Opinions on Quarantine Tank (Established/or Not)

[Bonex]

Hey everyone, I'm new to fish keeping and recently started quarantining fish. I set up a quarantine tank with an established filter, but I've been experiencing a concerning issue. After a water change, around 25% of my fish end up dead, making me question whether I should continue. Some people suggest that a tank with beneficial bacteria and plants is better than one with just an established filter and decor. Another suggestion was to move sick fish from an "established" tank to a non-established tub for treatment. I'd appreciate any opinions or advice on whether I'm doing quarantine wrong or if this is a common issue. Thanks!

[Fish Folk]

Test your tanks for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. When fish respirate and defecate, they release ammonia. Unless your nitrifying bacteria bacterial colonies are ample enough to convert Ammonia to Nitrite… and Nitrite on to Nitrate… any tank becomes a death trap.

Nitrifying bacteria coats all hard surfaces over time. I suspect that your sponge filter was not sufficiently primed. 

[Tony s]

Best is to have both tanks established. And close to the same water as possible, causes less stress. It’s not always possible to do this though. If you can’t get it cycled, try and start with as clean a water as possible. Most treatments only last up to a week. If it’s an uncycled tank keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite. Don’t worry about nitrates for now. Hopefully you can complete treatments before you hit o.5 ppm ammonia. If not, you may be able to rescue a treatment by adding seachem prime. But don’t rely on it. 
 

for fish dying after water changes, you are dechlorinating?  That’s the only thing that can damage fish by just changing water. Unless… have you tested your water out of the tap?

[Bonex]

So, I did an ammonia test and my ammonia is super high 1.0. I’m gonna add prime & stability per day but 5 days. I already did a 50% water change. Hopefully, I’ll be able to stop fish from dying

[NOLANANO]

This has always been my question regarding quarantine tanks. If you have a single tank or even a couple of tanks, you probably aren't getting new fish all that often. How do you keep the quarantine tank cycled in between new fish? And if the solution is to keep some fish in there permanently, what do you do if you need to quarantine fish that will kill them? I also understand putting an extra sponge filter in your main tank to keep it full of bacteria but I have a planted display tank and don't have room for an unsightly extra filter.  And when it comes to sick fish, even if you remove the sick fish to a quarantine tank, wouldn't you still want to treat the main tank since it got the sickness in there?

I do realize that I am refusing the solutions to my own problem in some ways but it feels like unless you have a fish room where you are getting fish often and have tanks to move fish and filters around, a quarantine tank is more trouble than its worth.

Edited February 26 by NOLANANO

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 2/26/2024 at 3:07 PM, NOLANANO said:

How do you keep the quarantine tank cycled in between new fish?

I keep mine cycled in between new fish or hatching/raising up fry by leaving the tank running, leaving some ramshorn snails in there, and then feeding the ramshorn snails a couple of times per week. 

[mynameisnobody]

I keep an extra sponge filter in one of my ponds. Pull it out whenever I need it. 

[purrmaid]

I keep extra biofilter media and plants in the main tank and then use the main tank's water to fill it. Also use patience. Start with 1-2 new fish in the q tank, don't give into temptation to buy a whole aquarium's worth of new fish 😅

[EggShappedFish]

+1 for running multiple smaller filters in your main tank, instead of one large one. This way you can very quickly setup a quarantine tank with an established filter in no time by simply moving a filter into the new tank. I even use the water from my main tank, to be as gentle to the nitrifying bacteria in the filter as possible

 

[Pepere]

On 2/26/2024 at 5:07 PM, NOLANANO said:

I do realize that I am refusing the solutions to my own problem in some ways but it feels like unless you have a fish room where you are getting fish often and have tanks to move fish and filters around, a quarantine tank is more trouble than its worth.

A quarantine tank is more trouble than it is worth…until you lose a lot of fish in a display tank due to not quarantining….  I was at a local Petco where I saw the store refund a customer for all the fish they lost due to a new purchase infecting them.  It was mind boggling to me that the Petco would reimburse a customer for that where they didnt quarantine the new purchase…  petco sells fish the day they arrive in store..  I dont know that this is corporate practice that all Petcos do…

 

On 2/26/2024 at 3:53 PM, Bonex said:

After a water change, around 25% of my fish end up dead, making me question whether I should continue.

I have bought batches of fish and had them in quarantine with 100% survival, and some batches with 80% mortality… Fish that survive the quarantine period tend to live long uneventful lives….  On the batches that have high mortality I don’t think it is due to failure on my part….  The fact is the whole process of fish being comingled and exposure in the process of shipping from source to store along with the stresses of shipment leads to issues…

 

I choose to keep a quarantine tank going.  I have the space to do it in the basement.  In addition to feeding snails, one could also simply dose some ammonia from time to time to keep it going….  I tried Irenes idea of using a tote for a quarantine tank and absolutely hated it.  I much prefer a clear glass tank to be able to closely observe the fish.  The tote keeps you from seeing so much detail…

yes, there are times with sick fish you need to treat the whole tank, but sometimes a timely removal of fish for treatment and closely watching the main tank is sufficient..

 

Sometimes you want to remove a sick or injured fish to give him time in isolation to let him rest and not exert energy to avoid other fish…

I have 4 display tanks. Personally I find the utility of quarantine isolation tanks worth the effort… I can understand why other people can feel differently….

[NOLANANO]

On 2/27/2024 at 5:20 AM, Pepere said:

A quarantine tank is more trouble than it is worth…until you lose a lot of fish in a display tank due to not quarantining….

Fair enough. I just haven't met the disaster to teach me my ways are flawed. LOL.

[Guppysnail]

I run an extra sponge in a main tank.  Every QT happens in a new clean tank or tote.  I used to run a Qt tank until I learned not to.  
As fish come in they bring all sorts of bacteria etc.  the fish are mostly healthy enough they don’t show symptoms and end up fighting off whatever small amount of incidentals they come in with. Over time  those build in a qt or if I’ve treated for something in qt. Just because a fish recovered from xyz illness does not mean it’s been eradicated from the tank. It just means levels were low enough not to hurt the fish.  

Edit to add I test new qt tanks daily for ammonia and nitrite.  I also do daily water changes to flush away any organisms I can that they brought in. 

[Galabar]

My belief is that most folks don't quarantine their fish until they have a large loss.  Then, they start to always quarantine.  At least that is how I started quarantining... 🙂

[Shawnmrose1983911]

I have a established qt tank I keep ramshorn snails in it to keep it cycled and I qt everything in it fish plants anything going into any of my other tanks spent a minimum of 4-5 weeks in the qt and as far as sick fish go it depends on what it’s sick with if I can tell or not depends if I treat the whole tank or if I qt and treat a single fish if I’m not sure what’s wrong with the fish I treat the whole tank I also keep extra sponge filters in my sump to keep cycled just in case I also have a 10 gallon that I don’t have up and running that I can set up just in case but I definitely qt everything before it goes into any of my other tanks

[Shawnmrose1983911]

On 2/27/2024 at 9:37 AM, Guppysnail said:

I run an extra sponge in a main tank.  Every QT happens in a new clean tank or tote.  I used to run a Qt tank until I learned not to.  
As fish come in they bring all sorts of bacteria etc.  the fish are mostly healthy enough they don’t show symptoms and end up fighting off whatever small amount of incidentals they come in with. Over time  those build in a qt or if I’ve treated for something in qt. Just because a fish recovered from xyz illness does not mean it’s been eradicated from the tank. It just means levels were low enough not to hurt the fish.  

Edit to add I test new qt tanks daily for ammonia and nitrite.  I also do daily water changes to flush away any organisms I can that they brought in. 

I definitely agree that the fish my recover but whatever may still be in the tank but I try to go 3 weeks after I have moved new fish out before adding new ones to allow any fish disease to die if there no host it can’t live but I can see how this thinking is flawed with a bacteria but it has worked for me so far I do also keep a empty tank and some extra cycled sponge filters in my sump just in case I’ve released in this hobby it’s better to be prepared for as much as you can be 

[Bonex]

Hey everyone, 

Not sure if people are still interested in this post. However recently, my QT didn’t get any better. I unfortunately lost more fish. These being Pygmy Corydoras. I assumed the frequent water changes. The spikes in ammonia from other fishies dying and the stress killed them. I also was reading and was told that Cory’s prefer a stable environment. A few days ago they looked fine…truly unfortunate. 

[Jeff]

How long was your established filter in a seasoned aquarium for, before putting it on your QT? 

[Bonex]

On 2/29/2024 at 8:41 AM, Jeff said:

How long was your established filter in a seasoned aquarium for, before putting it on your QT? 

I've been using a sponge filter for my quarantine tank, and it's been seasoned with beneficial bacteria for several months now. It was my initial filter sponge when I started my fishkeeping hobby a few months ago, so it should have enough bacteria to handle anything. I've used it in tanks ranging from 5 gallons to 20 gallons, housing my tetras, pest snails, shrimp, and my two betta fish.