What filter do you recommend for a Q.T.

[Shawn_epicurious]

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?

Because the disease will infect the entire tank. I think most would assume you end up losing the fish. When that happens you are supposed to sterilize everything in the QT

 

[DeniseAndy]

I think some people will interchange the qt for the hospital tank. I do all the time. My qt is where things get treated. Therefore, it is only up when I have fish needing treatment and is taken down and fully cleaned and just sitting there empty, dry, clean if nothing is being treated.
Now, I also have a observation tank. This is where the fish go after qt, but before in the main tank. To make sure the treatments work.
This tank is cycled. If a fish were to not be fully treated and break out, I would have to restart the observation tank after a fallow or complete clean before allowing other fish into it. I would move the fish back to qt to medicate.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

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?

I don’t think you missed anything : ) you just echoed my thoughts and questions

 

[Carpenter Wayne]

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



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.

Thank you for explaining that. That makes sense, mine is a bare bottom with PVC pipes, one rock, and a plastic plastic plant. I recently went through a situation where a q.t. would have saved my scaled little friends. That is why I want a permanent q.t. in an emergency situation. Not trying to scramble setting something up in a whim. For me when I do things on the fly, stuff gets missed or screwed up. This way I know what shape things are in, also helps me lesson the shock for the fish. My water change during not treatment needed consist of about 50% (10-15 gallons) of q.t. water removed, 5 gallons of main display tank water added to q.t. with the rest of q.t. water is filled with r.o.d.i. mixed water (1.025ppt) at 79° F. once a week.

 

[Carpenter Wayne]

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.

Thank you, much appreciated. Question for you, if you don't mind? How long have you been doing this particular system for your q.t.? Definitely food for thought and never enough good ideas or different ways to do something in the tool box, when things go awry. Which this hobby does just that when you least expect it. There are so many ways to skin this crazy hobby.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Thank you, much appreciated. Question for you, if you don't mind? How long have you been doing this particular system for your q.t.? Definitely food for thought and never enough good ideas or different ways to do something in the tool box, when things go awry. Which this hobby does just that when you least expect it. There are so many ways to skin this crazy hobby.

Hello there, this particular system for the QTs has not been very long. The reason being, other I have failed at and this one seems to work best...but there are other ways as well. I guess if one feels comfortable and the retune works, why the change. I use Copper Power at 2.0 ppm which seems to work with all kinds of fish. I have included some forums on the R2R that can give you more.

Thread 'Fish and Treatment Guidelines (with chart)'

Thread 'Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans)'

John

 

[Mmcghee102485]

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.

I like your way of using the aqua clear and marine pure. Where do you put the marine pure in your quarantine tank?

 

[MrsBugmaster]

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.

This is what I do. One tank for treating for 2 weeks then into other tank for another 3 to 4 weeks for observation and acclimation to tank life. Always sterile first tank after each treatment.

 

[Hendrix]

I like your way of using the aqua clear and marine pure. Where do you put the marine pure in your quarantine tank?

I put some in the aquaclear in a filter bag because it disinigrates. I put some on the tank bottom.