Quarantine tank

[Zodiak246]

How does one make a quarantine tank? Ive seen videos but some things are unclear.

1. Do I just cycle a new tank?
2. Should I have fish in the quarantine tank ahead of time to keep the cycle going?
3. When putting the fish in, do I acclimate them? 

[nabokovfan87]

1. Yes, but not necessarily. You can have some "spare media" ready to go and add that sponge or add that media to a HoB when you need to.  I tend to go the route of.... I am not putting this fish into QT and I am now setting up the tank for this purpose. So I'd be adding media / bacteria or whatever, observe the fish (and parameters) and then dose meds. Once I have an idea of what I need to do. My QT tank has it's own heater and any other equipment to reduce contamination.

The goal of a QT tank is one perspective of the other....
A. Low stress, no substrate or scape because then you can better view the fish for issues.
B. It's separate from the tank in case the issue is contagious.

2.  If you are bringing in a lot of fish and dosing meds as part of QT, then you'd have a tank constantly running.  You can add food or something to keep the cycle going.

3.  The tank itself should be pretty sterile. But yes, you always want to acclimate the fish in some capacity when you change tanks. That is the "best practice".  I am sure some of us don't, but the answer to that specific question is going to generally, always be yes.

Also, welcome to the forum 🙂

Edited April 16, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Jeff]

Cory suggests to have the bottom and sides covered in algae, if you want it keep it running while there's no fish in it. 
 

Acclimating vs plop n drop for a QT is always up for debate. However, imo...the point of a QT is to de-stress, fatten up, and to medicate before your display.

So, I plop n drop for QT....but temp acclimate always first by floating the bag. 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Jeff

[Widgets]

The less stress you subject your new fish to, the better for them. They are already facing the stress of being netted, bagged, transported, and now the new water in your QT. By acclimating them to the new water, you can reduce this portion of their stress.

On the other hand, if being in a small volume of water, or there are water quality issues from transport; getting the fish to a better situation immediately may be less stressful.

I tend to be lazy and plop'n'drop if I am moving livestock between tanks of similar water parameters.