Another quarantine tank question

[R.Allard]

I want to set up a quarintine tank in my sons room because he wants a salt tank too :o
so it will be running all the time but i dont want it to be a reef tank just some live rock and a couple of fish ..
any suggestions on lighting filters etc??

[Sherri]

That's about what I want to do too. Don't want to have to keep breaking down/set up. I want a "decent" setup that I can at least look at! I'm gonna stay tuned on this too! :-D

Sherri

[captexas]

Well, you are basically talking about a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) tank. All you really need is the live rock and sand bed for filtration. Add a heater and power head (more than 1 depending on size of tank) and you will be set. The fish themselves don't care about lighting, but with the live rock you want to have decent lighting to support coraline algae and any macro algae which will also help to reduce excess nutrients. Power compacts should be fine and are not that expensive. Maybe add a couple snails to help keep the tank clean.

You should note though that this will be fine as a quarantine tank where you are simply seeking to keep an eye on a new purchase before adding to your main display tank, but is not really ideal for a hospital tank where you will be dosing meds to help an injured/sick fish.

[R.Allard]

Just as a thought not sure if it will work or not .....
im thinking of useing a 30 gal hex with 2) 40w forecents one 50/50
and one atanic for the lighting.. on the filters im thinking of going with a hang on filter with biowheels and a couple little powerheads in the tank.
of corse with 3in sand bed (aragonite) and some live rock ...
wada ya think?????
common tell me what ya think i can take it :roll:

[captexas]

The hang on power filter is fine, it can serve as a mechanical filtration, occassional chemical filtration when needed, and additional water circulation. But most people will tell you that you don't want to use the biowheels. The purpose of the biowheels is to provide for biological filtration. The live rock and sandbed will not only provide this, but will do so much more efficiently than the biowheels. The biowheels will also tend to collect detrious and as it breaks down in composition, the biowheels will become what many call "nitrate factories", producing lots of nitrates that will cause problems in your tank. If you use the normal mesh filter cartridges, you need to rinse them frequently as they will also trap detrious that will break down over time.

As far as the lighting goes, it really can be a trial and error type thing. I don't know how you would fit 40watt flourescents over a 30gallon hex as the bulbs are 4ft long. If you are looking at the flourescent bulbs they sell at Petsmart/PetCo, they are expensive and lose their effectiveness quickly. A power compact will giver you more wattage and better spectrum output. And they put out more light in a smaller amount of space. As I said earlier, the fish don't care how much light there is as long as they aren't in the dark of course! The macro and coraline algae needs decent lighting though but people can get growth in different setups so there is no definate answer.

Hope that helps :D

[Isis]

The only bad thing about having a quaratine tank set up, especially for the purpose of putting it in a location for viewing, is that you will always want to have something in it, and there fore no longer becomes a quarantine tank.

The purpose for a quarantine tank is to isolate your new charges from potential parasites and diseases that it could get from your other livestock, including rocks, or passing them to your main tank which could harm your other fish. Ideally, you would want to tear down your quarantine tank every time because youcan clean the tank and start fresh for every new arrival. You don't need live rock for your biological. you can use those dirt magnets that only have a sponge and air tube. Put in your main display so it always a biological growth on it. When you need your quarantine tank, fill it with water from the main display, put the sponge in for biological, use a mechanical filter for particulates and have as little possible items in the tank, mostly plastic tubes and plants for hiding. Remember, this is a preventative treatment to protect your fish, not something for display.

[R.Allard]

Hmmm good point...
well then what i might do is set up my son a fish only tank and put some damsels and a couple shrimp . then buy a 10 or 15 gal just for q-tank...
R.

[Chuck]

I have a 15gl that I keep heater/airstone and tubing together all the time. In case I need to use copper I dont want to mix equipment even a net with the main... Seems to work well. It stays down till I need it and i pull enough from my main to fill it and add the med as needed.