Quarantine/Treatment Tank

[victorp]

What is the minimum equipment needed for a quarantine ###### treatment tank? If it is used for treatment, what is used to disinfect the tank after used without leaving traces of chemicals to affect future patients?

[Achilles Tang]

For your QT tank...

1. No substrate.

2. No liverock.

3. FL lights sufficient.

4. Drop in filter or canister filter. You can used a sponge left in your main tank (that has been populated with bacteria) inside your filter.

5. Add a flowerpot or a PVC pipe section.

6. Powerhead.

Maybe you can have slightly lowered salinity to let ich tormonts or parasitic pods drop off their hosts.

-------------------------------------------------------------

For treatments, I recommend a seperate treatment tank:

As above, without filter, no hiding places etc. Just the tank with SW at right salinity/PH.

Medication will probably kill any filter bacteria.

To remove medication, dipose water... rinse, add tapwater, add carbon, add polyfilter.

[divinesloth]

Your tank need to be cycled too

[victorp]

Your tank need to be cycled too

Which one? QT or TT?

[Achilles Tang]

QT. But dropping an established filter media in the QT should speed things up.

You may have to do more water changes though... if your filter can't cope with pollution. Or add a small PS.

[victorp]

I have a spare but new Dymax TF 45 Tri-Filter unit that has filter wool, ceramic rings, active carbon, and bio-balls. Since I am adding LR to my new tank to cycle it next week, can I put in this Tri-Filter unit into my main tank and after cycling has finished, put this Tri-Filter into my QT? I can add a Dymax aquarium clip light to the QT as well for light.

One more question: even if they are no fish to quarantine, I should leave the Tri-Filter running, right? Lest the beneficial baterials die off... Of course, I can switch off the light when not in use, right?

As for TT, I think I should just purchase those small clear plastic tank common in all aquarium shops for this purpose.

[hotsoup]

Advise for salinity in QT tank?

Thanks

[victorp]

QT. But dropping an established filter media in the QT should speed things up.

There will be times when the QT will be empty of fishes, so instead of running the filtration system continuously, can I just remove the bio-rings, put them in a netting bag, and hang the bag in my main tank to keep the useful baterials alive?

[Tanzy]

victorp,

Don't transfer anything from the QT equipment into the main tank. It will contaminate the maintank with medication or disease.

[victorp]

Tanzy,

I will have a small separate Treatment Tank (TT) for patients. The Quarantine Tank (QT) is for my new recruits only, so is it all right for me to dunk my bio-rings in my main tank when my QT is not in use (provided, of course, my previous batch of new recruits were all commissioned with full health status)? By the way, can I dunk new bio-rings in my main tank to seed them with useful baterials?

Do I need to quarantine invertebrates as well? How do I do that if I happens to have some new fish recruits in the same tank? A partition in my QT?

[Tanzy]

Some people quarantine corals but I feel that there is less of a need to do that.

[Achilles Tang]

There will be times when the QT will be empty of fishes, so instead of running the filtration system continuously, can I just remove the bio-rings, put them in a netting bag, and hang the bag in my main tank to keep the useful baterials alive?

Not a good idea generally, because you should try to keep both filtration systems seperate from each other in case something contaminates it.