quarantine tanks

[Hmoobthor]

I rarely use quarantine tanks but now that I got some good looking dwarf in my 55g...i don't want to risk new fish with disease.

I am looking forward in the near future/next year to get my hand on a 10 gallon tank with heater and hood. I got a spare hydro sponge filter (big one!).


I am using a eheim classic canister and don't wanna open it all the time to get the substrate that hold the bacterial to be use each time. I already setup a media bag of Seachem Matrix in the canister for a week now. So opening it up and messing around would be too much. Oh...i mod the impeller so the flow is higher so I don't think adding another HOB filter would be good.

I only way I think I read is good is by putting the sponge filter in the 55g for a week to build bacterial right? then put in the 10gallon?

Would it be better to get something that is under 5gallon cause it would be easier to use my tank water and quarantine fish quickly?

Can i keep like 1-2 small fish for my quarantine tank all the time to keep the bacterial growing while not in use?

Got alot of question about all this cause I don't usually quarantine my fish cause they are hardy fish....

 

[tjudy]

Quarantine is very important. I believe the the most important tanks in my room are quarantine.

You can quickly inoculate a sponge filter with bacteria by doing a good substrate sweep (gravel vac) from your main tank into a bucket, then squeezing the sponge in it to water log it with the 'dirty' water. You can even let the sponge run in the bucket over night, or even fill the quarantine tank with the dirty water and let it run in there for a few days. If you go the tank route, after a week just empty out the quarantine tank, rinse it and refill it. Then you are good to go.

Keeping a couple danios in a quarantine tank is fine to keep the filter biologically active. What I do is put some food in my emtpy tanks once a week.

Another option is not to worry about having a cycled filter in the quarantine tank. A part of quarantine is large, regular water changes. This is especially true if you are medicating. Plus you are probably not going to put many fish in there at one time. I never hesitate to put a dry sponge in a tank, get it going and then put fish in right away. I know that I can do water changes to accommodate for the nitrogen cycle.

 

[Hmoobthor]

Quarantine is very important. I believe the the most important tanks in my room are quarantine.

You can quickly inoculate a sponge filter with bacteria by doing a good substrate sweep (gravel vac) from your main tank into a bucket, then squeezing the sponge in it to water log it with the 'dirty' water. You can even let the sponge run in the bucket over night, or even fill the quarantine tank with the dirty water and let it run in there for a few days. If you go the tank route, after a week just empty out the quarantine tank, rinse it and refill it. Then you are good to go.

Keeping a couple danios in a quarantine tank is fine to keep the filter biologically active. What I do is put some food in my emtpy tanks once a week.

Another option is not to worry about having a cycled filter in the quarantine tank. A part of quarantine is large, regular water changes. This is especially true if you are medicating. Plus you are probably not going to put many fish in there at one time. I never hesitate to put a dry sponge in a tank, get it going and then put fish in right away. I know that I can do water changes to accommodate for the nitrogen cycle.

Thanks for the great tips!! I like the dirty water with the sponge filter in it run for a few days. Will this work on sand? As I don't have gravel which holds the bacterial.

Now how much of the dirty water can I put in the 10g? and top it off with dechorilde water?

 

[tjudy]

If you are going to use the dirty water in the new tank, I would just fill it up with tank water. Even sand collects detritus and have bacteria living in it. It is actually more important to stir up sand substrates than gravel to prevent the sand from getting too much waste in it, compacting and becoming anaerobic (which produces toxins). I use a gravel vacuum to clean sand, but I control the flow of water out of the hose. When the cup of the vacuum fills up with sand I stop the water flow, lift the cup and let the sand start to fall out. As it falls a start the water flowing again, slowly, and the sand will tumble in the cup as water passes through it before it all falls out. This will clean the sand pretty well.

 

[Hmoobthor]

If you are going to use the dirty water in the new tank, I would just fill it up with tank water. Even sand collects detritus and have bacteria living in it. It is actually more important to stir up sand substrates than gravel to prevent the sand from getting too much waste in it, compacting and becoming anaerobic (which produces toxins). I use a gravel vacuum to clean sand, but I control the flow of water out of the hose. When the cup of the vacuum fills up with sand I stop the water flow, lift the cup and let the sand start to fall out. As it falls a start the water flowing again, slowly, and the sand will tumble in the cup as water passes through it before it all falls out. This will clean the sand pretty well.

Cool! I do stir up the sand from time to time with replant and all.