quarantaine tank

[StiffMeister]

guys,

how large should a bit of quarantaine tank be? i have found my small tank where i used to keep young goldfish. its 45 x 28 x 28 cm. can i use this as a proper q. tank or is this much too small. i know the fish i'm ( planning to) keeping are quite large for this tank. especially as i ordered 5 fish (they are now young and small, but later on...) for next week. should i put them in this tank first? and what should i put in this tank?? i have a filter, oxigen pump and some plastic plants. also sand or something on the bottom? I dont have any light or top for this tank... hope u can give me some advise as i might need to ready this tank for next week.

cheers

[MackIntheBox]

It is really going to depend on how many fish you have and their sizes. That tank is about a 10 gallon tank, I have a tank about that size I will be using for a Q-Tank. Mine will be bare glass, have an internal filter, and an airstone. I think a 20 gallon tank would probably make a better Q-Tank for some of the larger fish, it really depends on the size of the fish.

[StiffMeister]

but shud i put my ordered fish in Q. as they arrive? cuz i only have this small tank...

[ClayT101]

(they are now young and small, but later on...)

If they are small now, I say use it. I find its best to always quarinitine my fish, especially if they are wild caught.

[MackIntheBox]

(they are now young and small, but later on...)

If they are small now, I say use it. I find its best to always quarinitine my fish, especially if they are wild caught.

I agree, always want to quarantine new fish, if they will fit in the tank you definitely want to quaratine.

[spiny]

I used a 10 gallon/ 40 litre tank quarantining 10 tetras, a few dwarf cichlids and some Corys. No problem, and they were there for weeks. I changed 20% water each week, had a large outer filter, and the nitrate values never rose high. I used some tree roots to slow down the current fom the rather overdimensioned filter, and this worked out extremely well, when positioned right.
They could have lived there permanently I think, but of course a larger tank is easier to get balanced.

[StiffMeister]

well, my filter aint all that... id rather keep them in there short... especially cuz i aint got not real top with lights and stuff... should 1 week do the trick?? wont they be extra stressed when i have to take them out again and put m into the large tank?

[StiffMeister]

yet another question... shud i put anything on the bottom? sand or something? and will plastic plants be good enough?? cuz my other tank is filled with both.

[MackIntheBox]

A quarantine tank doesnt require anyhting but water and a filter. When I finally setup my Q-Tank it will be bare glass, with an internal filter, maybe a airstone depending on serface agitation. the quarantine tank is there just to make sure youre not introducing a fish into the community tank that could potentially infect others with any diseases, etc. It doesnt need anything special ;)

My only real question is how long should the fish be quarantined? I would think that 1 week would be long enough to see the symptoms of anything that you may need to treat. if the fish looks healthy, is eating and active after a week i think it would be fine to introsuce into the sommunity tank.

[Crazie.Eddie]

You can keep it bare glass, but I would put substrate on it. Putting a new fish in a strange environment, then seeing a reflection of itself, would probably stress it even more. Plus having substrate would allow nitrifying bacteria to grow on. My 10 gal QT tank has an Emperor 280 filter and powerhead. After the recovery of any fish, I would sterilize everything (including the filter), change the media, then move the Emperor 280 filter to my 55 gallon tank, so that the bacteria from the tank would colonize the 280. After 2 months or so, I would move the 280 back to the 10 gallon tank so that the bacteria from the filter would colonize the rest of the tank.