Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

[carden260]

OK so i have been reading this thread and pretty new to Reef tanks. I have a 7 month old fish only tank and I recently added my last fish Purple tang 3 weeks ago. Well all hell has broken loose.
The tang showed ich in about 3 days, then the poop hit the fan everyone got it and all my fish except the Tang and the Potters angel have died. I tried everything my LFS told me but I am tired of BAD results.
SO I have purchased a 20 gal tank
Heater
bio wheel filter
and two 3" PVC elbows.
I am a little confused being so new to the hobby. I was planning on taking 20 gals from my DT and putting it in the QT
start the bio wheel filter and put PVC in tank.
Replace the removed water from DT with new mixed water and let DT run.

Now I am a little confused with the "sponge"??? what is this??? how long do I put it in sump before I use it???
I want to do this correct so I dont do the job killing the fish.

What copper additive?
What do I do about the elevated Ammonia levels that will start? Do I add chemical?


Thanks for the help!!!!

[pfoxgrover]

I got 10 ignitus anthias and put them in my 75g QT. 1 male and 9 females. Lost one the second day. 7 females are eating brine and mysis . One male and one female are sitting on the bottom and have not eaten. It has been 3 days. I added some prazipro this morning.
Do you think I should do something more for the two sitting on the bottom? They look pretty normal and are breathing normal.

Also , water parameters look good. No ammonia temp 81. Salt 35 ppt

[goalk33p3r]

Great info helped me fix the mistakes that I had going on nothing big but has made my qt more functional

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by carden260

OK so i have been reading this thread and pretty new to Reef tanks. I have a 7 month old fish only tank and I recently added my last fish Purple tang 3 weeks ago. Well all hell has broken loose.
The tang showed ich in about 3 days, then the poop hit the fan everyone got it and all my fish except the Tang and the Potters angel have died. I tried everything my LFS told me but I am tired of BAD results.
SO I have purchased a 20 gal tank
Heater
bio wheel filter
and two 3" PVC elbows.
I am a little confused being so new to the hobby. I was planning on taking 20 gals from my DT and putting it in the QT
start the bio wheel filter and put PVC in tank.
Replace the removed water from DT with new mixed water and let DT run.

Now I am a little confused with the "sponge"??? what is this??? how long do I put it in sump before I use it???
I want to do this correct so I dont do the job killing the fish.

What copper additive?
What do I do about the elevated Ammonia levels that will start? Do I add chemical?


Thanks for the help!!!!

WARNING: Angels dont do well with copper... dont try copper treatment on it. your best bet at this point will be hypo salinity. if you goto fish disease section there is a great article on hypo salinity by sk8r. i would do that than cooper.

first off i am sorry to hear the loss, that is one reason here on RC we promote QT practice. anyways now that you have setup a QT tank, its best you use newly made saltwater from this point on. reason to do so is because the water from DT is contaminated and using that water will not help ur QT process.
sponge ur talking about is usually a filter sponge or floss or extra filter cartridges that are purchased and placed in ur DT sump long time before such events of emergency. Such floss/filters/sponges start harboring good bacteria
in them and thus when needed can be put to use in a new QT setup giving it a boost of biological filter.
In ur case now just use new water and i suggest cupramine as your cooper med.
here is an article i wrote on how to administer this drug.
i hope ur remaining fish survive and get cleaned up with this treatment and remember to leave ur DT fishless for 9 weeks. this will only apply on tang and some other fish but not on angels.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...1#post20614751

Note: i missed the second part of ur question.. you can buy a sponge or floss etc and keep it in ur dt sump for 2-3 weeks but i would strongly suggest not to worry about that at this point as ur remaining fish may not survive 2-3 weeks without treatment.
Make lots of saltwater and keep it on hand. Get a good ammonia kit and also ammonia wheel that stick to inside of the tank in water usually found in petco and petsmart.
place ur fish in qt and then start the treatments.

For cooper (Tang only) follow the link above.
For hypo (angel fish) follow hypo forum.
but in both cases ammonia will creep up and ur test kit (test daily) and ammonia wheel with show ammonia results. anything above 0.25 do 50% water change.
For cooper treatment: re-dose the tank with copper. also keep copper test kit and keep it steady at 0.5 for 2-3 weeks.
For Hypo: do water changes with same salinity water (1.009) to keep ammonia at bay.

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by pfoxgrover

I got 10 ignitus anthias and put them in my 75g QT. 1 male and 9 females. Lost one the second day. 7 females are eating brine and mysis . One male and one female are sitting on the bottom and have not eaten. It has been 3 days. I added some prazipro this morning.
Do you think I should do something more for the two sitting on the bottom? They look pretty normal and are breathing normal.

Also , water parameters look good. No ammonia temp 81. Salt 35 ppt

i have a school of 14 ignitus anthias in my main... they are beautiful and very lively active swimmers. anyways i also faced the same problem with a few of them.
most LFS cannot tell gender apart on these fish and who ever sold you those fish with male and female distinction must be really good at it lol. anyways i have a feeling the one's that died were probably males and in such case only 1 dominant male will survive and rest all males will die over time. females will be fine.
Also i have noticed through my personal experience that anthias do much better if acclimated slowly with drip method and keeping lights off for 1-2 days till they adjust to new tank.
Leave the lights off for a day or so and leave them to be. they are in shock. make it dark and comfortable for them and hope they pull through.
If the male dies dont worry a dominant female will convert to a male.

[carden260]

So in my situation I cant do 2 QT tanks. So should i just do hypo for both fish? Not sure of a plan of attack.. How do I make the transfer from 1.024 salinity to 1.009 do I just pull fish out and put it in QT?

Thanks

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by carden260

So in my situation I cant do 2 QT tanks. So should i just do hypo for both fish? Not sure of a plan of attack.. How do I make the transfer from 1.024 salinity to 1.009 do I just pull fish out and put it in QT?

Thanks

i understand most people dont have time and money to have multiple tanks. i dont either... anyhow. ur best bet will be hypo.
if i was you i will start with DT water in QT and then over next few days just take out few cups of saltwater out and put ro/di water in.
drop salinity from 1.024 to 1.009 over several days with 1 point change everyday.
then hold it at 1.009.
here is the link to the hypo i was talking about. i personally have never performed hypo so my hands on experience is close to zero except for what i know and read over years of being in hobby.
i hope this help.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1991470

[pfoxgrover]

Originally Posted by bnumair

i have a school of 14 ignitus anthias in my main... they are beautiful and very lively active swimmers. anyways i also faced the same problem with a few of them.
most LFS cannot tell gender apart on these fish and who ever sold you those fish with male and female distinction must be really good at it lol. anyways i have a feeling the one's that died were probably males and in such case only 1 dominant male will survive and rest all males will die over time. females will be fine.
Also i have noticed through my personal experience that anthias do much better if acclimated slowly with drip method and keeping lights off for 1-2 days till they adjust to new tank.
Leave the lights off for a day or so and leave them to be. they are in shock. make it dark and comfortable for them and hope they pull through.
If the male dies dont worry a dominant female will convert to a male.

I was surprised that I got a male also. They were hand picked at a wholesaler in LA. the male looks like photos I've seen, he is slightly bigger and more red.
I did drip acclimated them for 1 hour and 45 minutes, keep the lights out for the first 24 hours.
No one seems to be picking on the 2 lying on the bottom. how long do you think they can go without food? did you have any of yours turn the corner after acting like this?

[carden260]

So a change in plans the LFS has agreed to come to my house and take all 4 fish back and credit me because of the issue at hand, they made a mistake at the store and should have never sold me the fish and have agreed to help out due to outbreak at store and the fact that the fish came from a seriously infected system. I could go on for hours about this but this is not the place. The good thing is the owner has stepped up and made things right....!!!!
Question now is I have an empty tank with the exception of 2 damsils. How do I make the tank safe again for other fish?

[carden260]

So a change in plans the LFS has agreed to come to my house and take all 4 fish back and credit me because of the issue at hand, they made a mistake at the store and should have never sold me the fish and have agreed to help out due to outbreak at store and the fact that the fish came from a seriously infected system. I could go on for hours about this but this is not the place. The good thing is the owner has stepped up and made things right....!!!!
Question now is I have an empty tank with the exception of 2 damsils. How do I make the tank safe again for other fish?

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by pfoxgrover

I was surprised that I got a male also. They were hand picked at a wholesaler in LA. the male looks like photos I've seen, he is slightly bigger and more red.
I did drip acclimated them for 1 hour and 45 minutes, keep the lights out for the first 24 hours.
No one seems to be picking on the 2 lying on the bottom. how long do you think they can go without food? did you have any of yours turn the corner after acting like this?

yes they do come around, i also had a few that did the same and stayed in one area for days and then one day suddenly start swimming. a good healthy fish can go without food for atleast 5-7 days.

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by carden260

So a change in plans the LFS has agreed to come to my house and take all 4 fish back and credit me because of the issue at hand, they made a mistake at the store and should have never sold me the fish and have agreed to help out due to outbreak at store and the fact that the fish came from a seriously infected system. I could go on for hours about this but this is not the place. The good thing is the owner has stepped up and made things right....!!!!
Question now is I have an empty tank with the exception of 2 damsils. How do I make the tank safe again for other fish?

that was very nice of the LFS to make things right with you. (surprisingly).
At this point i will suggest you to take the last 2 damsels out as well and give them to LFS they will probably not survive either. and as long as they live in ur main tank ur clock for 9 weeks will not start. infected tank has to stay with out a fish for 9 weeks to be 100% sure. inverts and corals are ok.

[pfoxgrover]

Originally Posted by bnumair

yes they do come around, i also had a few that did the same and stayed in one area for days and then one day suddenly start swimming. a good healthy fish can go without food for atleast 5-7 days.

Thanks for the help.

Is one dose of PraziPro enough or do you dose again later on during quarantine?

-Paul

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by pfoxgrover

Thanks for the help.

Is one dose of PraziPro enough or do you dose again later on during quarantine?

-Paul

Hi Paul
i usually give all new arrivals a bath in prazipro and then add prazipro to QT for a week.

[Cymonous]

What if you haven't done the "bath" first? I dosed my QT with Prazipro the 2nd day my fish were in QT. Can or should I dose a 2nd time after 5 days from when I dosed with Prazipro?

[xtinataguba]

i really wanted to build my own fish tank, cause i think it is nice to have one on my room. but i dont know where to start, so thanks to this post, i can start one now.

[pfoxgrover]

Originally Posted by Cymonous

What if you haven't done the "bath" first? I dosed my QT with Prazipro the 2nd day my fish were in QT. Can or should I dose a 2nd time after 5 days from when I dosed with Prazipro?

I have the same question.

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by pfoxgrover

I have the same question.

Prazipro is best used 2 weeks. It kills worms not eggs so 14 days is a good preventive measure. Dose it in qt on second day then wait a week. Do 25% water change and do second treatment dose for another week.

Note: by bathing I am really taking a chance so I highly recommend 2 week 2 treatments.

[pfoxgrover]

Thanks again for all the help! They are still hanging in there.

[vtam1020]

Is a biocube a good quarenteen tank 24 gal

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by pfoxgrover

Thanks again for all the help! They are still hanging in there.

glad to help and good to hear that they are still alive. more than likely they will be ok and soon find them swimming around.
happy reefing

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by vtam1020

Is a biocube a good quarenteen tank 24 gal

i personally never used a bio cube as a QT but i dont see a reason why not. through experience with girlfriends bio cube and reading over yrs i know one thing they tend to run hot. But if you set it up and keep temp under control then sure why not.

[moab]

Originally Posted by carden260

So in my situation I cant do 2 QT tanks. So should i just do hypo for both fish? Not sure of a plan of attack.. How do I make the transfer from 1.024 salinity to 1.009 do I just pull fish out and put it in QT?

Thanks

Carden

Two quarantine tank setups is expensive. My first quarantine that I bought was a 14 gallon Aqueon all in one setup with hood, heater and filter for $50.00 during a Petco sale. The filter died on me within the first two weeks. I just replaced the cheap Aqueon heater also due to it started glowing bright red at the very bottom of the heater, so I did not trust it anymore. I do not recommend you buy the cheap all in one setup with cheap components for a quarantine tank.

I bought a 10 gallon tank during the $1.00 tank sale at Petco which helps keep costs down for my second quarantine tank. I now use Eheim Jager heaters on both of my quarantine tanks and my reef tank. I very impressed by these heaters and I paid $27.00 for the 26 gallon rated model, so they are reasonably priced at my LFS. I use the Coralife digital thermometer on all of my tanks which comes in handy when first setting the temp on the Jager heaters. I am currently using the Tetra Whisper internal power filter rated for 10-30 gallons on both of my quarantine tanks which I bought at Wal Mart for $22.00. I like the filter cartridge on this filter because you can open the top of it easily and add more carbon inside of it before using it. This filter also restarts by itself if the power goes out which I like. I have not had a Tetra Whisper power filter fail on me yet, but I have only been using them for a month and a half. I am also using a Tetra Whisper air pump with a Lee's Wooden air stone inside of the tank. This adds lots of micro air bubbles inside of the tank and also creates a slight current to the tank.

This setup is pretty quiet and has decent water flow in the tank.

[moab]

The weak link equipment wise that I have experienced has been some of the cheap power filters I have bought, so I would like to hear what other people prefer to use for the filter on a quarantine tank.

What filters are rock solid reliable and also start up by themselves after a power failure?

[joe_himself]

I use just a simple aqua clear hob on my qt tank, never had an issue with it yet. even during power outages. it fires right back up.