Quarantine Hospital Tanks ~ Guidance Needed BIG Time

[linda lee]

<u>Nothing will ever go into any of my tanks again without quarantine</u>. Period. Whether it's from an online order, LFS or (no offense) a fellow ARC'er. It's too heartbreaking when a fish dies.

I'm @ work now and don't have any research time, but I want to read everything I can lay my eyes on when I get home. I'm just asking for links so I can do a lot of studying this evening.

If you know of a thread, article, website, book, heck even a Post-It Note with any information on these two subjects (QT & Hospital Tanks), <u>please</u> post the link.

Most baffling to me right now:

1 ~ Water Parameters ~ in the system/display tank as compared to a quarantine tank and as compared to a hospital tank and reliable accurate tests/devices to monitor all these (wondering if those cheap meters from EBay are accurate enough when the life of a fish hangs in the balance since these parameters have to be so precise).

2 ~ Set Up ~ Lights/filtration/heater in QT & Hospital Tanks and do you keep these tanks running and established at all times or set them up on the fly as needed.

3 ~ Non Fish ~ What about new inverts, new corals, new live rock & new live sand introduced to existing display systems. QT these? How?

4 ~ FW Dip ~ What to dip and what not to dip.

I know I've taken up time with some of ya'll in the past on this topic, both here and on the phone. Not looking to beat a dead horse ~ just requesting links so I can saturate myself with knowledge.

Thanks in advance.

~LLL

(Of course, if you just WANT to ramble along regarding this topic in response to this thread on the chance it might help others, feel free. I just get the impression that's already been done and that some readers got impatient with the whole subject.)

 

[jeep9783]

I always do a 30sec to 60sec fw dip on any new coral, or fish unless i all out know that the persons tank it is coming from knows there stuff BIG D.

Chris

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Linda, Again I a SO SORRY to hear of ya'lls loss, and I DO feel your pain!!!

I hope I can answer a few of your questions (Which if you need a better explination, the Ich artical went into a bunch of this).

A QT tanks does not have to be running all the time. I have three in my home, a 10 gal, a 20 gal and a 29 gal. The 29 gallon is used as my hospital tank because it has had copper in it once before and once you treat a tank with meds, that is all you should use it for IMHO. I have to 20 gallon running right now (Yes I do practice what I preach!) It is really cheap to set up and maintain. All that is in there is a heater (which is not really needed in the summer time), a cheap t-12 light, a HOB filter like a penguin, and some PVC in the tank for the fish to hide and swim through. That is it, that is all you need. I put the fliters for the QT tank in my sump if I think I am going to need them in the next month. For the water for the QT, I use tank water when I need to set it up, I know the water in my main tank is parasite free and clean. If you do not know this or are trying to rid your main tank of a problem, make up fresh water for the QT. BTW: all the above is the same for a hospital tank! Now you are going to have to do watter changes more often in a qt, I usually do atleast once a week. but I also feed very little while in QT as not to make alot of waste. This should keep your ammonia levels in check. When the QT is done, I drain the tank, rinse it out with bleach, rinse out all the bleach and store it on a shelf till needed again.

I QT EVERYTHING (Well almost). The rock that I picked up for the 40 gallon went in the 20 gallon for three weeks, I looked for any nasty bugs or mantis shrimp I did not want in my main tank. I QT sand if I am not going to let it "spoil", Ich "hatches" in the sand so bringing sand into your tank for another is one of the riskiest ways to bring in Ich. I DO NOT QT corals, that is because I use Pro Coral Cure to give them a 20 min dip and that stuff will kill any bug or worm that I have tested to see if it will (red bugs, flat worms, pods, bristle worms, nudis, all of them).

As far as FW dipping a fish before it hits QT, I am kind of torn on this issue. I normally do it after QT before it hits the main tank just as an extra causion UNLESS I know the fish going in QT has a problem before it goes in there. So to explain, if I am pulling a fish from a tank because of Ich, I dip. If I am getting a fish from online, I do not dip first but I will dip after QT.

I hope all that helps... you have my number if need be!

 

[dakota9]

Sorry you lost a fish Linda, you seem very in-tuned to animals and I'm certain things like this hit you hard.....

Over 20 years experience with FO, FOWLR, full blown reef and freshwater tanks, I've learned a lot of opinions on QT tanks, and a few very hard FACTS. Ignoring the opinions, and going with only the facts I know to be true.......

Using tank water from your display tank is best, as it saves the new/sick livestock from having to acclimate to new water chemistry an extra time.

QTing a very fast swimmer or large fish in too small a OT tank will stress them out, perhaps doing more damage than good. Use a QT tank that fits the fishes you're most likely to purchase.

Weigh your options on QTing a photo-sensitive invert. Lighting in QT and the display are probably vastly different, possibly creating more stress than the QT was worth, once placed in the display.

The best way to ensure you are buying a healthy fish is to watch it for 2 weeks. You miss A LOT of really cool aquisitions this way, as someone else will snatch up the prettiest or best priced, but if after 2 weeks in a LFS it is healthy and eating, you can be relatively certain you'll have good luck with it. I know that might sound silly to some, and totally rules out impulse purchases, but I personally have only had one case of Ick (a Blue Tang) in 1989, with no diseases since (not to say I've not lost fish to other reasons, including stupidity).

 

[xyzpdq0121]

See I have to disagree with Dakota. I went by Nemo today and they have Ich all over their tanks. There is no way you can buy a fish from them and not bring it into your tank. That that I don't believe that Dakota has been Ich free since 1989, I just say he either A) has not brought fish in from any LFS that I have seen or B) has the best luck in the world and is nominated to buy the ARC lottery pools tickets the next go around.

Lighting a QT is pretty easy, use the bulbs that some of us use for our fuges. It is not the prettiest light (5100K) but it has your best par for your punch. Now the only thing I would be QTing is a clam if anything but everything else, I would just dip and be done with it. Most anything bad will be killed with a good dip. But if you needed to QT a coral or a clam, it can be done, with a CHEAP shop light. FYI: I QT my clams atleast for a few day and as a Note, I bought one from a LFS a few weeks back that came with about 12 flatworms on it. The QT was the ONLY way that I saw them before the clam hit my tank.

Yes you should match your QT size to the size of a fish that you are going to place in there. Or make it about 25% the size of your main system is my good rule of thumb. But I totally disagree that a QT could ever do more harm then good. Heck I saw a queen angel in a 10 gal tank at Nemo today so any QT that you set up is better for them then being in the store!

Again Using tank water from your display is FINE as long as you KNOW your system water is illness free. If your display tank has Ich or Brook in it and you use that water for your QT, you are just reinfecting your fish and making your job harder.

 

[dakota9]

Brandon, I don't think you've really disagreed with me.....

Sounds like Nemo has a huge problem. Any fish that could survive in their tanks for two weeks w/o getting Ick is pretty bullet-proof, coupled with a good QT, that fish would be golden. But true, I'd never buy a fish at any store that showed signs of Ick in any of the tanks.

I'm not big on QTing inverts either. QTing an anemone or sps for 2 weeks under 5100K and then moving to a display of 15000K would be an uneeded stress, best to dip those.

I had a box puffer once, they tend to sulk when you move them, stopped eating a few days and just swam in the top corner of the QT tank when introduced, with little inclination to do anything else. Mine adjusted once to the QT tank but never ate again after hitting the display tank. I hate seeing that behavior in a fish! Oddly, I think he'd been fine if he went directly to the display.

Your last point is totally lost on me....... I've not had ick in a tank ( or atleast an outbreak) in 16 years, I couldn't imagine why an aquarist would introduce a new specimen to an infected tank. Isn't that kind of like having an STD and not telling your partner? The day I get an outbreak of it is the day I proclaim it full of fish. After all, this last incarnation of the tank is only 3 years old (give or take) and still only has 2 fish.

Being completely honest, I know very little about fish diseases, (you wont see me post much on threads concerning true disease) as we tend to research that information we have to know. Being that I've not had the problems that seem to plaque others, my methods do seem to work for me.