QT Tank

[Clownfish_Boy]

I have acquired a little el cheapo Top Fin 2 gallon for use as a quarantine tank, and I am wondering should I cycle that tank or keep it sterile ?

 

[Reefer5640]

Are you saying the tank is a two gallon tank?

 

[Reefer5640]

If so I’d say two gallons for a QT is too small. You may regret doing it

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

If so I’d say two gallons for a QT is too small. You may regret doing it

So then would five gallons suffice ? I want to keep it as small as possible.

 

[RedTheReefer]

10 Gallons is the lowest you should go in my opinion.

 

[ichthyogeek]

What fish are you trying to quarantine?

I'd go ahead and cycle any quarantine tanks beforehand, with the acknowledgement that various medication would probably screw up the cycle at some point.

 

[KingTideCorals]

This may help...

 

[Reefer5640]

You could do 5, definitely better than 2. Like @RedTheReefer said though, I wouldn’t go less than 10. There’s a few reasons why. One is more room for the fish. 10 gallons is already pretty cramped for a lot of fish to live in for a month. Another is water volume. Ammonia can really sneak up on you during quarantine. The more volume the less each time the fish craps in the tank effects the ammonia level. Not to say you wouldn’t need to keep a very close eye on it in a bigger tank, it’d just compound in a smaller tank. And another point to make on the topic of volume is dosing meds. It could be pretty easy to over dose in a 2 gal tank, less likely in a 5, but even better a 10 or 20. But if you aren’t going to be keeping fish that require bigger tanks then you could do a 5. Like a clown or goby, dart fish, or maybe some wrasses. With bigger fish you’re just going to stress them out worse like tangs or triggers or anything that needs room to swim. And added stress in quarantine is the last thing you want. This is just my opinion though, hope it helps.
Oh, and as far as cycling the QT it really depends on what method of QT you set up. If you’re doing copper or something that requires the fish to stay in the same tank for an extended period of time then I would definitely cycle the tank with mechanical filtration as your source of surface area for the bacteria to grow rather than live rock. But if you you’re planning on doing something like tank transfer then I there’s no need to cycle the tank. Best of luck

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

What fish are you trying to quarantine?

I'd go ahead and cycle any quarantine tanks beforehand, with the acknowledgement that various medication would probably screw up the cycle at some point.

Just small fish; clowns, damsels, etc.... Wanted especially to "have a pup tent in case the house burns", somewhere to keep the fish alive in an emergency.

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

You could do 5, definitely better than 2. Like @RedTheReefer said though, I wouldn’t go less than 10. There’s a few reasons why. One is more room for the fish. 10 gallons is already pretty cramped for a lot of fish to live in for a month. Another is water volume.

Yes, the greater the water volume, the more stable a setup becomes. And that's a good point regarding the dosing of meds/copper; it would be difficult to deliver the proper dosage in such a small setup.... But I do not plan to have a lot of fish in there for long.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Even if you don't plan to have a lot of fish in there for long, I'm still very iffy about using a 2 gallon tank for quarantine. There's just too many parameter swings that happen in that small of a volume of water. Fish should really be quarantined for at least a month in my opinion, and that's 27-30 days too long for keeping most fish in a 2 gallon tank (including the damsels and clownfish). Even a 5 gallon bucket would work better....

 

[Reefer5640]

One other item I forgot to mention if you are planning on doing multiple fish at a time is territory.

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

Even if you don't plan to have a lot of fish in there for long, I'm still very iffy about using a 2 gallon tank for quarantine. There's just too many parameter swings that happen in that small of a volume of water. Fish should really be quarantined for at least a month in my opinion, and that's 27-30 days too long for keeping most fish in a 2 gallon tank (including the damsels and clownfish). Even a 5 gallon bucket would work better....

As I wrote previously, I do not plan on having any fish in the QT for any length of time, just long as necessary for treatment if sick. If I have to rescue all the fish from a tank disaster, I have a 5 gallon bucket on hand in which to temporarily put the fish until arrangements can be made to return them safely to the LFS....

 

[dubaireefer]

10 g is perfect setup for a qt
And it really shouldn’t be any smaller then that and also yes you do have to cycle a qt system

 

[Reefer5640]

If you need a QT because they are sick you’ll need to put them in for at the very least 2 weeks But should be closer to 4. I highly recommend to quarantine all fish proactively but that’s just me. Everyone has their own way of doing things. I really do think you’ll regret it if you go through with 2 gallon QT. The only other thing I’ll say is this. Think of how pico tanks are harder to maintain than a large tank. The same thing applies to QT’s but much more exaggerated due to all of the above mentioned advice. You have a handful of reefers that are experienced at quarantine telling you it is a bad idea. What you do with that info is up to you. You may go through with it and you may be successful and that would be awesome. I’d be really happy for you but I can promise you it will be much harder to be successful.

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

If you need a QT because they are sick you’ll need to put them in for at the very least 2 weeks But should be closer to 4. I highly recommend to quarantine all fish proactively but that’s just me. Everyone has their own way of doing things. I really do think you’ll regret it if you go through with 2 gallon QT. The only other thing I’ll say is this. Think of how pico tanks are harder to maintain than a large tank. The same thing applies to QT’s but much more exaggerated due to all of the above mentioned advice. You have a handful of reefers that are experienced at quarantine telling you it is a bad idea. What you do with that info is up to you. You may go through with it and you may be successful and that would be awesome. I’d be really happy for you but I can promise you it will be much harder to be successful.

Oh, I've just decided to get a larger 10 or 20 gallon QT in the future; just gotta find somewhere to put it !