DIY - Quarantine System

Davehla · Apr 19, 2016

Hi everyone,

I am thinking about putting together a quarantine system in my garage. Petco is having their $1 per gallon sale on tanks and I was thinking about getting 3-4 20 gallon tanks and a 55 gallon tank. (http://www.petco.com/dollarpergallon)

I will use the 20 gallon tanks as the quarantine and the 55 as the sump. These tanks are glass so I plan on drilling them and installing overflows and plumb them.

Couple questions:
1. Do I need a light to quarantine fish. At this time I am not planing on adding coral to the quarantine system. If I do, I know I need a light for them.
2. Tell me why this idea is wrong and why it won't work to properly quarantine fish.
3. Please give me any suggestions you have to make this idea work better.

Thank you for your help!

David

cmcoker · Apr 19, 2016

IMO, sump is overkill for qt, if you get a parasite or disease, then you now have piping and sump to clean and sanitize... If you add stock to different 20g tanks at different times, you're reseting the clock on all tanks and possibly cross contaminating your stock. Meds will need a greater quantity to treat the larger water volume..

If you are planning large fish or incompatible species all added to the system at the same time, then there may be some benefit to running it this way.

So what is your plan for stocking?

And you just need a light to be able to inspect the fish, nothing fancy

DeniseAndy · Apr 19, 2016

The multiple tanks are for the multiple species of fish? If you tie them together, they will still need to all be treated if something pops up. This is a lot more meds and a lot more water to maintain.

What is your display tank set up? Do you need that many qt tanks at the same time? If not, you could use them for the tank transfer method for qting fish. You would not need the 55 then.

QT should be a simple set-up. However, if you are using a separate hospital tank, then I guess you could go this route.

Honestly, unless you are getting a whole bunch of fish at the same time on a regular basis, this seems overkill. Then again, I am the lazy reef keeper, maybe cautious is a better word. I only get a couple fish at one time. I use the qt for the time needed and then disinfect and leave for next time I buy fish. However, I have mature full systems, so I do not buy often. If I do, I know well ahead of time to set up.

I think the multiple tanks is great if you want to do the tank transfer method though. Look that up. Here is one thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/spars-tank-transfer-method.209690/page-2#post-2815655

jnw240reef · Apr 20, 2016

Sump is overkill. Just get a hob and heater for each. That way you can do tank transfer and treat in a different one and observe in last

Davehla · Apr 20, 2016

Thank you all for your responses! Reading through the posts I agree it is probably overkill.... Maybe I will just buy the tanks and set up a new system with a bunch of small tanks and tell my wife it is a quarantine system so she doesn't think I am buying more tanks.

Klcan · Apr 28, 2016

I had a ten gallon, that was bare bottomed had a heater and a HOB filter. It was great until I brought a pair of clownfish that just didn't work in my main tank so I just set them up a nice little home. But now I need to set another QT up

Triggreef · Apr 28, 2016

I agree meds aren't cheap so think about how much you'll have to dose to get to therapeutic levels... One thought though with the tanks you mentioned....

Use the 55g as an established never broke down tank with sand for finicky fish such as wrasses, angels, etc that may not do particularly well when tossed in a 20g bare bottom tank. You can even have liverock in it to keep pods and such at high levels. I use a 72g for the same purpose. I dose meds like prazi, metro, general cure (combo of those), and even some antibiotics when needed. No issues. Understand ich, velvet, brook cannot be treated in this set up.

Then use 2 (or 3 for ease of timeline of cleaning) of the 20g tanks for tank transfer method (TTM). So for instance I put a new wrasse in my 72g for a month or so to get used to being in a tank, eating well etc and treat with prazi several doses in that time to eliminate flukes etc which are more common than even ich IME. I then move the wrasse to 20g TTM and then straight to my display tank.

Other times with easier fish such as most tangs, dottybacks, clowns, gobies, blennies, etc etc I only use TTM and dose prazi on the 2nd and 4th transfer. Then straight to display.

Hope that's helpful, it is the easiest, fastest, and most effective way that I have found to work for me.