First Quarantine Tank

[Jarrod]

Just set up my first qt tank. It is a 40 breeder that I had as a reef tank before upgrading to a 90 gallon. I've never qt any of my fish and luckily haven't had any problems. But I want either a Kole Tang or a Tomini tang, so I figure I better setup a qt.

40 Breeder
Led Light
Heater
Small wave maker
Large HOB filter (bio wheels currently soaking in my DT sump)
Fake Plastic corals
PVC pipe fittings
Small amount of dry rubble rock that has been in a bucket of saltwater and stability for a week or so

Qt has been running almost 24 hrs now. I plan to cycle it with Fritz Zyme or Dr Tims bacteria. Currently just adding some Stability. I have read many forums on this site already so I understand the basics. Just had some questions you guys might be able to help me with....

1. Could I put a Kole and a Tomini in the qt together? (they will be going in separate aquariums after qt)

2. Should I put a couple clowns in the qt for a few weeks before the tang/ tangs? To help mature the tank?

3. I have Safety Stop to dip the fish before going into qt. Can I just watch the fish and not medicate unless I start to see issues? Or is copper a MUST for a qt tank? And other meds

4. I will probably keep this tank running to be used as a hospital tank. Any different things I should plan for at this point if it will be a running after qt period?


I will take any advice I can get. Thanks in advance!!

 

[justinm]

I would not put a kole and tomini together in a 40. There may be some aggression there.

Copper is not a must. Some people choose to observe first, I treat after a few days of the fish getting used to their new home. I treat with prazipro first unless other symptoms arise. After prazi, depending on the fish I am treating they get cupramine or cp.

There are many ways to skin a cat, but this is what works for me. I don't take any chances anymore after a velvet wipeout about 5 years ago.

As for keeping the tank running, after the fish are treated, I do a water change and throw some cuprasorb in the sump. Nothing different than a regular tank.

 

[Maritimer]

If you have to treat with copper, that rubble rock may prove troublesome - rock can absorb copper, forcing you to increase your dosage to remain within therapeutic levels - and then on occasion release it rather unpredictably.

If the kole and tomini are going into different tanks, there's really no reason to QT them together.

When I need a QT, I set one up with a HOB (Aqua-Clear) filter. I'll either put the sponge into my sump for several weeks / months / OK, my last one had sponges growing in it . . . or use BioSpira or other bottled bacteria to help with ammonia. (Use a SeaChem ammonia badge to keep an eye on that level!) Clowns shouldn't be necessary - but should be QTed before going into the display with the tang.

You can use observation, rather than medicines, when quarantining apparently healthy fish - make sure you've got 15 minutes or so per day (twice per day would be even better!) to just sit and carefully observe the fish. A few minutes while you're feeding them won't be sufficient.

A few thoughts off the top of my head.

One more thought off the top of my head . . . Welcome to Reef2Reef! Glad you're here, and asking the right sorts of questions.

~Bruce

 

[Jarrod]

My idea on the rubble rock was to give the bacteria a place to grow. I could remove it if I have to medicate. I was wanting to qt 2 tangs at the same time so I could have one in my tank and have one in my dads tank in a month or so. But I'd rather wait than have 2 fish fighting in qt. Is it better to have a couple extra small fish to feed the bacteria?

 

[melypr1985]

1. Could I put a Kole and a Tomini in the qt together? (they will be going in separate aquariums after qt)

You could try it, but be ready to separate them if needed. You could use something as simple as eggcrate to do this so you can just have the one QT up and running.

2. Should I put a couple clowns in the qt for a few weeks before the tang/ tangs? To help mature the tank?

It would be best to do your fish in batches. If you want clowns, then you can do them first so you get used to the routine and how to spot signs of illness and keep up with ammonia issues ect. They are hardy fish and would give you a little wiggle room as far as mistakes go.

3. I have Safety Stop to dip the fish before going into qt. Can I just watch the fish and not medicate unless I start to see issues? Or is copper a MUST for a qt tank? And other meds

You can run an observation QT if you are detail oriented person who can and will sit in front of the QT for at least 20 minutes every single day and watch for any signs of disease/parasites and be ready to treat if needed. I personally treat all my fish with copper or TTM and prazi no matter what they look like.

4. I will probably keep this tank running to be used as a hospital tank. Any different things I should plan for at this point if it will be a running after qt period?

There are some diseases that may give you cause to break down the QT to sterilize before adding new fish to it. There is also a thing called biofilm which can break down some medications and render them useless. This builds up over time so breaking down the QT occasionally to sterilize is a good idea anyway.

 

[aykwm]

1. Could I put a Kole and a Tomini in the qt together? (they will be going in separate aquariums after qt)

2. Should I put a couple clowns in the qt for a few weeks before the tang/ tangs? To help mature the tank?

3. I have Safety Stop to dip the fish before going into qt. Can I just watch the fish and not medicate unless I start to see issues? Or is copper a MUST for a qt tank? And other meds

4. I will probably keep this tank running to be used as a hospital tank. Any different things I should plan for at this point if it will be a running after qt period?


I will take any advice I can get. Thanks in advance!!

1. Technically you can, but watch out for aggression.

2. If they are new clowns you can do that as they have low bio load compared to tangs so the tank will have more time to mature, but if they are from DT I dont recommend so because in quarantine you will likely face ammonia issues especially if you start dosing meds.

3. Try to avoid unnecessary meds, observation is fine but make sure you observe long enough to watch for behavioral symptoms. The only medication I use in QT no matter what is prazi for flukes. Make sure you observe fish long enough in quarantine, probably 3-4 weeks, of course the longer the better.

4. You need to breakdown the quarantine and sanitize it every now and then (1-2 months), even better between every batch to ensure to cross contamination occurs.

If you will use the QT as a hospital tank too, I recommend to remove the plastic corals and the LR, they might effect medications.

Best of luck

 

[Gweeds1980]

Just set up my first qt tank. It is a 40 breeder that I had as a reef tank before upgrading to a 90 gallon. I've never qt any of my fish and luckily haven't had any problems. But I want either a Kole Tang or a Tomini tang, so I figure I better setup a qt.

40 Breeder
Led Light
Heater
Small wave maker
Large HOB filter (bio wheels currently soaking in my DT sump)
Fake Plastic corals
PVC pipe fittings
Small amount of dry rubble rock that has been in a bucket of saltwater and stability for a week or so

Qt has been running almost 24 hrs now. I plan to cycle it with Fritz Zyme or Dr Tims bacteria. Currently just adding some Stability. I have read many forums on this site already so I understand the basics. Just had some questions you guys might be able to help me with....

1. Could I put a Kole and a Tomini in the qt together? (they will be going in separate aquariums after qt)

2. Should I put a couple clowns in the qt for a few weeks before the tang/ tangs? To help mature the tank?

3. I have Safety Stop to dip the fish before going into qt. Can I just watch the fish and not medicate unless I start to see issues? Or is copper a MUST for a qt tank? And other meds

4. I will probably keep this tank running to be used as a hospital tank. Any different things I should plan for at this point if it will be a running after qt period?


I will take any advice I can get. Thanks in advance!!

If you're intending to run the QT purely to eliminate disease, then you need to be a bit more stringent on controls.

Avoid the rubble, if you need more space for bacteria I'd run a sponge filter in the tank.

Keep a bottle of Dr Tim's or another live bacteria to hand, a true QT shouldn't really be running long enough to truly cycle. Invest in Amquel too and a seachem ammonia badge.

Don't add any other livestock other than that you are quarantining / treating. As stated, the tank won't cycle so you'll have to manage waste with WCs and live bacteria.

I wouldn't QT the two tangs together... it's a stressful process as is, no need to make that worse. I would treat with copper for 30 days once the fish is settled though, if you really want to ensure no disease transfer.

I would recommend breaking down the tank and sterilising everything after each use. The last thing you want is to QT something only to then want to use tank as hospital tank and the already sick fish pick up another disease hanging around.

I'd nuke the tank with h2o2, drain and dry for at least 2 weeks before next use. I used to use Milton (sodium hypochlorite) on my FW QT, followed by a good rinse under tap water. The combination of h2o2, sodium hypochlorite and chloramine will kill anything / everýthing. Give it a good scrub whilst rinsing and that ensure you've killed and removed the biofilm. Not sure of the effectiveness of Milton in SW applications though as it's basically super high pH salt solution...

I ran proper QT for years and I learnt the best way is to not think of it as another tank... think of it as bits of equipment where your sole aim is to keep everýthing as sterile as possible for as long as possible.

Make sure you buy separate nets / scrapers / heaters / thermometers etc so the risk of cross contamination is kept to an absolute minimum. I'd forgo lighting completely and just rely on natural daylìght & room lighting. Dimmed lights will reduce stress. If you do use LED lighting, do t forget to sterilise this as well as it will get splashed during WC etc so could be considered as a contamination risk.

FWIW despite running this type of QT for years (fresh and SW), inevitably you get something wrong... about every 5 years in my case, something would make it's way through QT so be prepared for that. Also, if you've not been running a QT since day one, there's a good chance something has made it into your DT even if no symptoms are being shown...

 

[Gweeds1980]

Fyi plastic corals should be fine as long as they're not porous.

 

[Jarrod]

Ok great info!!! I will ditch the rubble rock. Already have a Seachem ammonia alerter. I was trying to think of it as another tank rather than a true qt tank. Is there a generic water change schedule to at least aim for during the qt period? My thought now is the tank will have one small kole tang in qt and that is it.