Should I Get And Cycle A Quarantine Tank Before Buying Fish

[blur411]

I know, I ask WAY too many questions
I've seen a lot about Ich, and other diseases... should I buy a quarantine tank and cycle it, before buying fish so I can make sure they are disease free? How common is getting Ich, and is it pretty hard to treat? If so, would a 10 gallon suffice?

 

[fluttermoth]

A quarantine tank is always a good idea, but there's no real need to cycle one specially. Once your main tank is fully cycled (and you shouldn't be adding more fish until that is done anyway!) you can just steal a piece of filter media from there for your QT.

Ich is quite common, but it's also fairly easy to cure. The problems arise when the strain of ich you're treating happens to be resistant to the med you're using, so if it's not clearing up you'd need to clear out the old med and try a new one.

A ten gallon would be ok for most things but, of course, it depends on the size of fish you want to quarantine! Plastic storage boxes are probably the cheapest way; there's no need to buy actual glass tanks, unless you particularly want to.

 

[blur411]

Thanks, I posted a "stocking list" on here as well with no responses yet.

Plastic boxes..what size...are they separate for my 55 gallon or do they go inside?

 

[fluttermoth]

lol, no I mean large plastic storage boxes to use as quarantine tanks. Separate from the main tank, with a heater and filter containing mature media. They're just cheaper and easier to store than glass tanks, as you probably don't want quarantine tanks set up permanently.

I'll try and find your stocking list and have a look

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Well I've always just taken the risk myself. I'm sure that one day it's going to bite me as it has so many on this forum but with people saying that it can take a very long time for diseases to appear I don't fancy running two tanks for that period of time.

 

[fluttermoth]

Two weeks is normally enough time in quarantine.

 

[blur411]

Oh much easier! I have a 5 gallon "box"now that I'm storing my siphon in...can I use that with mature filter media and heater as a quarantine, once my current tank is fully cycled?

I really appreciate all this help!

thanks!

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, as long as it's big enough for the fish you're quarantining

You're very welcome. This hobby can be horribly daunting when you start out; I wish I'd had the internet when I was a n00b!

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Get something like this-->
http/www.bernardsbins.com/products/vub80bb-80-litre-clear-box-with-snap-fit-lid.html

I have one still in it's plastic. Also, maybe look into purchasing a small internal filter (about 10=15GBP on Ebay)... as was mentioned above, if you move some of your already mature media across into this filter, you theoretically have another fish tank (albeit smaller) to treat any such outbreak.

Terry.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Hiya Taffy, are you safe to put your heater on the wall of one of those?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Hiya Taffy, are you safe to put your heater on the wall of one of those?

With the added gap of the suckers, then i would think so...these ones are particulary 'heavy duty' and have much stronger sides.

Terry.

 

[fluttermoth]

I've found it's fine, as long as the actual heater doesn't touch the plastic.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

1. If the problem is ich, then you must treat the whole tank and a Q or H tank won't help.
2. When starting a new tank, it doubles as your Q since it is empty to start. All the fish you get from one source can all go in together (into a cycled tank).
3. While Q tanks can be cycled, normally H tanks should not be- many meds can kill the nitrifying bacteria.
4. A Q tank is great for adding fish after the initial stocking.
5. Quarentine tank raised fish until they go 4 weeks with no illness or deaths. For wild caught (newly imported) the time can go up to 3 months but two months problem free is usually enough.

 

[OldMan47]

Ich cannot be effectively treated by removing fish to a Q tank. The parasite quickly has some free swimming ones in your water. At that point you must treat it in place or it will infest your other fish. As a quarantine prior to introducing new fish, a cycled Q tank is a good idea. At that point you might still want to get a hospital tank but I just use a 5 gallon water change bucket if I need to treat a fish. It happens so seldom that the 3 buckets I have are really not all that critical for the short treatment period. I make do with just 2.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I keep some media in my big tank and leave my Qt broken down in a closet until I need it.

I recently bought some fish with internal parasites and didn't have a qt tank. I am still treating all of my fish tanks now. Qt= good idea.