Quarantine Tanks-Fish Tank-3reef Forums

Breed · 10-23-2006, 03:56 AM

What do you guys have in your quarantine tanks? Do you have live sand and live rock? or is it plain? Any forms of life?

Thanks for the help!!

Breed

sssnake · 10-23-2006, 04:28 AM

A quarantine tank should be bare-bottom. No substrate. It would be a great help if the water in the QT was taken from the main display tank (fully cycled of course).

It should have a heater, some form of simple filtration which would be flexible enough to accomodate any medication which may be needed, a power-head to keep the water moving, and simple lighting.

The only form of life in the QT should be the patients (or newly acquired tenants for your main display tank).

That's basically it.

Breed · 10-23-2006, 06:03 AM

Cool, thanks for the help.

So is there a reason why the tank is bare?

jtReef · 10-23-2006, 07:02 AM

Yes. If it is bare the parasites will not have as easy of a time surviving. Also then when you clean the tank you can siphon out the dead parasites. Like Ich for example will live for a few days so if you fish has ich you can keep it in the quarantine tank and siphon the bottom every day while treating it to help out. The point here is to have as sterile of an environment as possible to create a controlled environment. After your main display is setup it is more for your full systems health than the fish in the quarantine tank.
Hope that helps.

Breed · 10-23-2006, 04:24 PM

Cool Thanks Guys!! I appreciate the help!!

Pisces23 · 11-01-2006, 05:15 AM

For how long do you folks generally leave a new specimen in quarantine?

jtReef · 11-01-2006, 07:21 AM

From what I remember reading people say about 5 weeks to be safe.
I however go with 2-3 depending on who I got the fish from and how well it doing in the quarantine tank.