Quarantine tank

[RyanG]

When I get my system up and running I am going to buy fish and corals, logical I know. I would like to quarantine everything even my corals(kinda panthophobic) so I know Im going to need lighting. Ive heard of people quartantining their fish with copper, Is this a good idea or not so much. I know that if I do go the copper route I will have to set up another tank to quartine my coral. Do I need to run a skimmer on a quarantine tank or just a filter system?

Do you guys think that its worth quarantining corals?
Copper good or bad for fish only quarantine?
What do I need for a quarantine tank?

 

[yote]

All you need for a quarantine is a HOB filter of some sort and a heater,maybe a cheap light.
I personally wouldnt add any copper or any other medications unless you got a sick fish.JMO
I dont have a quarantine tank,but I watch a fish I'm thinking about at the store.But since I help out there fairly regular,that as good as a quarantine.
I dont quarantine corals either.I do how ever dip them in either freshwater or lugols iodine.

 

[cthegame]

Ryan, i tink its very good that you consider quarantinining before you add to your display tank. I do this as well.

For a QT, all you need is a heater, a small filter, a powerhead and a place for the fish to hide.

I dont think you need to quarantine your corals, but you can. I quarantine new comers in copper for apporx. 2 weeks. Im talking about fish only. not inverts or corals. Copper will kill them. Just fish.

The reason i quarantine them in medication is to kill any ich, internal parasite the fish might have. else, they will just remain in the QT. so for me, without medication, the only purpose a QT would have would be for territorial issues or other stress...not any diseases.

 

[RyanG]

Cthegame that is my line of thinking also, QT can be used just to see if anydiseases might occur with no meds. Do you go bare bottom? Live Rock or just some PVC pieces to hide in? What Meds do you put in your QT? Most importantly what size tank should I use? I do want to have some larger fish(tangs or angels maybe if I get brave)

Yote just dipping your corals will remove things like flatworms and other nasties?

 

[cthegame]

Cthegame that is my line of thinking also, QT can be used just to see if anydiseases might occur with no meds. Do you go bare bottom? Live Rock or just some PVC pieces to hide in? What Meds do you put in your QT? Most importantly what size tank should I use? I do want to have some larger fish(tangs or angels maybe if I get brave)

Yote just dipping your corals will remove things like flatworms and other nasties?

Dont put any live rock or sand in your QT. Just bare with PVC. The rock and sand will absorb the copper and you can consider that rock, sand & medication useless. So just use a piece of pvc.

As for the size, that all depends on you. Mine is a simple 10 gallon tank i bought for $10. If you want to go a little bigger go for it...

And yes, you can use a QT to see if any diseases will occur at which point you're going to medicate it anyways to treat the disease. But this might be too late by the time you find out the fish is infected. So i simply put the new fish in medicated water to start the healing process right away whether i know the fish has any diseases or not. After 2 weeks if fish looks & acts healthy, i will put it in the DT.

 

[Bifferwine]

Corals don't need to be quarantined, dipping them in iodine or freshwater will do the trick.

I don't quarantine any of my fish because all the fish at my LFS are kept in medicated (copper) tanks until they are sold. All inverts are kept on a totally separate system.

 

[Altohombre]

why dip in iodine if you can use free freshwater?

 

[yote]

Usually a freshater dip will remove 90% of pests from the coral.The exception is the eggs.
Alto,I use the iodine sometimes because my LFS will give corals that arent doing so good.I bring them home,try to get them healthy again.If I can bring them back,depending on if I like it or not,I'll take them back to the store and swap them for dry goods.Stuff like salt,foods,and such.Works out good for me.

 

[Bifferwine]

Some corals can't be dipped in freshwater, i.e. SPS.

 

[yote]

Some corals can't be dipped in freshwater, i.e. SPS.

I have to disagree Biff.
I gave all my SPS corals a freshwater bath before adding them to my tank.I pour RO water over them for just a few seconds to remove any redbugs that may be on them.
As long as the polyps are closed it doesnt hurt them,and hasnt caused me any problems to date.

 

[Bifferwine]

You are probably right Yote, but the only corals I dip in freshwater are softies like zoas. Everyone else gets iodined.

 

[fatman]

Iodine for the SPS. I use a bare 10 gallon tank for quarantine of other peoples (customers) fish before installing in their tanks. I float a one gallon jug filled with the next days water in the tank for 24 hours (convenient exact temperature adjustments) with an airline. I mix up twenty five gallons of water in one container for the quarantine tank and therefore typically only quarantine 14 or 15 days unless something turns up. The tank is heated and unfiltered. I use acrylic pipe of several sizes in the tank for fish caves (even some large fish like little caves, and vice versa). I add nothing to the water unless needed. I keep the tank in my living room so as to view it often, and provide only normal room lighting. Surprisingly, if there are no signs of illness during the start of the quarantine about 90% do fine during quarantine without any treatment, about 5% die unexpectedly without showing any physical signs of illness, parasites or injury and about 5 percent need to be treated. Generally for Ich.