Help me be patient? Quarantine question

[Hobbit]

I’m quarantining two tetras for fin rot right now. On one, the affected fin has grown back a lot, but it’s not all the way grown yet. The other has a white split in its tail that looks better, but is still noticeable.

I did a two week salt treatment (the first week with low dose salt and the second week with medium dose salt). Then I did a 50% water change and dosed melafix for one week. I did another 50% water change and am now part way through week 4, just watching things.

So when do I decide they’re ready to go back in the main tank? Do I have to wait until their fins are 100% healed? I want to put them baaaaack 😝

Also, what do I do with the quarantine tank when I’m done? I think I heard one of the fishtubers say you should empty it and let it completely dry out. Is that right? Or should I let it run to save the good bacteria?

[ange]

I've got some gouramis in quarantine and two of them needed to be isolated for a couple of weeks. They didn't have fin rot but their fins were shredded when I purchased them. It's been almost a month now and one of them still isn't healed, but he's doing just fine in the QT tank with others and able to get enough food/hide as needed. He even croaked the other day 🥰

I'd guess that if they were already in the tank with those other fish AND the disease symptoms are gone, they're okay to go into the main tank. I'd just closely monitor to make sure that there's no fin nipping/other behavior that may have caused damage in the first place.

When I finish QT I usually just clean the tank the same way I would clean other fish supplies and then use it as storage for other quarantine supplies (net/siphon/sponge filter/heater/hides). Some people use bleach followed by soaking in dechlorinated water but I personally don't.

[Hobbit]

Thanks @ange! I’m glad I didn’t end up putting them back in the main tank earlier. The fin rot started to get worse again and never did clear up. Even after another round of salt, then erythromycin, and then melafix again. Today I found that one of the tetras had died. I think all the meds were just too much, and I’ll probably put the other one down because it has some growths on its side that seem to be getting bigger. They did get a lot of brine shrimp though since they were next to my grow out tank. So hopefully the last two months weren’t all bad for them. ❤️

[H.K.Luterman]

I'd say 4 weeks is well enough time for quarantine, as long as their fins have shown signs of improving.

When I break down my quarantine tank, I will soak it in very hot water, give it a little scrub with my algae scrubber and then dry it out. I only ever bleach (a splash of bleach after filling it up, with all the equipment inside) it if I used it to deal with an obvious disease, like ich, and then I bleach everything associated - sponge filters, siphons, decor, heater, everything. Lots and lots of rinsing, then a soak with a Prime treated water. Then I let it dry out. 

I keep my sponges in other tanks to be kept seeded for when I need them. 

[ange]

Sad to hear about the one not making it, but glad that they were eating like kings. Best wishes for the rest of your fish.

[FrozenFins]

I would wait till the tail is healed completly, also up your waterchanges as it will only help with the treatment of finrot and may speed the process up.

As of what to do with the tank, heres what I do:
-Drain tank completly 

-Remove filter and place in a established aquarium with fish, this will help keep the de-nitrifiyng bacteria alive. (let the filter completly dry out for 24hrs so that its not carrying out any diseases over to other fish)

-Then when you want to set the tank back up simply fill it up and place the filter back in.

You can also leave filled up, just sprinkle in some fish food every two days to keep the de-nitrifying bacteria alive

[CCK]

@James Black Im a newbie so just looking for some additional clarification. When you say remove filter and put it in established tank you are meaning the insert to the filter correct? 

When you fill it back up how long do you let the filter run before transferring/putting fish in it? 

I currently have a 20 gallon long with a hob (new primary), and a 10 with a hob. I ordered a sponge filter so was thinking of putting the sponge filter and 10 gallon hob in the 20 gallon. Then getting rid of the 20 gallon hob. If I needed to set up the 10 gallon again I could then move the 10 gallon hob back over. Does this sound like it will work? 

Thanks for you expertise!

[FrozenFins]

1 hour ago, CCK said:

@James Black Im a newbie so just looking for some additional clarification. When you say remove filter and put it in established tank you are meaning the insert to the filter correct? 

When you fill it back up how long do you let the filter run before transferring/putting fish in it? 

I currently have a 20 gallon long with a hob (new primary), and a 10 with a hob. I ordered a sponge filter so was thinking of putting the sponge filter and 10 gallon hob in the 20 gallon. Then getting rid of the 20 gallon hob. If I needed to set up the 10 gallon again I could then move the 10 gallon hob back over. Does this sound like it will work? 

Thanks for you expertise!

Yes that sounds good. I think that sponge filter would be over doing it. There is nothing bad with a slight over filtration it can just be a waste of money.