Can you please judge my quarantine room setup?

[Miami Reef]

I have 3 tanks in this room. 2 tanks will be for fish treatment and observation, and one will be for corals and inverts.

The fish treatment tank is the 10 gallon on the right side of the room next to the window. This tank will have metro, copper, and prazi.

The tank next to it has 10 pounds of sand for the corals and inverts.

The tank which is 10 feet away on the left side of the room is a 20 gallon tank which I will be using to observe fish and fatten them up after the stress from medicating.

All tanks have an oversized HOB filters with ceramic media and sponge filter for bio filtration. The 2 tanks on the right side have an air stone and the tank on the right will utilize a power head pointed to the surface.

I think my biggest struggle will be not cross contamination. It’s so easy to accidentally use the same cup to fill the HOB filters. It’s so easy to dip the same tubing in the tanks when doing water changes. It’s so easy to mess up which scared me.

Please give me all the advice you can.

 

[lapin]

Maybe the wires could be an issue if they come in contact with water and you

 

[Radu]

I have 3 tanks in this room. 2 tanks will be for fish treatment and observation, and one will be for corals and inverts.

The fish treatment tank is the 10 gallon on the right side of the room next to the window. This tank will have metro, copper, and prazi.

The tank next to it has 10 pounds of sand for the corals and inverts.

The tank which is 10 feet away on the left side of the room is a 20 gallon tank which I will be using to observe fish and fatten them up after the stress from medicating.

All tanks have an oversized HOB filters with ceramic media and sponge filter for bio filtration. The 2 tanks on the right side have an air stone and the tank on the right will utilize a power head pointed to the surface.

I think my biggest struggle will be not cross contamination. It’s so easy to accidentally use the same cup to fill the HOB filters. It’s so easy to dip the same tubing in the tanks when doing water changes. It’s so easy to mess up which scared me.

Please give me all the advice you can.

If your dosing medications don't use ceramic media as it will leech the meds effecting your proper ppm. I use bio balls/sponge only in quarantine.

 

[Miami Reef]

If your dosing medications don't use ceramic media as it will leech the meds effecting your proper ppm. I use bio balls/sponge only in quarantine.

Hmm. I asked Humblefish and he said ceramic media was ok to use. He even recommended the brand of ceramic that I’m using.

Edit. I’m going to double check with him. Thank you!

 

[Miami Reef]

Cord management done!

 

[Dolphins18]

Cord management done!

Looks good, are you a lawyer?

 

[Miami Reef]

Looks good, are you a lawyer?

Haha. Nope. These are just religious books (I’m not religious but my parents are) but my parents never read any of them. It was a gift from someone a long time ago. Whoops.

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m 22 by the way. And I still live with my parents.

 

[Dolphins18]

I’m 22 by the way. And I still live with my parents.

Smart man. It would be a dumb move to buy or rent in this market. Do your thing, this hobby is a great place to be @ 22 QT looks good.

 

[Miami Reef]

Update! I only have 2 QT tanks and they are 10FT away from each other. The red tape is the medication tank. Will have copper, metro, and prazi inside.

The tank with the white tape is my observation tank. Fish will be treated with the copper, prazi, metro for 14 days then abruptly added to the new unmedicated system.

It’s about almost done with the cycle, but I still have a few weeks before I start adding my first fish!

All equipment and buckets are marked with the corresponding tape color. No chance of cross contamination.

@brandon429 You like it?

 

[DrZoidburg]

Looks ok for smaller fish. I would get more bio media going to be safe. Copper and ammonia are a nasty mix. I don't like to mix meds with copper treatments. To many possible side effects. The meds are biodegradable over time. Some as fast as 48 hrs later. Maybe get a little light for coral qt.

 

[Miami Reef]

Looks ok for smaller fish. I would get more bio media going to be safe. Copper and ammonia are a nasty mix. I don't like to mix meds with copper treatments. To many possible side effects. The meds are biodegradable over time. Some as fast as 48 hrs later. Maybe get a little light for coral qt.

Where would I place the bio media? There isn’t any more room in the HOB.

 

[Miami Reef]

And define “smaller fish” is it because of size or bioload?

I have bags with seachem matrix and sponge filters in the HOB stuffed to the max. I honestly thought I did good.

I’m only purchasing tangs. Obviously I would go as small as possible, but they can be up to 5 inches big!

I think the PVC pipes are too big

 

[DrZoidburg]

I know I read your fish list a little while ago. Right on bare bottom with extra is fine or in a corner. As an example I have a 75 g set up right now only 10 small fish. The whole bottom is covered in matrix like stuff, and still have detectable levels. Had to pull a few rocks from another sump to get it under control.

 

[Miami Reef]

I know I read your fish list a little while ago. Right on bare bottom with extra is fine or in a corner. As an example I have a 75 g set up right now only 10 small fish. The whole bottom is covered in matrix like stuff, and still have detectable levels. Had to pull a few rocks from another sump to get it under control.

Are you dosing medications?

Thanks for the heads up. How long was your tank running for with the matrix before you added the 10 fish?

 

[DrZoidburg]

I did dose them with meds for a few weeks first. Only cause they were wild caught and noticed some problems. Pulled the matrix from a reactor that was going for over a year. Took a bunch out to set someone up. Kept the rest wet in a bucket for maybe a week before I set this one up. I say go with extra cause It was good but I cleaned the tank. Moved some rocks and it disturbed the bacteria enough to get levels. Added more matrix wasn't enough think cause they went dormant, added old rocks and its good now.

 

[Miami Reef]

I added all the bio media and filter pads I own. I’m confident it will work. Now just got to wait for the bacteria to spread.

 

[DrZoidburg]

My story kind of unique, but just to being extra safe. Definitely recommend more than you think. Added more a couple days ago.

 

[Miami Reef]

Nice QT. I like the blue tang!

 

[DrZoidburg]

Ty, yea real simple just a skimmer and uv filter. Been set up almost 5 months. Had 23 fish go through it. 10 for someone else and 13 for me. Literally moved the 10 out the same day I put 13 in. Only got the chromis a day after blue tang cause I got a real good deal on them. Wasn't going to use copper just tank transfers. The chromis were wild caught. That created a situation where I need to use copper now. I try to avoid if I can. Started seeing white spots on BT. It had a few nice purple rocks in there. Pulled them so they didn't get contaminated with copper. Cleaned a bunch and switched them out with cycled matrix. That's when I started getting ammonia problems. Just not enough media I think. If you had a 3 inch fish go through qt then move it, add a 5 inch fish, or if you don't add fish and let bacteria go dormant before next. It could take a few days to be enough bacteria for a 5 inch fish. Going to have some ammonia while it adjusts to bigger fish.