Substrate in QT tank?

[doug z]

I was thinking of putting substrate in my QT tank to make the fish feel more at home, as well as adding some plant cuttings from my main tank..

I know the protocol is not to bother with substrate in case you have to break the tank down due to infected fish, and you have easier control over ammonia spikes (rotting food, etc)..

But what do you guys think? Don't bother?

I'm thinking of running the hospital/QT tank all the time, rather than just when I need it, by adding 5 danios..

[Northernguy]

It would be a good idea to have a fully cycled hos. tank.You could use sand as a sunstrate to allow for easy cleaning.Can you transfer the danios if need be.If had the room I would.Its amazing how often one needs a quarantine tank.
Good plan!

[travie]

In my opinion, its up to you on substrate for QT/hospital tank. You would just need to clean it every time you move a fish out of the tank.

[gourami*girl]

Thought I read somewhere that it's better to have artifical plants in QT tanks b/c some of the meds used to treat fish can kill your plants. I'm no expert though, as I don't even have one as of yet.

I'm going to be looking tonight at a few tanks someone's getting rid of for cheap, so maybe I'll set one of those up to be a QT tank eventually.

[doug z]

You would just need to clean it every time you move a fish out of the tank.


Even if I had danios in there permanently?

Even if there is nothing wrong with the fish I had in QT?

it's better to have artifical plants in QT tanks b/c some of the meds used to treat fish can kill your plants.

I wouldn't care.. They'd just be clippings.. :)

[FordForever]

You could probably build something that is the shape of a cookie sheet but made from plastic and fasten a handle to each end that would be the same length of the height of your tank.

After the fish is healed, you grab the handle and pull the pan up from the bottom of the tank. The pan would of course hold the substrate. Clean the substrate and the pan. Put the gravel back in the pan and lower them both back into the tank.

[abaigael04]

Having just QT'd a fish... I will have to say NO! It was a PAIN cleaning up what he wouldn't eat (and I put sand in). I will never have a QT with any substrate in it again! but that is just my opinion...

[james481]

I think you could put substrate in your QT / Hospital tank, but if you ever have to treat a fish with Ick or other parasites, a tank with no substrate would be much better.

[doug z]

Hmm..

Ok, I guess I'll skip it and just go with a black towel under the tank or something..

Thanks for the input!!

With regards to Ich, wouldn't you NOT have to clean it after treatment, but instead just leave the tank empty for a month till the parasites are all dead (max they can last is a month)?

[korith]

With regards to Ich, wouldn't you NOT have to clean it after treatment, but instead just leave the tank empty for a month till the parasites are all dead (max they can last is a month)?

I'm a newcomer to all of this, but I thought raising heat was something people did when fish had ich, or adding salt. If the tank is empty, could you just set the heater up to a real high temp and keep it at that for a few days? Or does that not work?

[doug z]

No, the parasites need something to feed on to survive, so the surest way to make sure is to just not add any food source (fish, etc) to the tank for at least a month..

But I would like to know if and why cleaning the tank is necessary as well, if ich was the only problem..

[james481]

Right, but the parasites also require gravel to settle in for a part of their life cycle. In other words, not only is cleaning the tank afterward easier with no substrate, but treatments for parasites are more effective with no substrate, because the "spores" (I forgot what they're actually called at the moment) don't have any gravel to settle into and are pulled up by the filter.

[doug z]

Right, but the parasites also require gravel to settle in for a part of their life cycle

Aye, but that's irrelevant, in my opinion..

Substrate or no, without a host, in 30 days the parasite will be dead.. WHEREVER it is, whatever it settles on, correct?

Ergo, no need to clean the tank whatsoever.. No?

[james481]

Aye, but that's irrelevant, in my opinion..

Well, I suppose it's irrelevant if you're only concerned with how to clean the tank, but if you're only concerned about the tank and not the fish, why not just leave it empty... problem solved. :c2:

Substrate or no, without a host, in 30 days the parasite will be dead.. WHEREVER it is, whatever it settles on, correct?

Ergo, no need to clean the tank whatsoever.. No?

AFAIK this is correct, at least for Ick, but probably not for bacterial and fungal type deals.

[doug z]

Well, it being a QT tank I wouldn't be worried about the fish when it's not in use, unless I have it stocked 24/7/365, which I may..

But what I was getting at was IF I wanted to put substrate, plants, etc. in it, and I had a fish with Ich in there, all I would have to do is take the fish out once I'd cured the ich by medicating the tank, not break the whole tank down..

Hope that's clearer.. :)