Stocking For Quarantine Tank

 
Zebra Danios are small fish but need a long tank
I have mine in a 6 foot 100 gallon tank, along, They are quite active swimmers,  so are the 5 Clown loaches and 60 tetras, Neons, Black Widow, Rummy Nose Flame.
 
I don't have much algae in the tank but the bristlenose helps keep it clean. I had a bunch of diatom and stuff on driftwood to start with a long time ago. I'd prefer to keep it clean. I do feed wafers every few days. Otto's are sensitive and need more than one in the tank to be happy.

As for quarantine, it will be all I have. I wanted my 10 gallon to be the official quarantine but the guppies aren't doing great so I'm not moving them to the 55. So temporarily I will use the 20 for quarantine. Other than the bristlenose, all the fish will be moved to the 55. (Not to mention I like bristlenose pleco. My current one has a ton of personality.) Then I will get neons when I'm done using it for that. And it wont be a quarantine after that. I'd rather use the 20 than keep putting new fish in the 55 and possibly have illness. Easier to treat a 20 if I have to.
 
I was told that the 2 assassin snails that i got would be Male(the guy i bought it from has 2 different tanks, 1 for females and 1 for male
 
I usually quarantine new fish for a minimum of two weeks. Make sure they're all eating, no one has any signs of diseases or illness, etc.
As for your fish, I would up the school of the glow light tetra, you already have a decent school of the black neons, so props on that! Bristle nose plecos get a maximum of six inches I believe. I would just have that one and no more, as plecos can be territorial. But I think one six inch pleco is enough for your 55 gallon tank. People will tell yyou more can be homed in there, but personally I'd stick with one.
As for how many fish you can keep in a quarantine at once, I would not recommend following the one inch per gallon rule. That rule should be taken very, very loosely. It really matters on the type of fish and how much volume can be provided for the fish. Would you put your six inch pleco in a six gallon tank? Or even a ten? I don't think so. If you're going to get something like more glowlight tetra, I wouldn't have more than five or six in there at a time. I mean you do have a 20 gallon and could fit more, however, if one of the fish are sick and you need to medicate the tank, it would be a lot easier aand less troubling than treating a tank of say... ten or more tetra. See what I'm saying...?
Filtration is important, as Baylor said, going for a higher flow rate than what a filter is designed for is probably better. For example, I have a filter meant for a 20 gallon on my 15 gallon, it filters 100 gallons per hour (GPH). My 55 gallon filter is meant for a 75 gallon tank that filters 400 GPH. This is because the flow rate will slowly decrease over time because of the gunk that builds up on the cartridge and other filter media. So it's best to get a filter with a higher flow rate.
 
Baylor- I didn't know if they could be sexed or not. Good luck to you! :)

Rainbow- I want at least 10 glowlights so I would get 7 more. I'm not all that crazy about the black neons so went add more of them anyway but nowhere to rehome them either. So they will get the best care I can give them.

My filter is for up to a 75 gallon tank and the flow rate says 265gph.
There will be only one bristlenose per tank. I do believe my current one is good enough for my 55. She'll love it! Though I would still like to keep one for the 20. I wouldn't put one in anything smaller than that.

I just wanted to be able to stock the 55 as fast as I could. Lol. And since the fish are small when purchased I figured if I could keep it around the current bioload would be OK? I understand what you mean about only treating a few fish at a time though. Though in another way it would cost the same to treat a few as it would more...but I know that's not the point, stress is. And another thing is schooling fish like to have more of their own kind at a time to so that in turn would be less stress.

So there are kind of pros and cons on both. Lol. Though another thing I just thought of is the bioload for the 55. The current fish in the 20 will go in the 55 to start. It should be OK since the 55 will be cycled first. However...if I was to get the 10 halprlequins and 7 glowlights....even if they are small...and if they were kept in the 20 for four weeks...the 55 would then only be used to the fish that are in there. Would adding 17 fish at once(to the 55) be too many? My gut says probably.....even though they would still be a bit small. i still have plenty of time to get things done though. Im still building my 55 so yeah...lol. I just wanted to get the plan started so i'dw be ready when the tank is! Once the current fish are out i will need to get new ones in the 20 asap so as not to letthe bacteria starve!
 
Add the fish slowly, that's probably for the best way you can do it. Adding 17 fish at once is a little too much. I'm not saying it'll surely over work it, but it's best to add a little at a time.
And that's why I said quarantine five or six fish at a time for the tetra. So they're still in a school and can feel safe. If you want to quarantine ten fish at a time, by all means, I'm sure you'd be fine.
You don't need to quickly restock the tank, the bacteria won't starve without fish for a week or two. You could always put a snail in there in case you're worried about the bacteria starving. I have a Ramshorn in the quarantine just to feed the cycle while there's no fish in there. He's sort of the quarantine host, welcoming all the new fish. :)
 
Hm...maybe I'll rethink how many at a time then. Maybe I could do the 7 glowlights first...as well as maybe a new bristlenose, maybe 3 cories? I want at least 10-12 peppered cories when all is done. Do you think that would work for the first round? Then maybe the 10 harlequins....don't know if I'd do more cories then or not. Depends on the size. Then I would just maybe do the Rio flame tetra, like 5 along with some more cories and then do another set of 5 rio flames with the rest of the cories? Does that sound like a good plan? Then after that maybe like only 12 of the neon tetras to finish the 20 off?

This also of course depends on availability! Lol.
 
I have a permanent QT tank for new fish, a 20g high (same dimensions as that mentioned earlier in this thread).  It is planted with culls from the other tanks, and this makes a very big difference.  So perhaps I can offer a few suggestions.
 
First, get some live plants in the QT.  Simple floating plants are ideal, as they not only use nutrients (including ammonia) faster, but they shade the tank and this usually helps settle newly acquired fish faster.  But perhaps the real benefit is that the water will be more stable with plants, and thus the fish will again have an easier time of adjusting.  The end result, is much less chance of disease (like ich).  Now, if the fish are bringing internal diseases with them, this is not going to help much.  But in my several years of using this approach, I have had significantly fewer problems, and not introduced disease of any sort.
 
Second, keep fish in the QT for at least a month, preferably longer.  Two weeks may be sufficient to detect an outbreak of ich, but it is no where near adequate for the diseases that can be real problems.
 
As for numbers, this depends.  I have come home from a fish-buying trip with maybe 50 new fish, and into the planted 20g they have all gone.  I am talking small fish, obviously.  But fish acquired from a fish store will tend to be juveniles, not mature, and with the biologically-settled planted tank they will be fine.  However, there are some guides here.
 
Always buy all the fish of one species together at the same time if you can.  Shoaling fish will not only settle in faster the more there are, they will be together in a new environment and depending upon the species their natural hierarchies can develop properly.  This doesn't matter with some species, but it does with others.
 
I also tend not to mix fish from different sources.  If all fish are acquired from the same store at the same time, they will all be relatively equal with respect to health.  Chances are the store sources its fish from the same place.  Disease that can be widespread frequently occurs at the source, or in the store itself.  You can avoid serious issues by following this.
 
Byron.
 
Thanks Byron! I did plan on keeping them in quarantine for at least 4 weeks. I didn't even think about putting plants in the 20 as well as the 55. I would have eventually but it makes sense to do it first! I think I'll try to get some water sprite soon. Maybe it will grow better with the new light! I wanted to get some of that and some frogbit for the 55 anyway. Lol.

So...would I be able to do my original numbers then Byron? The 7 glowlights and 10 harlequins? And then the 10 von rio flames and maybe 10-12 cories at once? And would it be safe to put them in the 55 at the same time if I at least get a good group of floating plants growing well? I do want to do more plants eventually too but it will take a bit and a few orders probably.

I will eventually have a 10 gallon hospital/quarantine tank. It's currently housing 3 guppies that have been ill though...if I don't see improvement by the time my 55 is up and running then they will stay in the 10 until they eventually pass. I don't want sick fish in my new tank!
 
cowgirluntamed said:
Thanks Byron! I did plan on keeping them in quarantine for at least 4 weeks. I didn't even think about putting plants in the 20 as well as the 55. I would have eventually but it makes sense to do it first! I think I'll try to get some water sprite soon. Maybe it will grow better with the new light! I wanted to get some of that and some frogbit for the 55 anyway. Lol.

So...would I be able to do my original numbers then Byron? The 7 glowlights and 10 harlequins? And then the 10 von rio flames and maybe 10-12 cories at once? And would it be safe to put them in the 55 at the same time if I at least get a good group of floating plants growing well? I do want to do more plants eventually too but it will take a bit and a few orders probably.

I will eventually have a 10 gallon hospital/quarantine tank. It's currently housing 3 guppies that have been ill though...if I don't see improvement by the time my 55 is up and running then they will stay in the 10 until they eventually pass. I don't want sick fish in my new tank!
 
Water Sprite is an ideal floating plant, as once it settles (it can take a couple weeks), it will tend to grow like a weed.  And the adventitious plants produced on alternate fronds (leaves, but being a true fern we should call them fronds) means you can always chuck the larger plants and have plenty of plants to take over.
 
With floating plants, I see nothing wrong with 7 glowlights, 10 harlequin rasbora, 10 flame tetras and 12 corys in the 20g at the same time, if these all came from the same store.  They could later be moved to the 55g together too, again assuming some live plants are in that tank.
 
Byron.
 
Wow...I don't know if I would do them all together but 2 groups sounds good! I take it then 15 neon tetras and 1 bristlenose later would be just fine to keep in there permanently with the floating plants? I do love the water sprite. I like it alot me than wisteria!(tried that in my 5 as they didn't have water sprite. Due too a higher light intensity and too many root tabs I had a bad case of hair algae that killed it. Still have algea even with less light time...oh well.)
 
cowgirluntamed said:
Wow...I don't know if I would do them all together but 2 groups sounds good! I take it then 15 neon tetras and 1 bristlenose later would be just fine to keep in there permanently with the floating plants? I do love the water sprite. I like it alot me than wisteria!(tried that in my 5 as they didn't have water sprite. Due too a higher light intensity and too many root tabs I had a bad case of hair algae that killed it. Still have algea even with less light time...oh well.)
 
 
If you do split the new fish, it is a good idea to wait a few weeks between if possible.  Never add new fish to a QT that is still holding new fish previously acquired.  This is a very good way to initiate some issue like ich.  Once you have new fish in the QT, leave them there on their own for 4+ weeks [more on this below].  Move them to the display tank, and keep a watch out for signs of problems, which might cause them to need returning to the QT.  Less likely to be disease, as anything they might be carrying that only appears when introduced to the display tank will likely be in the display tank now.  But sometimes there might be issues more along the line of temperament/aggression.  Though with tetras and rasboras, not very likely I grant you.
 
I would say four weeks is absolute minimum, and longer may be advisable depending upon the species and the source.  There are several aspects to this.  The obvious one is disease, and here I hold "common" fish that are commercially raised in QT much longer than I would wild caught, or those from certain known sources.  There seems to be a lot of internal protozoan and pathogens in commercially-raised fish, and I suspect this is either occurring at source (the hatchery) or in the stores, chain stores like Petsmart being especially bad for this due to their procedures/maintenance.  Dealing with an independent store, and one that uses their own suppliers or direct from the habitats, is much safer right off the top.  I have had three very serious issues over the past five years, and all three came in with "bread and butter" fish from chain stores; I will no longer even enter the fish area of these places.  Only once in 20+ years have I had disease enter with wild caught fish, and that was a case of gill flukes on some corys.
 
The other aspect of the period in QT involves the fish itself, aside from disease.  It is much easier to get fish feeding in a QT that is smaller and where they are alone (even if mixed species at the time), because you can add more food and not worry much about over-polluting the tank, as it is easy to water change and vacuum the substrate more often if you need to.  Some fish, and here wild caught are particularly affected, can be difficult to get eating well, and this is only prolonged or perhaps completely unsuccessful if the fish is in a larger tank where it feels threatened by other fish species.
 
After the new fish are moved out of the QT, I always do a few 100% water changesin the QT using tap water without any conditioner.  I simply drain the tank down to the substrate, refill, then repeat in a couple days.  The chlorine in the tap water will kill some pathogens obviously, which is the whole idea, but it will not remove all of the nitrifying bacteria unless the level of chlorine is very high, and even then it is doubtful.  The plants and snails will be fine.  The sponge filter (sponge filters are excellent in a QT as they are effective filtration but easy to maintain) I rinse well under the tap.  After I have moved new fish into the display, and the QT remains fishless, I continue the normal 50% water changes every week when I do the other tanks, but I never use dechlorinator in the QT unless there are fish present.
 
A group of 15 neon tetra and 1 bristlenose will be fine permanently in a 20g.  Keep the temperature around 75-76F.  Neons are not warm water fish, warm meaning above 76-77F, and they will be healthier at lower temperatures, from 70-76F.  The Bristlenose, if one of the common species of Ancistrus and not wild caught, will be fine with this.  They tend to remain at the 3-4 inch length, though some species can reach 5 inches which to me is pushing it in a 20g.
 
Byron. 
 
Hm...so 4+ weeks...though possibly more on the plus side because they are going to be coming from petsmart. (Would you definitely recommend longer quarantine for these? If so, how long? I want to do it right!) Out of the stores here I trust it the most even though I have had some past problems. I wish there was a more mom and pop store out this way but there's not. :(

I do think it would be easier for me to be able to watch them better if I split them into two groups. And I would wait for the second group until the first group is out of quarantine.

I will probably get the bristlenose with the first group even though he is going to be a permanent resident. I don't know exactly which one it is...the other one, my female I got from there...is almost four inches and she's maybe around 2 years old now I think? She was around 1 to 1 1/2 inches when i got her. I don't know if that is of any help. Lol.

Also, I'm on well water so no chlorine anyway. I may start a new topic in a couple of days about the differences in water parameters in my three tanks. That reminds me...I need to leave some tap water out again to get a baseline. Lol. But that's a different thread eventually. And I want to retest everything to make sure my other tests were correct.

Anyway...back to this..so how long do you think I should wait after the first group goes into the 55? Also, other than obvious signs of illness...like ich and not eating and the like...is it mostly just watching for stringy poo and stuff? I've been through columnaris and septecimia before so I know what to watch out for on that. I've never really done a true quarantine time so this will be a new experience for me when it happens. (I will also post all of this in my journal on the planted tank page here as it happens. Lol.)
 
cowgirluntamed said:
Hm...so 4+ weeks...though possibly more on the plus side because they are going to be coming from petsmart. (Would you definitely recommend longer quarantine for these? If so, how long? I want to do it right!) Out of the stores here I trust it the most even though I have had some past problems. I wish there was a more mom and pop store out this way but there's not.
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I do think it would be easier for me to be able to watch them better if I split them into two groups. And I would wait for the second group until the first group is out of quarantine.

I will probably get the bristlenose with the first group even though he is going to be a permanent resident. I don't know exactly which one it is...the other one, my female I got from there...is almost four inches and she's maybe around 2 years old now I think? She was around 1 to 1 1/2 inches when i got her. I don't know if that is of any help. Lol.

Also, I'm on well water so no chlorine anyway. I may start a new topic in a couple of days about the differences in water parameters in my three tanks. That reminds me...I need to leave some tap water out again to get a baseline. Lol. But that's a different thread eventually. And I want to retest everything to make sure my other tests were correct.

Anyway...back to this..so how long do you think I should wait after the first group goes into the 55? Also, other than obvious signs of illness...like ich and not eating and the like...is it mostly just watching for stringy poo and stuff? I've been through columnaris and septecimia before so I know what to watch out for on that. I've never really done a true quarantine time so this will be a new experience for me when it happens. (I will also post all of this in my journal on the planted tank page here as it happens. Lol.)
 
I would drive for an hour to find a decent store before setting foot inside Petsmart (for fish...nothing wrong with their hardware).  I had columnaris (or a form of this) once, brought in on 3 Congo Tetra from Petsmart.  That was a real mess; I had them in QT for three weeks and saw nothing...two days after going in the big tank, all three had it and it spread to the other Congos, then to the Black Ruby Barbs.  In the end I lost all of them.  Fortunately my kubotai loaches in the same tank got through this.  Twice before I introduced some internal protozoan with fish from another chain, Petland.  Subsequent fish from this place, quarantined for 6-7 weeks, have pretty much all died within 1-2 years so they are certainly not in good shape at all.  And it is just too much of a coincidence that this only happens with fish from this store.  I have hundreds of fish from three other local sources, and some of them are into their 8th year, with scarcely a loss along the way.
 
So, how long to wait...I would say 6 weeks in QT, but after they are in the mian tank, as I said previously, any disease that turns up will be in the tank so no pioint in isolating the new fish after that in most cases.
 
On the bristlenose, there are currently some 66 valid described species in the genus Ancistrus, and all are "bristlenose" commonly.  You might be able to ID your fish on Planet Catfish; search their photos of this genus.  It is easy to do this if one knows the genus to pin it down.  The precise taxonomy and origin of the common "bristlenose" is unknown, and some authorities believe it may be a hybrid of other species. Several man-made varieties exist, including the albino and long-fin forms.  Some of the specific species other than the "common" bristlenose are considerably more demanding in their water parameter requirements; as these will in all likelihood be wild-caught fish, care must be taken to provide suitable water.
 
Byron.
 
I know of no local fish stores that I really trust. All we have is Petsmart, Petland, Petsway, and a place called Noah's Ark pet store. Petsway's tanks don't appear all that clean when I got in there occasionally and they don't have much of a selection. I didn't like the customer service at Noah's Ark when I bought fish from them before(whether it was my fault the fish died or not...) They never said it was only store credit and told me they didn't have to post it because of how small they were. They never said that when I bought them. Petland's tanks aren't that clean either plus they sell pure bred puppies (Noah's Ark also sells puppies).

I would rather go to Petsmart where they adopt them and have cleaner tanks. It is a hit and miss thing though but at least this one, for the most part, seems clean. I've seen and gotten disease from them(septicemia) and ich. Same fish for both problems. I've lost a group of neon tetras when I was first starting the tank due to probably neon tetra disease. They just died one by one. The columnaris was due to ending up with only one female in a group of five male black neons...the female and lowest male got beat up too much. Split fins and everything. Nothing but aquarium salt worked and they healed very well.

There may be some places that are over an hour a way but I'm not sure if I can do that. They aren't open in the morning and that's the only time I could go. Sucks working nights....lol. So Petsmart is the only one I can probably go to. The only other option is order online and I don't know how well that will work either. Not to mention the money for shipping. Most are over $35 and only one place, Pet Solutions, is $20. Next day shipping of course. I was thinking of doing them but I can't find much about how good they are. I've seen a couple of YouTube videos but that's about it.

I'll try to look up the pleco pics like you suggested to see what I can find out. At least I have a good plan on what to do now no matter which direction I go. Thanks so much for the help! It will still probably be a while until new fish happen anyway as my 55 is a project. Lol. But it will be so worth it!

So next step...other than get the 55 up and running and cycled....get some water sprite at least for the 20 and see if I can get it to grow!
 

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