Specific Questions on Quarentine

mcosta528 · 07/30/2010, 04:43 PM

I have a list of questions for maintaining a quarentine tank, determining bioload, and keeping my precious fish alive. I have 5 fish, 3 are 3" long, and 2 are "4 " long. I need a quarentine tank for them. I plan on setting up a basic small tank around 20 GALLONS (if recpmended it will be changed). I read about the biowheel. i have a few questions that could help me out alot with being confident during the procedures.

1) How do i seed the biowheel, should i just use tank water? and then wait for the amonia spike? Or put the sponge in the main tank for a little while?

2) how can i keep 5 fish in a 20 gallon tank with out proper filtration? Is it because fish are more hardy? what is the proper way to care for the total bioload of 5 fish who may have ich in 20 gallons?

3) how often are water changes needed? how often to test for proper water parameters in such a small tank?

4) should i use a light? or a cheap pc light, or cheap light? or is that bad for algae if i use cheap lights that produce a wavelength which benefit algae?

rayn · 07/30/2010, 05:07 PM

Preferably only one fish in QT at a time, but I they all have ich you can try. Biggest problem is if one gets sick half way through with something else you have to start all over.
Go with the biggest tank you can do, I have two QT tanks with one fish each and both are 29 gallons.
cheap light will work just for observation purposes.
Put your biowheel in your sump or DT if no sump for about a month to seed it for QT.
Watch parameters an get a ammonia disk, cheap insurance and a constant quick check. Check all others atleast every other day to be safe win that many fish too.

Chris27 · 07/31/2010, 07:36 AM

I test my QT for copper and salinity, that's about it. There is really no need to test alk, pH or anything else. Of course when you're setting up your filter in the beginning, you'll want to test to verify the cycle, but after that all you'll need is a quick ammonia check every once in a while just for piece of mind.

Chris27 · 07/31/2010, 07:39 AM

What are the 5 fish you're talking about QT'ing - 5 small guys will have no problem in a 20L - but 5 big guys might.

FWIW, I once had 2 puffers, a tang, a snowflake eel, two chromis, and two clowns in a 20L QT....I just had an aquaclear 110 loaded to the gills with sponge and biomax on there.

Jstdv8 · 07/31/2010, 11:07 AM

agreed, no reason you can't Qt all those fish unless you think they won't get along in tight quarters.
If you have 2 wheels for your filter and you need to get started rigth away you could put both in your sump or DT for a few days (or as long as you can wait) so that it gets going a bit, and then switch it out with the other one in a few weeks when the second one is good and seeded.
If you are using copper be sure to dispose of the wheel when you are done.

Maybe you could help us help you if you told us what sort of treatment you are planning in the QT?

And if you think the bioload might overpower your biowheel just do more frequent water changes.
I've never used them but I've heard that the ammonia discs are the cats meow for QT's to keep track of ammonia

mcosta528 · 10/23/2010, 02:25 PM

thank you for all your assistance, i appreciate the input and you helped get a better idea of quarantine tanks/procedures

1) the fish got healthier with selcon/vitamin c soaking on different schedules.
2) Quarantine is currently being used for cleaner/peppermint shrimp when I aqua scape. I lost my first shrimp when i moved a rock and a dead spot shot up a whole bunch of detritus. My nitrates rose and in turn my shrimp died

After noticing the spike, i put my shrimp in quarantine from now on if i'm moving rocks around in case of any unknown dead spots. Thanks a lot guys for the info, you helped me a lot. And sorry for the extremely delayed post, i'm hardly ever on this site, and rarely post anything because most of my questions are answered by other people having the same question as me.

07/30/2010, 04:43 PM	#1
mcosta528 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: NJ Posts: 105	Specific Questions on Quarentine I have a list of questions for maintaining a quarentine tank, determining bioload, and keeping my precious fish alive. I have 5 fish, 3 are 3" long, and 2 are "4 " long. I need a quarentine tank for them. I plan on setting up a basic small tank around 20 GALLONS (if recpmended it will be changed). I read about the biowheel. i have a few questions that could help me out alot with being confident during the procedures. 1) How do i seed the biowheel, should i just use tank water? and then wait for the amonia spike? Or put the sponge in the main tank for a little while? 2) how can i keep 5 fish in a 20 gallon tank with out proper filtration? Is it because fish are more hardy? what is the proper way to care for the total bioload of 5 fish who may have ich in 20 gallons? 3) how often are water changes needed? how often to test for proper water parameters in such a small tank? 4) should i use a light? or a cheap pc light, or cheap light? or is that bad for algae if i use cheap lights that produce a wavelength which benefit algae?

07/30/2010, 05:07 PM	#2
rayn Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Pekin, Il Posts: 2,864	Preferably only one fish in QT at a time, but I they all have ich you can try. Biggest problem is if one gets sick half way through with something else you have to start all over. Go with the biggest tank you can do, I have two QT tanks with one fish each and both are 29 gallons. cheap light will work just for observation purposes. Put your biowheel in your sump or DT if no sump for about a month to seed it for QT. Watch parameters an get a ammonia disk, cheap insurance and a constant quick check. Check all others atleast every other day to be safe win that many fish too. __________________ Currently changing, stay tuned for new details...

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07/31/2010, 07:36 AM	#3
Chris27 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 4,452	I test my QT for copper and salinity, that's about it. There is really no need to test alk, pH or anything else. Of course when you're setting up your filter in the beginning, you'll want to test to verify the cycle, but after that all you'll need is a quick ammonia check every once in a while just for piece of mind.

07/31/2010, 07:39 AM	#4
Chris27 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 4,452	What are the 5 fish you're talking about QT'ing - 5 small guys will have no problem in a 20L - but 5 big guys might. FWIW, I once had 2 puffers, a tang, a snowflake eel, two chromis, and two clowns in a 20L QT....I just had an aquaclear 110 loaded to the gills with sponge and biomax on there.

07/31/2010, 11:07 AM	#5
Jstdv8 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Wasilla, Alaska Posts: 1,420	agreed, no reason you can't Qt all those fish unless you think they won't get along in tight quarters. If you have 2 wheels for your filter and you need to get started rigth away you could put both in your sump or DT for a few days (or as long as you can wait) so that it gets going a bit, and then switch it out with the other one in a few weeks when the second one is good and seeded. If you are using copper be sure to dispose of the wheel when you are done. Maybe you could help us help you if you told us what sort of treatment you are planning in the QT? And if you think the bioload might overpower your biowheel just do more frequent water changes. I've never used them but I've heard that the ammonia discs are the cats meow for QT's to keep track of ammonia

10/23/2010, 02:25 PM	#6
mcosta528 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: NJ Posts: 105	thank you for all your assistance, i appreciate the input and you helped get a better idea of quarantine tanks/procedures 1) the fish got healthier with selcon/vitamin c soaking on different schedules. 2) Quarantine is currently being used for cleaner/peppermint shrimp when I aqua scape. I lost my first shrimp when i moved a rock and a dead spot shot up a whole bunch of detritus. My nitrates rose and in turn my shrimp died After noticing the spike, i put my shrimp in quarantine from now on if i'm moving rocks around in case of any unknown dead spots. Thanks a lot guys for the info, you helped me a lot. And sorry for the extremely delayed post, i'm hardly ever on this site, and rarely post anything because most of my questions are answered by other people having the same question as me.