Hospital/Quarantine Tanks

[philak]

One of my new additions to my main tank may have Columnaris. It's a male Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish, bought with two females and i think he has a small whitish lump on his lower lip that appeared over the last day or so. It's not huge and from some angles it's barely visible but i bit the bullet and bought a complete Aquaone 50 litre setup today to use as a hospital/quarantine tank.

Obviuosly i dont have time to cycle the tank . I'll get it up to temperature (24-25C)and add Melafix and move the fish over. My question is about hospital /quarantine tanks in general though. How do you keep them cycled and ready for fish when they aren't in use? I'm guessing the majority of people have one tank and it stays nearly fully stocked so people aren't constantly bringing new fish along or getting diseases all the time. Any downtime with no stock will surely mean recycling the tank when its needed or is just one fish in 50 litres not going to create enough amonia to worry about? Will water changes suffice?


Cheers

PS I also know from recent experience that simply putting mature media in the filter doesn't mean the tank will be cycled overnight. My newest tank still took nearly four weeks to fishless cycle using some mature media from the start.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Have a little filter, like a sponge filter or something, and just put some mature filter media it it from your main tank and then put that little filer in the quarantine tank whenever you need it.

That is what I did and it worked well!

-FHM

 

[mattlee]

i have a small sponge filter running in my main tank and when needed its removed and placed in tanks for fry, new fish etc etc when finished just put it back this way it stays cycled all the time

 

[philak]

Sounds like a good idea Mattlee, assuming you have room in your main tank (and im sure i can find some) and you don't mind the extra power bill which i'm thinking is going to be much .

Cheers.

 

[fatheadminnow]

For a sponge filter, it should not be that much more on the electric bill. An air pump does not require that much power to operate.

Unless you have the sponge filter handy and just grab some mature media from your main tank and put it in the sponge filter only when you need it. This way the sponge filter will no need to be on all the time. Only when you get new fish you want to quarantine.

-FHM

 

[philak]

Cheers FHM, it's a bit academic at the moment though. The diseased f****r refuses to be caught. I'm trying to save his life but it's a planted tank and i'm getting tired of chasing him and ruining my aquascape! I've had net in one hand and a rod in the other trying to get him out of there but an hour of that is enough for now.

Short of emptying the tank does anyone have any good methods for catching fish? I swear the other fish are swimmimg past the net quite happily but he wont go near it!!!!

 

[fatheadminnow]

I know the feeling, catching fish sometimes in not fun at all!

Instead of using a rod, use your hand and don't try to "swoop" him up at once.

Just try to corner him by moving the net very slowly in his direction. It seems if you move the net at them slowly they are not going to move away from it as fast or at all. Once you are close enough, start to move the net under them and work the fish near the surface and then net them up. Works for me every time.

Good luck!

-FHM

 

[Mikaila31]

I always just move mature media over from one tank to another, and it cycles instantly. This instant cycle depends greatly on the bioload of the tank the media came out of and the bioload of the tank it went into. As well as amount of media.

FHM- enjoying this snow? I'm "hoping" college might close today. I've got a O chem exam I really don't want to take.

 

[coldcazzie]

I second what matlee says - I've a small box filter which sits at the back of my tank ready for use, and it is simply run off the second outlet on my air pump. That way I have one outlet for my airstones and one for the filter. Only problem with this is that my QT is in a different room so I've had to buy another air pump for when I need to use it LOL

 

[fatheadminnow]

I am loving the snow! Especially now since all classes have been canceled today! No college! Oh yeah!

-FHM

 

[aly_starh]

I did have one, but it wasnt used for new fish. It was just when a fish was feeling ill then i used to put it in the hospital.

That has since been turned into the shrimp tank. But i will defos invest in an isolation tnk for new fish that come in. As my new betta has killed all my others.

 

[Nick16]

if you dont have a hospital/quarantine tank you are playing russian roulette my friend.
eventually you will get the 'bullet' and you will lose alot of your fish.

 

[philak]

Nick,as you can see i have a hospital tank now and it has an inhabitant after many struggles last night.I do wonder how much stress it put the rest of the fish through trying to net him though.

I wonder how many first time hobbyist would bother at all with fish if the shop told them they should buy a second tank, filter and heater, one that would never be used if they were lucky. Oh and by the way, you can't put fish in your main tank for weeks if not months.

You can see why the stores don't advertise any of this .

 

[Nick16]

well they could go and get a cat and spend hundreds of pounds on all the jabs and innoculations they have to have......

 

[mattlee]

better to be safe than sorry, you only need a cheap 2nd hand tank and air filter and a heater