How many people have permanent hospital or quarantine tanks?

[MaloK]

@GaryE, The Gemini 1.0 pro response to your original post.

We know we're supposed to have QT and hospital aquariums, but how many of us actually have the self discipline not to use them for other purposes?​

That's a good question! Aquariums are definitely tempting to use for other things, especially since they're already set up and filled with water. Here's what we can consider:

• Importance of QT and Hospital Tanks: A dedicated QT (quarantine) and hospital tank are crucial for maintaining the health of your main aquarium. Introducing new fish or treating sick fish in the main tank can spread disease to all your inhabitants.
• Temptation is Real: It's true, some people might use these tanks for other purposes out of convenience. But responsible fishkeeping emphasizes long-term well-being.
• Alternatives and Enforcement: For temporary needs, consider using a bucket or a small, separate container. Many hobbyist communities have strong social norms against compromising QT/hospital tanks.

If you are focusing on self-discipline, here are some practical tips:

• Label your QT and hospital tanks clearly.
• Plan ahead for temporary housing needs.
• Research alternative methods for short-term fish needs.

By understanding the importance and having a plan, you can avoid the temptation to misuse these crucial tanks.


Now Chat GPT 3.5 response:

Maintaining quarantine (QT) and hospital aquariums for their intended purposes requires discipline and adherence to good aquarium husbandry practices. These separate tanks serve critical roles in preventing disease spread and providing a safe environment for sick or newly acquired fish.

The challenge lies in resisting the temptation to repurpose these tanks for other uses due to convenience or space constraints. Many aquarists face this dilemma, especially when dealing with limited space or when they have multiple aquariums. However, maintaining self-discipline is crucial to avoid potential risks such as disease outbreaks or stress to the fish.

Here are some tips to maintain discipline:

1. Designate and Label: Clearly mark or label QT and hospital tanks to remind yourself and others of their intended purpose.
2. Plan Ahead: Allocate sufficient space and resources for separate QT and hospital setups from the beginning.
3. Educate Yourself: Understand the risks of not using dedicated QT and hospital tanks, such as disease transmission or stress-induced illness.
4. Resist Convenience: Avoid using these tanks for temporary holding or quarantine of non-aquatic items, even if it seems convenient at the time.
5. Regular Maintenance: Keep the tanks in good condition with regular cleaning and water changes, reinforcing their importance.

By maintaining these practices, you ensure that your QT and hospital tanks serve their intended purposes effectively, contributing to the overall health and well-being of your aquarium inhabitants.

 

[AJ356]

@Kattyk062 I don't think anyone was looking for an AI definition. What's your set up? What do you do?

I thought maybe she is a relative of yours, same location? Not than everybody in Canada is related of course.

 

[Essjay]

I have relations in Canada but they are not into fish keeping

 

[GaryE]

I thought maybe she is a relative of yours, same location? Not than everybody in Canada is related of course.

All Canadians are related, and we all have fish. How many Canadian posters here don't?
I rest my case.
We're like Americans for that. I have a friend in Pennsylvania. I'm sure the US fishkeepers here must know him. And there's a guy in London, for the British keepers - you must know him - Peter, a bald guy, likes football.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

All Canadians are related, and we all have fish. How many Canadian posters here don't?
I rest my case.
We're like Americans for that. I have a friend in Pennsylvania. I'm sure the US fishkeepers here must know him. And there's a guy in London, for the British keepers - you must know him - Peter, a bald guy, likes football.

Bald Pete with the gold chain and homemade tattoo? Yeah I know him

 

[Ram419]

I just started up a Q/H tank and I think I'll keep it running for good now. I used it in the past as a fry grow out tank (it's only 3 gallons). I keep small fish so it's sufficient. I did have a 10 gallon used for Q/T but since have had so many guppy fry that I had to set it as perm grow out tank.

 

[Seisage]

Out of curiosity, has anyone used a simple 5gal bucket as a QT "tank"? I have actual 10-20gal tanks that I could access and set up if need be (I do keep an extra filter running in my display tank in case I need an instant cycle), but a bucket is even more accessible since I keep a few around my apartment. If you're only quarantining one or two small fish, why not? The only downside I can see (assuming everything else about the setup is picture perfect) is that it'd be more difficult to assess the fish's condition since plastic buckets are almost never transparent.

 

[Alice B]

I have empty tanks and extra sponge filters in one of my healthy tanks so I can set one up quickly, but currently I'm not buying fish so none set up

 

[Naughts]

it'd be more difficult to assess the fish's condition since plastic buckets are almost never transparent.

Exactly, quarantine is for close and careful monitoring, so glass is the best material to do this. I also set up the Q tank in the living area to ensure I get plenty of opportunities to look at the fish.

 

[GaryE]

If you can't see the fish, you can miss key things. One Ich spot? Medicate and it's gone. 100 Ichspots? You and the fish have a fight on your hands.

The difficult thing with QT is how long it lasts. If your concern is external parasites, one to three weeks will do. But in that time, the new fish needs a good environment. Stress can be over-rated, but it's a real issue. It's why tiny tank QTs aren't that good. You don't want a container so small it leads to illness. You want to lead away from that.

I prefer 3-6 weeks, to give anything brewing time to pop out. I have to be sure the tank I use is stable and healthy, so that I'm not causing the fish to fall ill.

One of the biggest issues we have to watch for, after Ich parasites, is Camallanus nematodes. They may not show right away. That little red thread hanging from the anal vent can be hard to spot. It's why I make sure I can see into QT tanks, and that they have lighting. Camallanus have gone from being very rare to being very common in pet store fish, over about 3 decades, and they've adapted well to their new hosts. They were catastrophic at first, and are now chronic killers that keep the fish alive long enough for them to spread. But they are very good at spreading when unchecked, and very good at killing as well.

Maybe a thing that would help is if we put our heads together and said what to watch for. Ich cysts. Velvet patches on the spine behind the head. Camallanus hanging out the butt. Abnormal gut swelling from tapeworm types. Rotting fins, if we were careless or bought unseen from a very bad seller. Flashing or trying to rub the gills on hard objects in tanks with good water quality. Rectangular tb lesions on the flanks. Bacterial infections (the hardest to diagnose, but common after shipping). Strange swimming patterns.

If we look at fish and at the tanks before we buy, we should avoid sunken bellies, twisted spines, open wounds, scooting swimming patterns, whitish films on fins and bodies and often Ich, which usually shows in the store tank. Buying a fish because you feel sorry for it means giving it at least a 3 month QT, because you stand a good chance of killing everything in your tank if you let it loose. A friend in the industry once referred to "rescue bettas" as colourful little bags of tuberculosis with scales. You have to start out trying to buy fish that are healthy, and developing knowledge and a spider sense when you look into a store tank and something feels wrong. Walk away.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have extra empty tanks. When I need to Q I set up a tank and I need a couple of days at most to get a Q tank cycled. I can take plants and media from other tanks and I always have a bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only in the fridge. It is the only bottled bacteria I will use as almost all of the rest are useless.

I rarely have a cycled H tank for one basic reason. There is no guarantee I have accurately diagnosed the prblem which means I may need to change things up, especially the medication. Some meds will wipe out the filter bacteria so, until I know I have corrctly diagnosed and am using the right a medication, I do not cycle an H tank at the outset.

I also will only use things I can bleach or throw away in an H tank. If I fail to figure it out and I lose the fish, I will either sterilize or throw out the tank contents. I never use live plants in an H tank. I keep a few artifical plants on hand. They provide cover and comfort to the patient and can be bleached and reused if needed.

I do use cycled Q tanks and may have live plants in them. However, I tend to set both H and Q tank up bare bottom. This lets me easily monitor food consumption, poop and any visible parasites which fall off or out of fish. But my Q practices are more stringent than most in the hobby. For fish born and raised in the USA my Q period is 30 days. However, for wild caught or imported fish that period is 90 days. Those time periods mean that many days without any problems. If I have to treat new fish for something, once they are cured the Q calendar resets to 0 and begins again.

Wild caught fish can arrive with something nasty that will not start showing symptoms for some time. It is important to understand that the diseases and parasites in the wild v.s. those in our tanks are often different. This means the fish we have and the fish we acquire from the wild have different levels of immunity. Immunity comes from having beaten something. if a fish is never faced with a specific illnes etc., it may have little or no immunity for it.

I do things this way because of the fish I was keeping and breeding. They are fairly expensive species and I refuse to risk the potential issues beyond just not wanting to lose fish or failing to give them the care they need, but also because some tanks hold $1,000s worth of fish and the financial loss would make a bad situation even more awful.

However, any fish I keep whether it cost $1 or $1,000, gets the best care I can provide. As soon as I put a fish into a glass box it's life becomes my responsibility. If I am not willing to care for it the best I can, then I should not have it.

As always, the above is my way of doing things. It may not be the best way and is certainly not the only way. It is what works well for me.

p.s. I almost never buy fish from retail stores. I tend to buy from breeders or as imports. Almost all the fish I have added in the past 5 years were acquired at my fish club which has an auction at the end of every monthly meeting. We have a lot of members who breed an assortment of fish and grow a variety of plants. Many of these people have been keeping and breeding fish for a lot longer than my 24 years of doing so.

rdited for too many typos