Help with setting up a hospital tank

[Justfbilly]

i need to see if anyone has any tips on how I can set up a hospital tank "just in case" my Lyretail Hawakfish pop eye does not get better. I tore my hospital tank down be because It wasn't being used. I want to set the hospital tank back up and have it running so if it is needed I am ready. Does anyone have any tips or ideas how I can make the newly set up tank safe to start using immediately with out cycling? Any tips or ideas from someone's past experience on setting up a hospital tank quickly would be great! Thanks for the help!

 

[xviijdx]

Take some rubble out of your main tank's sump if you have it to start the cycle in the hospital tank, That will help it seed and of course go back to checking water quality in the HT. If for any reason you need to use the QT before its actually fully seeded go ahead and put the fish in the QT youll just have to do more water checks for ammonia and nitrites, And do dailey water changes if possible if dosing copper it does tend to get rough, but you can do it and it can still be running

 

[xviijdx]

also dont put the rubble back in MT sump if you do use copper if youre running a REEF tank im sure you know copper will kill your corals and inverts.

 

[Humblefish]

From: How to Quarantine

I personally use an Aquaclear HOB power filter, utilizing the “foam insert” i.e. sponge it comes with. I “seed” the sponge (or multiples) in a high flow area of my DT’s sump (or you can put it behind your rocks) for at least one month prior to QT. This one month allows time for enough beneficial bacteria to transfer onto the sponge, so that it may be used as biological filtration once placed back in the power filter and used in QT. An alternative (albeit expensive) way to instantly seed your sponge is to pour some Bio-Spira, Seachem Stability or Dr Tim's Nitrifying Bacteria over it just prior to use.

 

[Justfbilly]

Xviijdx, thanks for the help.

 

[melypr1985]

From: How to Quarantine

^^^This

 

[Justfbilly]

Thanks for the help!

 

[Empress]

I have a quick question about bacteria in a bottle: would those be the same as "ammonia reducers"?

i.e. Prime is an ammonia reducer. Dr. Tim's is a bacteria in a bottle.

I know bacteria reduces ammonia but are these products the same?

Are the bacteria products safe to use if there's antibiotics in the water? i.e. Furan/Kanaplex?

So confusing at times.

 

[melypr1985]

I have a quick question about bacteria in a bottle: would those be the same as "ammonia reducers"?

i.e. Prime is an ammonia reducer. Dr. Tim's is a bacteria in a bottle.

I know bacteria reduces ammonia but are these products the same?

Are the bacteria products safe to use if there's antibiotics in the water? i.e. Furan/Kanaplex?

So confusing at times.

Bacteria in a bottle are actual bottles with dormant bacteria in them. There are some refrigerated products where the bacteria is actually live and not dormant. Ammonia reducers are products like Prime that will bind free ammonia making it safe for the fish for a short time. It's a bandaid and not safe to use with copper. Bacteria in a bottle products are perfectly safe to use with copper. I hope that helps.

 

[Brew12]

Bacteria in a bottle are actual bottles with dormant bacteria in them. There are some refrigerated products where the bacteria is actually live and not dormant. Ammonia reducers are products like Prime that will bind free ammonia making it safe for the fish for a short time. It's a bandaid and not safe to use with copper. Bacteria in a bottle products are perfectly safe to use with copper. I hope that helps.

Just as a clarification to this. Dr Tim's and Biospira are both live active bacteria in a bottle products. While they don't require refrigeration (they will benefit from it) they only have a shelf life of around 1 year and will go bad if exposed to extreme high or low temperatures. Seachem Stability has bacteria in a dormant, or spore state. This product takes a little longer to be effective in your tank but has a shelf life of over 5 years and can be frozen with no issues.

 

[Empress]

Ok. I understand so far, but I'm not using copper right now. But I am using Furan/Kanaplex/General Cure for a real nasty bacterial infection on my Kole Tang and black ich on my Foxface. I've been fighting this for about month now and the medications are starting to destroy my filter. So I was thinking of adding a bacteria to help replenish the water quality. I am doing frequent water changes and rinsing out the sponges that are in the sump but I don't think they're helping that much. I have the skimmer on only when I'm home because it overflows constantly (because of the meds).

What do you think I should do? Water quality is deteriorating and fish are losing battle with infection.

240 DT. Thanks for all your help.

 

[Humblefish]

@Empress Is it the bacterial infection you can't get rid of or the black ich? Sometimes for black ich you have to resort to using formalin.

The infection probably won't completely go away until the underlying problem (the turbellarians) is resolved.

 

[Empress]

Yeah it's the bacterial on the kole. I started Kana/furan about a month ago. It went away (or so I thought it did). Then it came back. So I decided to add Metro to the mix. That didn't do the trick either so now I'm stuck. Wondering if he's become tolerant to the meds. So I'm try to figure out what else I could try. There's Neomycin. I've never tried it. Wonder if that would work.

For the fox, I'm using General Cure since it is Praziquantel and Metro mix in the powder form. I'm using Focus, but not sure how good it's working. Fish are getting smarter by day and spitting it out. If only I could force it down their stubborn little throats!

What else is there that I can mix with Focus for the Kole? He's in my DT.

As far as the Foxface goes I think he'll get over it in time with clean water and healthy food.

 

[Humblefish]

@Empress Just so we're on the same page ... Are you dosing the antibiotics into the water or just food soaking them?

 

[melypr1985]

If food soaking isn't working, then you'll need to put them in QT and dose the water. It's notoriously slow working especially when feeding the meds. That's what I would do.... QT and dose the water.

 

[Empress]

@Empress Just so we're on the same page ... Are you dosing the antibiotics into the water or just food soaking them?

Been adding to food with Focus.

 

[Empress]

If food soaking isn't working, then you'll need to put them in QT and dose the water. It's notoriously slow working especially when feeding the meds. That's what I would do.... QT and dose the water.

How much would I dose into the water in a 20g QT?

 

[Humblefish]

How much would I dose into the water in a 20g QT?

Which medication? For General Cure it's one packet per 10 gals.

 

[Empress]

I need formalin asap but I can't find it anywhere! Is there formalin in Rally? Also doesn't General Cure contain Praziquantel for black ick? I'm trying to cure my tangs and Foxface of black ick and a severe bacterial infection. They're going downhill fast.

I really need some formalin or what else will kill black ick?

 

[melypr1985]

I need formalin asap but I can't find it anywhere! Is there formalin in Rally? Also doesn't General Cure contain Praziquantel for black ick? I'm trying to cure my tangs and Foxface of black ick and a severe bacterial infection. They're going downhill fast.

I really need some formalin or what else will kill black ick?

Quick cure will contain formalin and should be readily available at most LFS's. A freshwater dip will kill them, but not all of course. So you could do a freshwater dip to clear a good portion of them off while you try to find formalin. Yes, General Cure does contain Prazi so you can use that to treat with as well.