little water movement. Or is that not enough? Does the air pump need to be ran 24hrs a day or just a couple hours that I can set with a timer? The air stone strip makes a lot of noise, bubbles and not helping with water loss. I was maybe thinking of getting a small stone instead and also a valve if I have to.

I don't have any livestock in there yet. Do I start ghost feeding right away or wait a couple days and just put in a few pellets of food?

if the filter produces enough movement at surface then air pump is not really required. But if there is not much air water mixture/exchange then yes it would be wise to have air pump come on few times a day to bring oxygen in ur water.
If ur going to cycle the tank like a normal tank then yes you can start ghost feeding or put a frozen deli shrimp in the tank for kick start the cycle.
once cycled it will be just like a normal tank ready for fish. faster u start the cycle faster the tank will be ready. so i would start today unless ur not in a big hurry to get fish in.

[Cymonous]

I do want to get some fish soon. Do I need to do a cycle even though I used water from my DT? I thought I needed to ghost feed to keep some bacteria in the water till I do get some fish in the tank?

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by Cymonous

I do want to get some fish soon. Do I need to do a cycle even though I used water from my DT? I thought I needed to ghost feed to keep some bacteria in the water till I do get some fish in the tank?

lets clear up few things. using DT's water will not give u a new tank with bacteria that can sustain bioload.
if u dont wanna cycle the tank then dont ghost feed just test for ammonia everyday and do water changes either with freshly made saltwater or DT's water.
But this a very much misconception in this hobby that using using water from established tank will not cause a cycle in another tank. most of the bacteria live in rock rock and sand and in filters. ur new tank will not have enough bacteria in water and certainly the new filters will not have any either. so ur tank will go though a cycle. there are 2 ways to make sure fish can survive this,
1. either cycle it like normal and wait it out or
2. just keep eyes on ammonia and be prepared to do several water changes when ammonia start to climb or use products like ammonolock amquel prime etc.

[Cymonous]

Ok. Thank you for clearing that up. I really appreciate the help bnumair.

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by Cymonous

Ok. Thank you for clearing that up. I really appreciate the help bnumair.

no problem buddy. your already moving in the right direction by setting up a QT. lot of people lose tons of money and fish by introducing an infected fish that takes out the whole tank. observe closely and treat accordingly. dont rush the QT process.
good luck and happy reefing.

[MrJawfish]

Thanks for the advice on the QT. I was thinking about going with a permanent setup, but I think I will just keep an AIO unit set aside and use water from my main tank like you suggested. Thanks again for the info.

[DMBFan]

Great post bnumair! Thanks to everyone for the questions I had, and getting them answered I'll take any excuse I can to eat a shrimp cocktail, so starting my QT cycle tonight!
I just washed out my 36 gallon QT with vinegar/RODI water. After that bath, I should rinse it out with 100% RODI water right? Then I can fill the tank with RODI and add my salt/filter/circulation pump/heater/etc..?

[DMBFan]

dupe post

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by DMBFan

Great post bnumair! Thanks to everyone for the questions I had, and getting them answered I'll take any excuse I can to eat a shrimp cocktail, so starting my QT cycle tonight!
I just washed out my 36 gallon QT with vinegar/RODI water. After that bath, I should rinse it out with 100% RODI water right? Then I can fill the tank with RODI and add my salt/filter/circulation pump/heater/etc..?

lol i will take any excuse for a shrimp cocktail as well. yes u guessed it right. after vinegar bath clean it with rodi water and soak up the rest with paper towels and dry it out then fill it with rodi water and add salt or get premix saltwater either or will work. have all ur equipment in before adding water.
good luck and happy reefing and enjoy the shrimp cocktail.

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by MrJawfish

Thanks for the advice on the QT. I was thinking about going with a permanent setup, but I think I will just keep an AIO unit set aside and use water from my main tank like you suggested. Thanks again for the info.

anytime buddy, please feel free to ask any questions or concerns u may have.
Happy Reefing

[fightinghippo]

wow this is a lot of good information for newbies like me.

[moab]

Originally Posted by Cymonous

I just setup my quarantine tank yesterday. I took some water from my DT and filled the rest with freshly mixed saltwater. I have a heater, filter with just filter floss, air pump with air stone strip and a couple 2 inch elbow PVC pieces. Is the air stone and pump required? The filter does make a little water movement. Or is that not enough? Does the air pump need to be ran 24hrs a day or just a couple hours that I can set with a timer? The air stone strip makes a lot of noise, bubbles and not helping with water loss. I was maybe thinking of getting a small stone instead and also a valve if I have to.

I don't have any livestock in there yet. Do I start ghost feeding right away or wait a couple days and just put in a few pellets of food?

I would recommend using a Lee's wooden air stone with a quiet air pump 24 hours a day on the tank. I use a Whisper air pump with a Lee's wooden air stone on my quarantine tank and it is pretty quiet. These wooden air stones are far quieter than any other type that I have used and release tons of tiny air bubbles into the quarantine tank.

I use the wooden air stone in the tank which is creating a current in the tank by itself along with a Tetra Whisper 10-30 gallon internal power filter($22.00 at Wal Mart). This power filter has decent water flow on my 10 gallon quarantine tank and I would not go to a smaller size filter with this brand. One benefit of this brand is if you shut the power off to the filter it will restart by itself once the power comes back on.

I use a AquaClear power filter on my second quarantine tank and this design will not start back up by itself if the power goes out. If the power goes out the AquaClear will loose siphon and I have read the pump will burn up eventually also once this happens(if it is not caught in time). I have unplugged the AquaClear power filter I have and it never has restarted by itself once the power is turned back on. I have to get the siphon going again by dumping water into the top of the filter on this brand. I would suggest to avoid this brand on a quarantine tank. I am not going to use this brand on any of my tanks in the future due to this one problem.

I prefer using the Eheim Jager heater on my quarantine tank. It is much better than the cheap heaters.

[Cymonous]

The filter I got is in fact a Tetra Whisper, but it is a HOB. I have powered it off twice now for feeding and it has resumed flow after I restored power.