Quarantine Tank

[Derude]

Hey Everyone

I have not started a tank yet, im currently doing as much research as possible before jumping into the hobby. So i will be asking allot of questions in here sorry . Anyways some of the research ive found has suggested to start a Quarantine Tank in case your fish ever get sick, but the problem with this is I live in a apartment and have very limited space, best thing i can do is maybe have a 5 gallon but ive heard how hard it is to maintain such a small tank and needing to do constant water changes to it..

Is a quarantine tank really that important, can i do with ought it ? This concerns me because i never even thought about the fish getting sick and the last thing i want is to spend a couple hundred $ on fish and coral and have them all die.

Thanks
Nooby Reefer

 

[DeniseAndy]

First off what size tank are you setting up? The qt has to be able to comfortably hold and maybe treat a fish for 6 weeks or so. If you are only setting up a 40g or less, than a 5g may be fine to qt little fish. usually, I would say a 10g minimum. However, you do not have to have it set up all the time. Just have it available when needed. Nice thing about qt for fish is it can be set up fast with no cycling needed.
Maybe store in a closet or under bed? I know apartment living can be tight.

Also, welcome. Ask any questions you need to.

 

[Dom]

Hello and welcome!

A quarantine tank is a small investment relative to the amount of money a person can spend in this hobby. You could go years and spend thousands building a 75 gallon reef tank; adding fish and corals without ever quarantining and having a beautiful, thriving tank.

Then one day, you pick up something compatible with the other inhabitants of your tank. You've never had a problem with any of the other fish you've purchased from this store, so why would this time be any different? You take him home, acclimate and add him to the tank. You enjoy watching him explore his new home and he eats well.

The next morning, you check your tank before leaving for work and find him dead. You scoop him out and toss him in a bucket until you get home.

Later that day when you arrive home, you find another dead and a third swimming into the flow of the return and looking sick. He's dead too before you go to bed.

You post to the forum on R2R and everyone comes back with the same diagnosis: velvet.

When all is said and done, this disease could wipe out your tank, costing you the thousands you've spent over the course of building the tank plus the cost of rebooting the tank. All this because you didn't have a quarantine tank.

So yes, a quarantine tank is that important... unless you're a gambling man.

 

[Derude]

I will be getting a 32 gallon Biocube Denise, so ya i was thinking a 5 gallon. Im not planning on getting much fish was thinking maybe 2 clowns a Goby and another type of fish maybe like a royal gramma so about 4 in total.. also was thinking later on a crab for cleaning.

Dom, would you suggest quarantining them when i first by them before putting them in the tank ?

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

If you spend enough time on these forums, you'll see all the heartache and trouble caused by not quarantining. I've often thought of starting a thread or a list of all the cases where reefers have to nearly break down their tank because they didn't QT properly. This, however, would be insensitive, even if my intention was not to poke fun at their misfortune. But, the point stands: stick around for a few days and I guarantee you'll see a new case of infected fish in a DT because of improper (or no) quarantine procedure. The amount of time and money reefers spend trying to eradicate an infection from their tank after it is introduced by negligence, ignorance or laziness beggars belief. A QT tank isn't free and requires time and space to do properly. But, the other fish in your display tank also cost money, likely a lot of money. Plus, they also take a lot of your time to keep alive and healthy.

A cheap 10 gallon tank, a powerhead/HOB filter and a heater can get you a QT setup for about $40 - $50. Think about all the things we do for our aquariums. We plan out plumbing systems. We carefully choose the perfect light. We maintain RO/DI systems. We set up saltwater mixing stations. We pay dollars per pound for what is basically dead calcium carbonate rock. We set up pumps to get the perfect flow. We buy and change out filter media. We buy test kits. We buy supplements to replace any used minerals. We buy frozen fish foods or even make our own out of various seafood products. I can't even begin to comprehend putting all of that on the line simply to save $50 on a QT setup.

But, to each his own.

 

[Derude]

If you spend enough time on these forums, you'll see all the heartache and trouble caused by not quarantining. I've often thought of starting a thread or a list of all the cases where reefers have to nearly break down their tank because they didn't QT properly. This, however, would be insensitive, even if my intention was not to poke fun at their misfortune. But, the point stands: stick around for a few days and I guarantee you'll see a new case of infected fish in a DT because of improper (or no) quarantine procedure. The amount of time and money reefers spend trying to eradicate an infection from their tank after it is introduced by negligence, ignorance or laziness beggars belief. A QT tank isn't free and requires time and space to do properly. But, the other fish in your display tank also cost money, likely a lot of money. Plus, they also take a lot of your time to keep alive and healthy.

A cheap 10 gallon tank, a powerhead/HOB filter and a heater can get you a QT setup for about $40 - $50. Think about all the things we do for our aquariums. We plan out plumbing systems. We carefully choose the perfect light. We maintain RO/DI systems. We set up saltwater mixing stations. We pay dollars per pound for what is basically dead calcium carbonate rock. We set up pumps to get the perfect flow. We buy and change out filter media. We buy test kits. We buy supplements to replace any used minerals. We buy frozen fish foods or even make our own out of various seafood products. I can't even begin to comprehend putting all of that on the line simply to save $50 on a QT setup.

But, to each his own.

Very good points, im sure i can manage a 10g somewhere it will be tight but its not very big.. the thing that worries me tho is the maintenance of the tank, sorry if im wrong but ive heard the water in a small tank is really hard to maintain. If you look above Denis's post he mentions you dont need to Cycle the tank, so i could maybe keep it empty until its needed, I dont understand why it does not need to be cycled ? is it because you can just use water from your current tank and it gets rid of the need to Cycle ? I only ask because allot of the research ive seen suggests that the tank needs around a month or so for cycling..

I wouldn't mind keeping it in storage until its needed but to have it running 24/7 encase of a emergency I would like to avoid/

 

[DeniseAndy]

If you are qting fish, they can go in a newly set up tank without too many issues because they can handle more than say corals or inverts in the way of ammonia type. However, a good practice is to put a sponge or bag of the little bio-rings in the back of the 32g (in the sump area) to have on hand to throw in the qt tank to help with the bacteria support.

I have never had my qt up and running continuously in 15 years. I only have it set up prior to getting a fish. Sometimes the night before even. Many times the day I got the fish. This is due to making sure the qt tank has the same parameters as the fish water (overnight orders). Then I bring qt up to proper parameters over time. I have never had an issue with ammonia or bacteria bloom. You do have to make sure to have a hang on back filter, maybe air stones and air pump on hand since many medications can zap the o2 out of the qt very quickly.

Just have some pvc pipes in there for fish to hide in. If this is too confusing, I can write it out better, but there are some great qt articles on here too.

 

[Derude]

If you are qting fish, they can go in a newly set up tank without too many issues because they can handle more than say corals or inverts in the way of ammonia type. However, a good practice is to put a sponge or bag of the little bio-rings in the back of the 32g (in the sump area) to have on hand to throw in the qt tank to help with the bacteria support.

I have never had my qt up and running continuously in 15 years. I only have it set up prior to getting a fish. Sometimes the night before even. Many times the day I got the fish. This is due to making sure the qt tank has the same parameters as the fish water (overnight orders). Then I bring qt up to proper parameters over time. I have never had an issue with ammonia or bacteria bloom. You do have to make sure to have a hang on back filter, maybe air stones and air pump on hand since many medications can zap the o2 out of the qt very quickly.

Just have some pvc pipes in there for fish to hide in. If this is too confusing, I can write it out better, but there are some great qt articles on here too.

Thanks, very helpful. I will get something put together probably a 10.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Oh, forgot to mention you want an ammonia badge (Seachem) for each qt. This helps a ton in monitoring when to do water changes.

 

[Why-Me]

Also you don't have to run QT 24/7/365. You can setup and break down when needed. I'd advise you to read about the proper QT procedures HERE

 

[Palyzoa]

Here a good read on quarantine: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/how-to-quarantine.232/

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Very good points, im sure i can manage a 10g somewhere it will be tight but its not very big.. the thing that worries me tho is the maintenance of the tank, sorry if im wrong but ive heard the water in a small tank is really hard to maintain. If you look above Denis's post he mentions you dont need to Cycle the tank, so i could maybe keep it empty until its needed, I dont understand why it does not need to be cycled ? is it because you can just use water from your current tank and it gets rid of the need to Cycle ? I only ask because allot of the research ive seen suggests that the tank needs around a month or so for cycling..

I wouldn't mind keeping it in storage until its needed but to have it running 24/7 encase of a emergency I would like to avoid/

What does it mean to "cycle" a tank? What does it mean to have a "cycled" tank?

 

[NinnJinn]

Cycling: you are purposely adding ammonia to create nitrifying bacteria



Cycled: Your nitrifying bacteria is built up enough to handle a bio load there for keeping your ammonia @ 0