If I Have A Hospital Tank....

[mancin]

...will I have the willpower to not get fish for it?

In all honesty, I have 2 tanks going now and it's probably in my best interest to have a hospital/quarantine/fry tank. I'm thinking either 10 or 20 Gallons.

 

[Mikaila31]

I didn't

My quarantine/ hospital tank lasted maybe 4 months. I really started to get the hang of things, so I only needed it for quarantine. Other than that it serves as a fry tank and once I restock my 55gal it will be used as a breeding tank. The 15gal quarantine tank does have permanent inhabitants. I bought a school of pygmy cories, I didn't really know were to put them, so I decided they could just stay in quarantine forever. All my fish that don't really have a tank tend to end up forever quarantined.....

 

[fatheadminnow]

A good thing to do if you want a quarantine tank, and dont want to add fish to it, or what to fight the urge to add fish to it is.

Focus on making a very nice looking heavily planted tank, and then when needed add fish to quarantine.

Planted tanks look very nice.

-FHM

 

[CKutz]

I didn't

My quarantine/ hospital tank lasted maybe 4 months. I really started to get the hang of things, so I only needed it for quarantine. Other than that it serves as a fry tank and once I restock my 55gal it will be used as a breeding tank. The 15gal quarantine tank does have permanent inhabitants. I bought a school of pygmy cories, I didn't really know were to put them, so I decided they could just stay in quarantine forever. All my fish that don't really have a tank tend to end up forever quarantined.....

hahahaha
aw i hope you make their now permanent home cool looking for them haha

i would think a 10 gallon tank would be fine for quarantine/hospital. i use a 5 gallon because my fish are all going to live in a 10 gallon (well the ones here at school).

i think the quarantine tank size would depend on what type of fish you think you'll be getting. bigger more boisterous fish, you might be better getting a 20.
but i think a lot of people use 10, and also many meds come in dosage sizes already made for 10...well a 20 wouldn't be hard though just two tablets instead of one...but still twice the cost then.
some one with a more expert opinion will probably post that is just my guess at it.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yeah, a 10 gallon quarantine tank is a pretty universal size.

A Quarantine/hospital tank usually has no substrate/decor, just a filter, this will allow you/the fish to utilize the entire space of the tank, and not have 2 gallons taken up by substrate.

Usually we only quarantine 1 fish at a time, this way we can get away having a larger fish in a smaller (10 gallon tank).

And, like Ckutz said, the med dosage will be less with a smaller tank.

-FHM

 

[mancin]

A good thing to do if you want a quarantine tank, and dont want to add fish to it, or what to fight the urge to add fish to it is.

Focus on making a very nice looking heavily planted tank, and then when needed add fish to quarantine.

Planted tanks look very nice.

-FHM

That's a good point, but I thought for hospital tanks that you should leave it pretty bare?

Edit: FHM you beat me to it!

 

[CKutz]

wow just saw this...jeeze i'm sorry..freaking internet gets a little slow and i get impatient somtimes..

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

It might help to only have it set up when you need to hospitalize/quarantine fish. Take it all apart when the process is done.

 

[CKutz]

..sorry refreshed the page or something..

 

[fatheadminnow]

A good thing to do if you want a quarantine tank, and dont want to add fish to it, or what to fight the urge to add fish to it is.

Focus on making a very nice looking heavily planted tank, and then when needed add fish to quarantine.

Planted tanks look very nice.

-FHM

That's a good point, but I thought for hospital tanks that you should leave it pretty bare?

Edit: FHM you beat me to it!

Man, I am doing good tonight! LOL!



-FHM

 

[mancin]

It might help to only have it set up when you need to hospitalize/quarantine fish. Take it all apart when the process is done.

That's a good idea too!!

i think the quarantine tank size would depend on what type of fish you think you'll be getting.

The biggest fish I have right now are my Klugei, and they are between 3" - 4" (the male is the bigger of the two). I don't really plan on getting anything larger than that, as once I swap out a few fish in my 55 Gallon, I'm fairly happy with the stocking. I do have a 29 Gallon that has primarily Tiger Barbs with a couple Platies and a BN Pleco. Nothing enormous. I think I would be OK with a 10 Gallon, but if a deal came around for a 20 Gallon I'd have to snatch that up! Unfortunately I'm running out of room if I have anything bigger than that.

 

[Syphoniera]

A planted tank WOULD provide a healthier environment for the quarantined fish, although many meds will damage plants, and, of course, if intestinal worms should be suspected, you'd want to have a bare-bottomed tank to inspect for nematodes which might not otherwise be visible.
On the plus side, the instant that a q tank's set up nicely, some lovely fish will come along that you'd really like to have but won't go in any other tank currently running, and look, a tank's all ready!
You can always get another Q rank...
It's a great way to gradually accumulate tanks without appearing to do so deliberately.

 

[mancin]

You can always get another Q rank...

Very true!!

 

[Inchworm]

...will I have the willpower to not get fish for it?

I never did. That's why I have so many 10 gallon single species tanks.

 

[mancin]

I never did. That's why I have so many 10 gallon single species tanks.

Nothing wrong with that if you have the space for it!.