What filter do you recommend for a Q.T.

[Carpenter Wayne]

I set-up a 26 gallon cube for my fish only quarantine tank. As of right now I'm running a hang on the back Aqueon, rated for 50 gallons. I'm running the Triton system on my main tank. Not interested in a sump type system due to extra equipment and maintenance. I do realize the sump would add water volume helping dilute things. My dilemma is with wanting the tank set-up and running all the time with some fish in the q.t. whether quarantining fish or not. Would it be better to change to a canister filter, if so what brand would work the best for my application? Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

 

[Feet4Fish]

I would keep the HOB and ad a marineland magnum polishing filter that you can optionally charge with DE. Great for parasite management. Especially if you have good flow at the bottom of the tank.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I’m still sort of a newbie in this arena. I’ve never actually had a QT, but am getting very close to setting one up. So... don’t take this the wrong way : ) (sheepish grin) I’m learning here... saw your thread...

I am confused. You basically want a second fish tank... with a permanent ecology to use as at QT? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? You’ll just kill everything in the QT eventually with one bad purchase...? Right? What am I missing?

 

[ca1ore]

I run two QT tanks .... one as needed for new fish that can become a hospital tank, and a second that is run permanently as a grow out tank or as initial QT for tricky fish like leopard wrasses. Obviously if disease gets into the second tank it must go fallow. So far nothing has. First tank gets emptied and sterilized after each new fish passes through (or passes on). I see no particular benefit to running a standard QT permanently, but if you must a HoB filter is fine.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I run two QT tanks .... one as needed for new fish that can become a hospital tank, and a second that is run permanently as a grow out tank or as initial QT for tricky fish like leopard wrasses. Obviously if disease gets into the second tank it must go fallow. So far nothing has. First tank gets emptied and sterilized after each new fish passes through (or passes on). I see no particular benefit to running a standard QT permanently, but if you must a HoB filter is fine.

I read your comment to say I am right about a QT? You have 2 running tanks... and a very separate QT?

 

[Hendrix]

I typically run an aqualear 600 with marine pure.

When I sterilize the quarantine tank and filter between uses I toss the old marine pure in trash and take some establish out of my refugium. I refill the quarantine from my display. I have a very large display tank so I have plenty of water for quarantine changes.

I also place a red zip tie onto any rock, power head, filter that I use with quarantine, this way you never forget what things were part of a quarantine and reuse them accidentally in other systems.

 

[Fourstars]

I like to use a sponge filter. Just put it in your sump a few weeks before you know you’ll need it.

 

[Feet4Fish]

For bio media i use plastic pot scrubbers. I buy 30 for $6 and just throw them in the sump. Use them for every new QT tank and just toss when I am done. Just a thought

 

[ca1ore]

I read your comment to say I am right about QT?

There may be occasions when keeping a standard QT running makes sense - initial stocking of a tank for example. As soon as you have a disease problem, you have to empty it anyhow. I prefer to keep some purpose media in my main system sump so I can get a cycled QT up quickly rather than keep one running 24/7.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

There may be occasions when keeping a standard QT running makes sense - initial stocking of a tank for example. As soon as you have a disease problem, you have to empty it anyhow. I prefer to keep some purpose media in my main system sump so I can get a cycled QT up quickly rather than keep one running 24/7.

Thank you

 

[Carpenter Wayne]

There may be occasions when keeping a standard QT running makes sense - initial stocking of a tank for example. As soon as you have a disease problem, you have to empty it anyhow. I prefer to keep some purpose media in my main system sump so I can get a cycled QT up quickly rather than keep one running 24/7.

I'm confused now, I thought the whole purpose of a q.t. tank is to quarantine fish from your main tank in case a fish has a disease, in order to treat the fish and not affect your display tank. Meaning newly acquired fish or fish that suspect. Ich, brooklynella, and other fish parasites are treated with copper. Copper cannot be used in my display tank due to copper kills corals. Hence no coral in q.t. tank. Copper kills ich, brooklynella, and other fish parasites . What would the need be to go fallow in the quarantine tank? You killed the parasites, saving the fish, carry on with weekly water changes w/o adding copper, eventually the copper is removed and the fish are cured? I'm I missing something?

 

[Carpenter Wayne]

Thank you

I thought the whole purpose of a q.t. tank is to quarantine fish from your main tank in case a fish has a disease, in order to treat the fish and not affect your display tank. Meaning newly acquired fish or fish that you suspect have a disease. Ich, brooklynella, and other fish parasites are treated with copper. Copper cannot be used in my display tank due to copper kills corals. Hence no coral in q.t. tank. Copper kills ich, brooklynella, and other fish parasites . What would the need be to go fallow in the quarantine tank or the need to sanitize it from a parasite that you have already sanitized by killing it? You killed the parasites and saved the fish, carry on with weekly water changes w/o adding copper, eventually the copper is removed and the fish are treated and cured? I'm I missing something?

 

[Carpenter Wayne]

Thank you

Why do I need to empty the tank once I have a fish disease? I thought I needed to treat the fish with the disease?

 

[Carpenter Wayne]

For bio media i use plastic pot scrubbers. I buy 30 for $6 and just throw them in the sump. Use them for every new QT tank and just toss when I am done. Just a thought

How well does the plastic pot scrubbers do in removing the copper from the tank?

 

[Carpenter Wayne]

I would keep the HOB and ad a marineland magnum polishing filter that you can optionally charge with DE. Great for parasite management. Especially if you have good flow at the bottom of the tank.

Thank you for the great suggestion, I will be looking into that.

 

[Feet4Fish]

They are just a surface for bacteria to grow. For copper removal I recommend carbon or cuprasorb combined with water changes.

How well does the plastic pot scrubbers do in removing the copper from the tank?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I recommend the Marineland Bio-Wheel Penguin Aquarium Power Filter. It also has an extra-large BIO-Wheel rotates to cultivate the beneficial bacteria that remove toxic ammonia and nitrates from the water and 3 stage compartment for all filter needs. It is compact, easy to service cheap in cost. Adds oxygen while filtering tank

 

[ShepherdReefer]

For the filter, I use a hang-on style. The filter without carbon has been placed in the sump of the DT for many months and will be taken out when setting up the QT. Although I may be looking into changing this up, when using copper, the ammonia will rise and I don't like performing water changes every day or every other day and might need more filtration. We can use Prime to help eliminate the ammonia, but not for the duration of the copper treatment.

After running a QT for a fish who had a disease and using copper, the tank will need to be drained and cleaned. For me, even the PVC plumbing pipes used for fish to hid or get-away, I get rid of instead of cleaning. The copper will settle into just about everything and when re-used, copper will still be present. Even the 5-gallon buckets I use that house's copper can be clean or placed in the trash.

For example new fish goes into the QT. after about 5 days of eating good, copper treatments start...over 4 days to get the desired copper level. After 21-30 (more like 30), slowly remove copper from the tank to almost 0 ppm. During the copper treatment, we mix up the food with GC/focus. After the copper treatment, use GC up to 2 times. Within a week and the fish is healthy, onto the DT. The QT is shut down. that is my process.

Just my two-cents worth...hope I helped.

 

[Seanb1]

I purchad a couple marineland 350s for 23 bucks each off amazon.
They are running on my sump right now getting cycled and will be ready when i need them.
I plan on switching them out after whatever the incubation period is for ich and velvet.
Clean the tank out too.
That way ill have a clean fresh bio filter each time .

 

[ca1ore]

I'm confused now, I thought the whole purpose of a q.t. tank is to quarantine fish from your main tank in case a fish has a disease, in order to treat the fish and not affect your display tank. Meaning newly acquired fish or fish that suspect. Ich, brooklynella, and other fish parasites are treated with copper. Copper cannot be used in my display tank due to copper kills corals. Hence no coral in q.t. tank. Copper kills ich, brooklynella, and other fish parasites.

That is all correct …. other than QT can also be use to get a new fish eating.

What would the need be to go fallow in the quarantine tank? You killed the parasites, saving the fish, carry on with weekly water changes w/o adding copper, eventually the copper is removed and the fish are cured? I'm I missing something?

My point about fallow was for a permanently running QT, not one that you setup as needed. Perhaps I am overly cautious, but even in a QT where medication cured a sick fish, I still would empty and sterilize before adding another. Plus, in my case, my permanently running QT is setup as a small reef tank with sand and live rock; so using copper is not possible. If a fish in that tank gets sick, fallow is my only real option.