Hospital Tank

[Elisabeth83]

This might be a silly question but.... )

I was thinking of setting up a little hospital tank so I don't have to treat my big tanks if my fish have a disease. How would I keep the benificial bacteria alive in the hospital tank if there arn't fish in there all the time?

What about if I treat a fish that has something really contagious...do I then have to strip down the hospital tank and steralize everything?

 

[reg2k2]

1) Some medicines likely to wipe out the bacteria anyway, so not always a concern. In these cases, levels can kept down thru frequent water changes.

2) Run a separate filter in the main, and add to q/t when necessary.

do I then have to strip down the hospital tank and steralize everything?

Recommended.

 

[steelhealr]

Hi...I have a 10g hospital tank/quarantine tank. I keep a few very small fish in it to keep it cycled. I also threw in a small piece of driftwood for hiding and a few plants. It actually looks 'comfy'. SH

 

[gale]

I would definitely keep it free of gravel and ornaments, or just a very little bit of gravel that you wouldn't mind throwing out. It would be a lot easier to sterilize if it's just the tank and nothing else.

 

[WILDER]

Just get the hospital tank out when needed and take some mature filter sponge from main tank and put in your filter for the hospital set up, you don't always need a filter, just do daily water changes and net the waste material out, don't need gravel as if you have to remove waste it best for the tank to be bottom less.

 

[yvez9]

usually, q tanks will only have a sponge filter
what i did, i put the sponge in one of my aquaclear filters two weeks before i needed it (it was for a breeding tank)

so just let the sponge or some floss (if you wil be using a power filter) in a running filter at all times

 

[steelhealr]

Would not keep it devoid of ornaments per se. Fish under treatment are STRESSED. They are pulled from their larger tank, thrown in a smaller one and then dosed with medication. If you don't want to put in gravel, etc , make sure you give the poor fish a place to hide or find refuge. A plastic plant ornament or terra cot aquarium pot turned on it' side will do the trick. SH

 

[WILDER]

Yes I agree I always put an ornament in for my fish to hide away in as not to stress them out even more.

 

[Elisabeth83]

thanks for all the advice

I probably wouldn't use any gravel or sand in the tank but I'd probably add a couple plastic plants floating so the fish wouldn't get too stressed out.

Another question though...I thought most diseases are contagious so wouldn't the chances of another fish in the main tank getting it be high? Then you'd just have to treat the main tank anyway?

 

[WILDER]

Hospitals tanks are good as they also can be used for quarantine of new fish, if a fish has something contagious it best to sterlise the hospital tank afterwards and boil the sponge to sterilise that, it depends on what the fish has , if it is contagious you are better treating the whole tank.

 

[Def]

I have a spare (ie: second) filter in a main tank. When I need fresh, cycled filter media I take some out of there and replace it with new media. I put the cycled media into a separate filter that is only used for the quarantine tank. I then keep the media cycled with pure ammonia when there are no fish in it. I use plastic plants and logs to fill up the quarantine tank and break things up a little, the bare glass bottom tends to stress the fish out a little but they get used to it.

 

[pahansen]

I have heard of people blackening the bottom of a quarantine tank so that the fish don't stress so easily. That way you don't have to worry about sterilizing or throwing out gravel. Having never done this myself, I'm not sure exactly how to do it, though. I assume some sort or aquarium safe paint? Anyone?

 

[Polardbear]

You can paint the outside bottom of the tank black with an enamel paint.

I usually put a thin layer of gravel in my hospital tanks and several plastic plants and an ornament so the sick fish feels more comfy. I have a bunch of leftover gravel from my 55 gallon so I don't care if I end up having to throw it away. The plants and ornaments I usually wash afterwards in hot water and bleach and then set out in the sun.

It depends on what the fish is sick with if I'm going to treat individually or the whole tank. Some of the contagious diseases will only effect other fish if they have weakend immune systems. If you catch a problem early and isolate the fish showing the first symptoms a lot of times it won't spread to the whole tank. You just need to keep a real close eye on everyone else while your treating the first one.

I also keep an extra filter running on my main tanks so that I can quickly set up a hospital tank. A sponge filter that you can keep in your main tank and then move to a hospital ward is also an excellent idea.

Definately try to sterilize or bleach everything after you are done treating.

 

[steelhealr]

Elisabeth...sometimes if you identify a fish with a disease, you can net him out and get him into the hospital tank and treat it without necessarily having to treat the whole primary tank. You have to be carefull and observant. Some fish are susceptible to certain parasites, ich for eg. Hatchetfish in particular. Months ago I had two dwarf red gouramis come down with some skin manifestation in my large tank. I netted them out and treated them with Melafix. One didn't make it but the other survived. He is back in the big tank and happy. I didn't have to treat the large tank (no one came up with the same problem). It's a tough thing...getting attached to your fish and tank....and then someone come's down with a 'bug' and you have to figure out what it is and how to treat. Sometimes rapidly. A hospital tank/quarantine tank is definitely the way to go...good luck with your setup. SH