Hospital Tanks

[Squid]

Hello..

I have just set up a RIO 180, and need to throw out the old tank before it makes the carpet a little damper than i would like..

I have recently had one of my poor little pandas struck by a bacterial infection. Luckily i took him straight out of the tank, and put him in the old tank (which was emptied of fish a few days before hand into the new tank, but left up and running for a while just in case the new fish had any problems). Hes still alive, and hopefully can be put back in the main tank in a few days..

But.. once he has gone back, i need to get rid of that tank. I like the idea of having a separate hospital tank so that i can remove the sick fish and minimise the impact on the others. So im wondering what i should replace it with. There are a number of considerations i expect, such as size and type of fish, but i was wondering what size tanks you all had as hospital tanks for your fish, and which type of fish they support?.. im trying to be a little pro-active, rather than panicking when it occurs.

I guess this may also depend on if you have a secondary filter in the main tank that you switch to the hospital tank to help with cycling issues, or whether you are having to do frequent water changes instead, and so need to have the smallest tank possible/safely possible to make this easier.

any comments on how you help the stats remain safe, or keep the hospital tank cycled would be of interest too..

Cheers
Squid

 

[diademhill]

Your hospital tank needs to be large enough to house the largest fish you have, or may have.
I currently have two - 40 litres & 180 litres. I keep a hydor thermofilter & a fluval 4 running in established tanks so I have a mature filter ready at all times and can set up a hospital tank at a moments notice. An 18x12x12 tank would probably suffice to back up a rio 180.

 

[Squid]

appreciate you comments diademhill

is that an 11g tank?

The largest fish i have will be the Angelfish when they are adult.. they are just whipper snappers at the moment. the current largest fish is the 5" spotted raphael.. thats about as big as he gets.

I have the old fluval plus 2 filter still.. is that too big for an 11g tank.

If i dont have that filter up and running, and i get an integral one with a new tank.. then my local lfs supplies bactinnettes (bacteria) which i can use to seed the hospital tank..

appreciate you comments

Squid

 

[diademhill]

appreciate you comments diademhill

is that an 11g tank?

The largest fish i have will be the Angelfish when they are adult.. they are just whipper snappers at the moment. the current largest fish is the 5" spotted raphael.. thats about as big as he gets.

I have the old fluval plus 2 filter still.. is that too big for an 11g tank.

If i dont have that filter up and running, and i get an integral one with a new tank.. then my local lfs supplies bactinnettes (bacteria) which i can use to seed the hospital tank..

appreciate you comments

Squid

Keep the fluval 2 but drop it's sponge in the Juwel filter stack under the top polypad - it will keep a colony if you do this & can be put back in the fluval when needed.
You also need a spare heater and a cover for the tank - you don't have to have lighting but do need to be able to see the fish at times although a table lamp will suffice.
The tank really ought to be 15" high for angels but 12" willl do short term.

HTH
Sue

 

[Tolak]

A 10 gallon usually works fine as a hospital tank, I've used them for everything from platys to angels. If you have longer fish, a 20 long would be an option. I have one of those in case one of my Dad's common plecs gets sick.

I have numerous tanks with multiple filters on all of them. If I need to set up a tank for medicating a sick fish, I put one of the spare cycled filters & a heater in a tank.

 

[millym]

hi
we have a little acrylic hosp tank its probably about 16L at most. ( our biggest fish is our 4 inch yoyo who thankfully has not needed to go in there.
i always keep a little square of filter sponge in our big tank external filter that i can bung in a little spare fluval 1 hang on filter for when we need it. the tank was really cheap at one of those big pets r us type places & came with a lid. we dont bother with a light or heater as our flat is always very warm & we make sure the tank if in use in winter is kept up near a radiator. i do stick a thermometer in though to check the temp.

 

[piper]

This is a good post squid, I have been wondering the same thing my self.

I have a 70Gal tank and am going to set up dual filters (and heaters) on but am unsure what size Hospital tank to get. I'm not going to stock anything bigger than 5" can anyone surgest a suitable size.