How Do You Prepare An Emergency Tank?

[sbenbow]

I have been lucky enough (touch wood) not to have any problems with my fish.
 
But I have been wondering what I should do should anything ever happen.

The problem is that in the tank I also have a lot of Red Cherry Shrimp, and I believe that a lot of medication wouldn't do them any good.
 
I do have a smaller spare tank (empty) sat at home, and thought that this could be an ideal quarantine tank.
 
I don't want to run it / maintain it as an empty (cycled) tank just on the off-chance one of my danio's is ill.
 
BUT, how do other people quickly get a spare tank ready? 
 
The obvious answer is to move half of the filter media from the current tank to the quarantine tank to help it get cycled.  With only 1 fish (and on meds) I'm guessing that a part-cycled tank is better than nothing, and it stops the other fish in the main tank from developing a problem too.
 
What are other people's experiences and thoughts?  Is there a better way?
 

 

[star4]

I keep the sponges from an air filter in one of my main filters for emergencies and a spare heater. There is no need to keep a hospital/quarantine tank running, with a hospital tank a fresh clean tank is always the best option. If you have to set up a hospital tank with 100% fresh dechlorinated water its best to drip aclimatise the fish to that water before adding it. For a hospital tank it can also depend on what you are treating, sometimes I dont need a filter as I do daily or twice daily wc, but I put one in just in case.

 

[fluttermoth]

Moving mature media from your main filter is the best way. It is filter media that cycles, really, not tanks or even filters, so putting mature media does give you a 'cycled tank'.
 
Like star, I keep the sponge from and air driven filter in one of my externals, but just cutting off some of your media will do the job.
 
You should test for ammonia and nitrite every day though, just in case some of the bacteria die back when being moved. Moving half the media would be too much. You'll need to work out roughly what proportion of media to move, but that's not too hard.
 
For instance, if you have 20 fish in your main tank and you need to quarantine only one, you'd only need to take approximately 1/20 of the media.
 
I'm going to move the thread to Tropical Discussion, as it's not really an emergency in itself

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I never ever cycle a hospital tank as I see it as a great waste of time and bacteria. There is no need.
 
First, many meds will wipe out the bacteria making it a waste to have added it.
 
Second, when one fails to diagnose the problem correctly and the fish die, you need to sterilize everything, thus killing the bacteria. You can not use the stuff it in another tank because it may also be full of the very problem that one set up the H tank for.
 
Third, regular water changes are likely to be needed in any case. Doing these daily or every other day will keep the water healthy as long as meds needed in the water are maintained.
 
I also have a few fake decorations and some plastic plants i put into a hospital tank. many fish will not be happy if they have no cover and stress only makes things worse.
 
The tank should be bare bottom which lets one see how much food was eaten, if the fish is pooping and how the poop looks. Larger parasites and worms that are killed may also be seen on the bottom. All of these things need to re removed from the tank as well- so more water comes out that needs to be replaced.
 
Finally, an H tank should be as small as practical for the fish involved. many meds are pricey and the less water involved the less medication that must be added.The tank will need an airstone or sponge filter, an air pump, a thermometer and a heater. One can substitute another filter for the air powered one but be careful not to have too much flow when this might be an issue for the patient.