Hospital Tank Setup

[Cheese Specialist]

Hey,

My fish are ok at the moment, which is why I want to get my hospital tank sorted!

It's is an 8.5UK/10US gallon tank, without a light but with a heater (obviously!) and a fluval (1, I think) internal filter. I have a small amount of gravel on the bottom so the fish do not get stressed by the reflection under them, a plant pot on it's side and a medium fake plant for decoration.

My question is about the filter material. I read on here recently that someone kept the hospital tank's filter sponge in their main tank to keep it it cycled between patients (having boiled it and left it to dry thourghly beforehand). I think this sounds like a sensible idea, but...

Where do you put it?!! Floating around the tank? In the filter somehow?

I have very different filters in my tanks. So I am confused about that, but also about something else. Does it matter what tank the sponge goes into? I have 3 tanks in use, 1 coldwater and 2 tropical. If I am putting a fish from the c/w, for example, is it ok for the filter media to have been in a tropical tank? And, if it s not, is it ok for fish from the small tank to be with media from the large? Oh, an how long should the media be in the running tank before it is considered cycled or whatever?

Sorry for so many questions.

Thanks for any help

 

[millym]

i may be wrong here but i posted the same q about hospital tank setups a few months ago & basically a few folk told me that if you have heater + airstone/oxygenation you dont really need a filter if its a small tank just for the odd fishie treatment as you can do little water changes to keep up with ammonia etc & if you use water from main tank to fill it there should be enough good bacteria floating around & also some meds will kill off the good stuff anyway.
(mods please correct me if im speaking rubbish )

 

[pondfreak4365]

I'd put the media in your filter box, if there is room. I think it would be ok to use filter material from a tropical tank for cw fish, but not vice-versa.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

You can keep the media in any filter in any tank, as long as it fits. You can also run an entire filter on another tank, and just pull the whole thing out when you need it.

I keep my hospital tank completely empty. If I need it I just fill it using aquarium water from the tank that the specific fish is coming from, and throw in an extra sponge filter that I run on another tank for this purpose. I keep it bare bottom so that the environment is as clean as possible.

 

[Adrinal]

General sick tank note.

If you actually put a sick fish in or use meds.. ditch the rocks afterwords. If you are worried about stress I would suggest one of those grass carpets/plants something you can take out and boil clean latter. If you have digging fish that just must have gravel, putting that thin layer in a 2" deep tupperware can help when you do have to boil it.
Sand... I'd just chuck after treatment.

 

[Bol]

My opinion regarding filter material:

Most, if not all, of the medications I've seen recommend a 25% water change between doses (whcih are usually daily).

With that kind of water change rate, I personally don't think a "cycled" tank is necessary -- in fact, it may be hard to keep a tank cycled under those conditions, especially when there little to no substrate.

So, I'd say not to really worry about 'stocking' the filter media. Of course, it probably wouldn't hurt.

p.s. as an alternative to using gravel in your hospital tank, you could consider just placing a black plastic trash bag under the tank, to greatly reduce the bottom reflections.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

My opinion regarding filter material:

Most, if not all, of the medications I've seen recommend a 25% water change between doses (whcih are usually daily).

With that kind of water change rate, I personally don't think a "cycled" tank is necessary -- in fact, it may be hard to keep a tank cycled under those conditions, especially when there little to no substrate.

So, I'd say not to really worry about 'stocking' the filter media. Of course, it probably wouldn't hurt.

p.s. as an alternative to using gravel in your hospital tank, you could consider just placing a black plastic trash bag under the tank, to greatly reduce the bottom reflections.

The sort of med I use are usually every 4 days. I am an Interpet # kinda girl.

Thanks for the information people. Although I don't know where to put the sponge still. Is it ok to squish it in with my other filter's stuff?

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Is it ok to squish it in with my other filter's stuff?

Absolutely, or you can just use some of the stuff that's already in the other filter anyway.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Is it ok to squish it in with my other filter's stuff?

Absolutely, or you can just use some of the stuff that's already in the other filter anyway.

Cool thanks!

I would rather put something in the tank than not put anything old in at all. Just to help with them having more stress. I am going to keep the gravel on the bottom of the tank as it's so thin a layer that it's easily cleaned with my gravel cleaner.