New to quarantine tank question

[Jolene1011]

I am ashamed to say I have had a reef tank in the past and have not ever quarantined my fish. I was very fortunate to never have any catastrophes. However, with my new tank I would like to go about doing things better from this point forward.
I have a 10 gal tank I plan to set up as a qt. I have read threads on here about different methods and how not much is required, but still have a few things I'm not sure about.

If I used water from my display tank after I do one of my weekly water changes, will I still need to seed a sponge filter (or something similar) in my sump tank or add some kind of tank starter, like Bio-Spira?

I'm also intimidated by medicated treatments. I know this an opinion based subject to some extent. Is it, in your experience better to be proactive and treat fish with copper based products or do you observe the fish first and then make a decision on whether to treat or not? ;Bored I say this mostly with tangs in mind. I know some fish are more copper sensitive and that goes into the decision.

 

[Brew12]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Love the beer tap!

If I used water from my display tank after I do one of my weekly water changes, will I still need to seed a sponge filter (or something similar) in my sump tank or add some kind of tank starter, like Bio-Spira?

Using display water won't help much since most of the bacteria will be on hard surfaces in the tank. Very little floats in the water. I put together my thoughts on this topic in this thread.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ammonia-control-in-a-hospital-tank.296119/

I'm also intimidated by medicated treatments. I know this an opinion based subject to some extent. Is it, in your experience better to be proactive and treat fish with copper based products or do you observe the fish first and then make a decision on whether to treat or not?

I find that it is very important to be proactive with medicated treatments. It can be a challenge but I feel it is much better to take a little more risk in the QT process than to have a risk with my DT.

I say this mostly with tangs in mind. I know some fish are more copper sensitive and that goes into the decision.

Meredith put together this great threat showing which medications to use with which fish. It's a great guide to go by.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-and-treatment-guidelines-with-chart.283450/

 

[stevo01]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Love the beer tap!

Using display water won't help much since most of the bacteria will be on hard surfaces in the tank. Very little floats in the water. I put together my thoughts on this topic in this thread.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ammonia-control-in-a-hospital-tank.296119/


I find that it is very important to be proactive with medicated treatments. It can be a challenge but I feel it is much better to take a little more risk in the QT process than to have a risk with my DT.



Meredith put together this great threat showing which medications to use with which fish. It's a great guide to go by.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-and-treatment-guidelines-with-chart.283450/

+1 on everything Brew man said.

 

[Jolene1011]

Thank you Brew12, your ht post helped a lot!

 

[ngoodermuth]

+2 lots of help already here. I'll throw these here for good measure:
The DOs and DON’Ts of Quarantine
https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/The-DOs-and-DON’Ts-of-Quarantine.203898/
How to Quarantine

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/How-to-Quarantine.189815/