Quaratine tanks

[Blue Ram]

Does a quaratine tank have to be set up when not in use?

Patriot

[siymdapolio]

I am not to sure abou this but the way i think is

If you could manage to match the right temps and condition water i wouldnt see why specially if the quarentine tank is big.

If the quarentine tank is small i would have it set up because how easy the parameters can fluctuate in a small tank.

uhh thats my input.... sure someone will drop in on this and help way more then me

[Tolley]

I think you just need the filter for it running in your main tank. Then jsut before you get your fish fill the tank add a heater and whatnot as well as the extrafilter from main tank.

[Blue Ram]

I have a 1 and 1/2 that i never keep going and the fish live fine when i start it up when it is needed. I have been thinking about getting a 20g and turning the 10g though.

[A340]

This is another one of those things where one person will say the QT has to be cycled and running at all times and another will say a QT can be set up with in minutes prior to using it.

I've heard of some people keeping some small fish in a QT to keep it cycled, then transferring that fish to the main tank every time you need to use the QT. Seems like a lot of moving around and unnecessary stress on the fish to me.

Here's what I've been doing over the last couple of months:

1. I have an empty 10g covered with a plastic bag so it doesn't get dusty.
2. No gravel (you'll have to rinse it after every use as it'll get dirty and and smell when not it use).
3. Good heater capable of raising the water temp.
4. A couple of fake plants.
5. A teracotta plant pot for a hiding spot.
6. A good filter (I'm using an AC50 on my 10g QT as well as my other 10g).

- When I need it, I'll fill it up with some water from my display tank, since this is the tank the sick fish is from or where the new fish are going into, so it gets acclimatized to the water right away, equals, less stress for the fish.

- Turn the heater on to the required temp.

- Turn the filter on (now this is why it's good to have filters like Aquaclears). AquaClear filters use something called BioMax, which are little ceramic cylinders that are used to house the beneficial bacteria in your filter. These are kept in mesh bags in your filter. Now, the ones for the AC50 are much smaller than the ones for the AC110 (which I have on my 29g), so what I do is when I'm not using my QT, the little bag of BioMax is sitting in my AC110 on my 29g next to the BioMax for my AC110 where its growing all that needed bacteria and keeping it alive so I can use it in my AC50 on my QT right away when I need it. Just keep in my mind, when you're done with it on your QT, rinse it out very well using tap water to get any crap off it. Don't worry about any of the bacteria dying, it'll all grow back in no time at all once you put it back in the AC110.

- Once the fish is healthy again, or ready to go in the display tank, empty the QT, rinse it out and give it a good scrubbing (including the decorations, heater and inside the filter). Rinse out the sponge of the filter, and as I mentioned before, the BioMax before inserting it back into the other filter. Once everything is dry, put the plastic cover over again and it's ready to go with in minutes next time you need to use it.

[cocoa_pleco]

it should be to keep the good bacteria alive, add some pure ammonia every once in a while or put zebra danios in the tank

[Halelorf]

What I do for quarentine is I run a small air driven sponge filter in my main tank. Then when needed I pull out my empty tank fill it with water and throw the sponge filter into the tank and you have a instant cycled tank.