hospital tank

[ketyana]

hello

Im looking for advice on maintaining a hospital tank, I currently have a little tank about 12x8x8 and what to use it to isolate unwell fish (and quaretine)..........so far it has happened twice and I have had to float them in a fish bag in the main tank and do not want to do that again

So far I have the gravel in (and have put a tight with a few handfuls of gravel on the gravel of my old tank so that it is seeded) and the water in (checking for leaks and chorine dispursing)

Right whats next, I will add the seeded gravel and fill it with water from the old tank, will it still cycle? I have an air pump and have seen some cheap air filters for little tanks at £3 would this be enough?, its a tiny tank ?about 3-4 gallons can anyone suggest a very cheap very small heater in the uk?

Once it is up and running how do I stop the bacteria developed dieing off when not in use? Could I keep a small fish to swap out of it when it is needed? or just feed the tank a little food would be better?

I have just used common sense (the little I have, I am very blonde) so far and know nothing so any suggestions or advice will really help

Thanks

 

[Eelzor]

They sell small heaters for small tanks that keep a constant temperature at 25degrees Celcius that are ok. But you can also get the smallest normal heater - it fit in my 4 gallon.

btw-go to the chats!

 

[yhbae]

Not sure how others do it but I use a sponge filter when I need to setup a hospital tank. The floor is bare, and as soon as the water has been filled up (with declorinator of course), I fill the whole tank with plastic plants. I wait until the temperature reaches where you want it to be, add some medication and the sick fish. Then I add a bowl of gravel (from the mature tank) into the tank. Yes, I put the whole bowl so that I can take it out easily as well when the fish is healthy again... Then I also add a cup of water squeezed out of the sponge medium from the mature tank.

It seems to take few days max to cycle the tank this way, and I was never able to detect much levels of ammonia and nitrite during this process. (Stays below 0.5ppm during the fist few days).

This worked for both 5.5g and 10g tanks (1 or 2 fishes in them), so I assume it will work ok for your tank as well.