Quarantine Tank- Stocking Issue

[Coomon10]

I plan to have a small (lets say 40-50l) quarantine tank. To aid cycling i plan to add a few platies, but on a longer term basis i need a couple of residents to a) keep the cycle(s) going and B) to make the tank look nice! I guess the 3 requirements are:
1. Must look good!
2. Small
3. Be relatively hardy since will be coming into contact with 'un-quaratined' fish

Any suggestions? I am thinking a pair of dwarf gouramis...

TIA

 

[mike_nofx]

Why dont you cycle it by putting the filter for it into your main tank? then just pull it out when you need it.

Ill assume your going to use it as a hospital tank as well? Well if you do it would probably be bad if you already have healthy fish in there, then put a sick fish in with them.

Even if you only use it as a quarantine tank, the whole point of quarantine is to show up any diseases..... So there again, you will be risking giving the disease to the current fish.

Not 100% on this, but dwarf gouramis aren't very hardy.

 

[mikster]

From what i have been told its best to just have a quarantine tank for new fish and when fish are ill, you can cycle it by running the pump in your main tank for a week or so then add your new fish to it for a couple of weeks then you can take the water out, clean it and pack it away.

Thats what i plan to do with the small tank ive just bought, i wouldnt recommend keeping new fish or sick fish with healthy fish as they might get unnecessarily ill.

If you did want it running all the time maybe use snails or something? but whatever you use i wouldnt leave them in there when you put new fish in or ill fish, swap em to the main tank.

Im a newbie at this so dont take my advice alone but thats just what i have managed to work out from using this forum.

hope this helps

mike

 

[PaulEbs]

Usually a quarantine tank is where you put your new/ill fish, which means disease is going to be apparent at some point along the line, so why put a permenent resident in there?

For easy cleaning and observation, quarantine tanks are best kept bare, maybe with a plastic plant for cover, but not much else. Especially when you start adding chemicals to kill a fungal bacteria.

 

[Coomon10]

Thanks for all the replies guys definitely like the filter idea.

Basically the only space i can find is in the living room and i don't really want an empty tank there, so i thought it could at least have some sort of continuous habitants in it since once i have used it for my clown loaches my current tank will be finished! So basically i want to make it aesthetically pleasing, am i asking too much...?

 

[dwarfgourami]

Thanks for all the replies guys definitely like the filter idea.

Basically the only space i can find is in the living room and i don't really want an empty tank there, so i thought it could at least have some sort of continuous habitants in it since once i have used it for my clown loaches my current tank will be finished! So basically i want to make it aesthetically pleasing, am i asking too much...?

The way this one goes is: you purchase a quarantine tank, but you just put a few fish in it to keep it cycled and looking pretty, swearing blind all the time that this is a temporary solution. Then you find yourself needing a quarantine tank. But your tank is full, because somehow more and more fish have crept in to it. So you buy yourself another tank, with the firm conviction that this really IS going to be your quarantine tank. But then you buy some more fish because you really don't like looking at an empty tank...... Believe me, I am currently looking for a spot that I can smuggle quarantine tank number 3 into, without the family noticing. But I really still do believe that I will be able to keep this one free for its original purpose.

Anyway, if you are looking for hardy fish for any purposes, I wouldn't go for dwarf gouramis, currently one of the frailest fish in the market.

 

[Majjie]

You're sooo right DwarfGourami

I bought a little 30litre tank with no way of putting the light on a timer - just for a hospital/quarantine tank - but then I got a bit over-run with platy fry .....

I've replaced it twice with 40 litre tanks for the young platys, one of which now has cardinal tetras and panda corys in

The 30 litre is still in use - for 4 platy boys and four juvenile guppy girls

And I still don't have a quarantine/hospital tank ...........

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ha ha yup everytime an option for a new tank comes alogn i think, you really need a quarantine tank alice, get it sorted. then i spot some new cichlids i like or something and it ends up getting filled. Got 6 tanks and no quarantine one.

 

[PaulEbs]

I recommend the Hexagonal 19litre tanks, in my opinion they are far too small for anything unless you want a betta, and are quite unsightly too! I hate the small columns of windows you get, much prefer a rectangular tank!

You can pick them up for around £15 if you look in the right places, and they have a filter + crappy light built in, which is all you need for a quarantine tank, might help stopping you turning it in to another display tank