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Quarantine tank general question


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Hi~

Being new and inexperienced to the fish/aquarium hobby. I have a question about quarantine tanks.

I currently have a 20 Gallon High tank. its still cycling, but when the time comes that I can add new fish, should I get another tank to quarantine my new fish in? Is it necessary because my current fish load is 1 guppy, 2 Cory cat fish, and a mystery snail. If I should have one (heard Cory say a 10 gallon). What is needed to get it ready and set up? Is this a tank that most people have up and running all the time? 

Any advise is welcomed 🙂

 

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I have a 10 gallon QT tank, its not setup all the time but only when I am adding fish to it. I would encourage everybody to get one. 

Here are the supplies I use when quarantining fish:


-10 Gallon Aquarium

an empty one I had setup an runing a few years ago.

-Pre-Cycled Aquarium Filter Media/ Filter

I simply have a extra  filter that I run in one of my established tanks, this is to ensure that there is cycled filter media for when I decide to get new fish. I put the filter and the media in my qt tank when its time for fish. once the fish are out of QT I bleach the filter and its media to ensure there is no diseases/ parasties and put it back into the established tank.

-Heater 

I got a cheap pre set heater from walmart, figured it didn't need to be a "fancy" heater if its only for my QT tank

-Cheap plastic plants

once again from walmart. I use real plants in all my tanks except for my QT tank. I dont use it in my QT tank because it doesn't need to look nice, and real plants are more expensive especially if its something I will only be using for 2-4 weeks at a time. Plastic Plants will offer cover and hiding spots for fish, especially new fish because they often are a bit stressed at first and all they wanna do is hide.

Cheap led light

It was a light that came with a 10 gallon aquarium kit I got when first keeping fish, it cannot grow plants.

 

 

Edited by James Black
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to quote clint eastwood, "do ya feel lucky". thats about what it comes down to. 90%+ of new fish you buy will have nothing wrong with them, and cause no problems. its the few percent that might have something that can cause problems in your aquarium, or even sometimes, cause mass death. i myself have been real fortunate over the years, and only had 1 very bad issue from new fish, and it cost me a lot of fish.  so it is a good idea to have a quarantine tank, but it is not mandatory. if you have room, and a few extra bucks to set one up, its not a bad idea. 

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I have a plan for quarantining for my new 95 gallon, but when I first started, I was getting all of my fish from exactly the same place, and they all looked healthy, so I skipped that step for the 20 and 10 gallon. I'm quite sure someone brought in tape worms at some point, so I'm currently dosing both tanks with General Cure.   

**NEEDS OTHER'S OPINIONS HERE**Not sure what others would say--and I don't want to offer bad advice, so please don't do this until you see some other people's ideas on it, but it seems to me that since you already have a tank that's within "typical" quarantine sizes (yes, bigger than a 10 but some people use a 20) and you're starting it out from scratch, you could probably just run everyone through the quarantine trio in your main tank.

I know you're not fully stocked yet because I read your other post.  If it was me, I'd probably debate between Option #1: running the quarantine trio on the fish that are currently stocked (but I would be a little hesitant since they're also going through the stress of a fish-in cycle) and then setting up a quarantine tank for new arrivals, or Option #2 getting my cycle going, slowly building my stocking over the next few months, and then running everyone through a quarantine trio after I add my last group of fish, assuming I don't see obvious diseases in the meantime. There are some good videos on how to set up a cheap and easy quarantine tank.  

All this to say, I haven't had awful results from not quarantining on my initial setup, but I do have some minimal signs of tapeworms, so I'm treating now because I didn't treat at the outset.  But maybe there's an outside-the-box option since you're just getting your first group set up.  What do the rest of you suggest?

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I can probably find place to put a quarantine tank. I have a pre set heater, and an extra hood because the one that I had I really DID not like.. so I can use it I guess. As for the filter!! I have a hang on back one right now that I am going to "rig up" Cory style (LOL) and am waiting for all the filter stuff to come in. How do I get another one in my 20 G? Should I purchase a sponge filter and just add it to my tank now while its cycling? I saw the ones on here that are for a 10 G and was wondering if I put that one in there and then use it for a quarantine tank? 

 

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Just wanted to add that you can use plastic bins as a cheap quarantine tank. Mine is roughly 18 gal, and I have a mark on the side to indicate 10 gal for when I need to medicate. I keep its filter sponges seeded in another tank and just set up the bin when I need to. It's a good way to prevent your quarantine tank becoming an accidental "real tank," since its ugly. X3

PXL_20210104_173906199.jpg.6f3d57b00bcd24fbcb180271510deb82.jpg

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Like others have said - you wanna keep the QT simple: heater, filter, light, places to hide (pvc pipe). Bare bottom to boot. 

That's it. 
 

Not only will this give you maximum space to view your fish the best for possible infections, but you can see the left over food as well to siphon up. 

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I would say that if you have a 20g, and basically nothing in it, you can add meds to it. The thing with a quarentine tank is that it is smaller and costs less to medicate. The other thing about QT is that bare bottoms and no plants make them easier to sterilize and treat if you get something really nasty.  

If you are a one tank person, you can medicate the main tank. But if not, you will want to do the plastic tub route. I have several 10g that were supposed to be for QT...and now I need a tub.

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1 hour ago, Sandra the fish rookie said:

I saw a video on that idea as well. and I think its an even better idea.. because I ALREADY want another LARGER tank.. and I just know it will become a betta tank.. I just KNOW it.. LOL.. it will be an accidental REAL tank.. with me anyway.. haha

welcome to the aquarium hoarders club!

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