quarantine question

[Ro Bow]

i will start off with 2 occelaris clownfish, a bicolor blenny, a six line wrasse, a neon goby, a firefish goby, a one spot foxface, falco hawkfish, yellow pyramid butterflyfish, a coral beauty angelfish, and a blue hippo tang. Would a 20 gallon or 25 gallon tank be ok for a quarantine tank? If not or if so, where could you buy a tank with a lid, i cannot find one on amazon. If you know any please let me know. Thanks!

 

[CuzzA]

That seems like way too many fish at once in such a small tank and you're going to have your hands full fighting ammonia. You also risk one fish carrying a pathogen and infecting what could have been a whole group of healthy fish. I would split it up in batches. Some of those species can be captive bred and if you can verify they've never been mixed with wild specimens then you could avoid the qt on them altogether.

As for a lid, anything flat. A piece of plywood will work.

 

[Ro Bow]

would a purple firefish goby, a one spot foxface, a neon goby, a bicolor blenny, a yellow pyramid butterflyfish, a blue hippo tang, and 2 occelaris clowns be ok in a 20 or 25 gallon quarantine tank? Should i save any of the other fish for later?

 

[NashobaTek]

That's way to small for a hippo tang unless you plan on moving it to a bigger tank as it grows, and I would start with the shy fish first and add the more aggressive fish and tang last

 

[Ro Bow]

i will move it to a 125 gallon, the 20 or 25 gallon would be a quarantine tank for 2 or so weeks

 

[Ro Bow]

That's way to small for a hippo tang unless you plan on moving it to a bigger tank as it grows, and I would start with the shy fish first and add the more aggressive fish and tang last

would that size be ok for those fish? They would be there for 2 weeks

 

[NashobaTek]

I personally would do the small shy fish first and then go for the foxface, butterfly and tang as a second group. You may have to do the foxface as a separate qt,.

 

[CuzzA]

If these are all small baby fish, maybe. I still think 8 is too many in a 20 gallon which is typically only filled halfway when we qt in case we need to emergency dilute.

 

[Ro Bow]

yeah they will be babies, and i will move them in the 125 gallon as soon as i can

 

[Ro Bow]

how long do you have to quarantine. would 1 week be ok?

 

[Ro Bow]

If these are all small baby fish, maybe. I still think 8 is too many in a 20 gallon which is typically only filled halfway when we qt in case we need to emergency dilute.

would it be better in a 25 gallon quarantine tank?

 

[NashobaTek]

30 would be best if you are wanting to qt large groups at a time

 

[Ro Bow]

ok. Thanks

 

[mehaffydr]

I would look at a 40 breeder tank for that many fish otherwise you going to constantly be doing water changes. 1 week is not long enough. You may want to do more research on quarantine procedures so you have a good solid plan and also have all of the needed meds just in case something breaks out. I would suggest you go over to the search and just type in Quarantine and start reading. You can gain a lot of knowledge in a short amount of time.

 

[Surf985]

Definitely too many at once, especially given that some of those can be larger fish. Even in an established tank, that bio load is going to reek havoc on your system.

So a few notes:

The firefish can be a bit shy, so it'll be best to not overwhelm that one. A 6 line can get aggressive, so that may be a bit of a risk - it's been hit and miss for me.

I'd also be concerned with the butterfly. They can be tough to feed, so i'd probably QT that one separate, and if this isn't an established tank, by all means WAIT. Your success rate is gonna be low otherwise.

The hippo is also a pretty big fish (potentially) as is the foxface (mines new and about twice the size of the dwarf angels that are maybe a year or two old). Again, keep bio load in mind and space these bigger ones out so you don't have a disasterous ammonia/nitrite spike and wipe out the tank.

If you space them out and isolate the larger fish, 20 should be perfect. I QTd all mine in a 5-10g tank (maybe 2-3 fish at a time) and it went well. If you're medicating (I treat mine with prazipro and methelyne blue) the new ones too, the smaller tank will likely make that easier. Also makes a more usable tank in the future for hospitals/new additions!