Quarantine Basics

[sphenta]

Thank you. I think I will just QT the fish and keep an eye on things. Hate to medicate healthy fish. Kind of like "if it's not broken, don't fix it."

[AnimalBabe]

I am thinking of ordering a fish from an online site and having it delivered. I would like to quarantine the fish before adding it to my tank. I've read thru this thread and want to make sure I'll be doing this correctly. I have a 20 Gal tank to use as a quarantine tank, and a cheap whisper filter for that. Besides that I don't need anything but the heater and salt water, not even sand, correct? Also, by "cycling" I assume that means letting the filter run for awhile to build up the good bacteria like I did with my larger tank? How long exactly do you have to do this for? I had the whisper filter running on my larger tank for about a month. Also, it's been mentioned that you can break down the quarantine tank when not in use....so nothing bad will grow in the unused filter while you do that and you won't need to cycle it again?? Is that correct? Sorry for all the questions...just want to make sure I'm clear on the procedure.

[Pure]

All the QT tank needs in it is water. Most QT tanks are kept bare bottomed in order to keep it clean easier. Also keeping it bare bottomed allows you to see just how much your fish is eating. Food goes in poo comes out. No poo means he's not eating.

Theres more to cycling a filter than just running it. There has to be a source of ammonia or the beneficial bacteria will never grow. Cycle time varies but usually your looking at about a month before fish can be added. Read this guide to fishless cycling. Fishless Cycling - Everything You Wanted to know... It's geared towards fresh water but the same principle applies to salt water.

It's recommended to break down your QT tank when not in use to help prevent you from being tempted to put fish in it and make it a second full time aquarium. Really no need to worry about nasties growing in the filter. It's just the nature of the beast to want to keep more fish. MTS eventually gets us all.

Multiple Tank Syndrome

[AnimalBabe]

Thanks for your help. Another question, when doing a water change on the main tank, could I use some of that water and add it to the QT?

And if I've had the QT filter running on the main tank alongside my other filter, then in theory shouldn't it should already have the good bacteria developed and be able to be used right away on the QT? I suppose I'm confused as to how often you need to cycle the QT tank. If you notice a sick fish and want to treat it asap, then in theory you'd need to transfer it right away to the QT tank. If you had already prepped the QT filter by letting that accumulate good bacteria, then you can just put that on a QT tank and add saltwater and you're good to go right away?? Thanks again.

[Lorna]

many people keep a small sponge or something in their sump to use to jump start a cycle for qt if needed.