Quarantine procedures

[georgeortiz]

I currently have an 18 gallon tall tank as my quarantine tank as well as a heater,powerhead and bio-wheel filter.

Should I assemble my tank and tear it down only when I am going to use it or should I always keep it running?

Everything I have seen has suggested I use it only when necessary and make sure I have a well cultured sponge which is rinsed in hot water after I tear down the QT tank before replacing it in my sump for keeping between uses. This sounds a little risky. I am sure there is a better way to get the tank enivroment up quickly.

My question to the forum is:
What are the steps I should take when quarantining a specimen? Not only from the standpoing of treating the specimens but, also the setup of the quarantine tank. What should be added to the water and how long should the quarantine last. I am sure there are different rules for corals,inverts,and fish.

[Isis]

I currently have an 18 gallon tall tank as my quarantine tank as well as a heater,powerhead and bio-wheel filter.

Should I assemble my tank and tear it down only when I am going to use it or should I always keep it running?

Everything I have seen has suggested I use it only when necessary and make sure I have a well cultured sponge which is rinsed in hot water after I tear down the QT tank before replacing it in my sump for keeping between uses. This sounds a little risky. I am sure there is a better way to get the tank enivroment up quickly.

My question to the forum is:
What are the steps I should take when quarantining a specimen? Not only from the standpoing of treating the specimens but, also the setup of the quarantine tank. What should be added to the water and how long should the quarantine last. I am sure there are different rules for corals,inverts,and fish.Actually, there really isn't any risk in setting up a QT when needed and tearing it down when not in use. The reason of not keeping it running when a QT isn't in use is to mainly take away the want to fill it up with something so it isn't just an empy box of water. The whole sponge idea is relatively easy to do and actually better since you bio load on the sponge will be able to handle anything you put in the QT tank. You don't want to have any decor in a QT, except for what will make a new addition "comfortable", that is having places to hide while it is being treated. You don't want to place any kind of substrate in the tank for this will house all kind of pathogens. Keeping it simple is the best way to have you QT process under control. Even putting LR in the QT can have potential problems. If you must have decor, use plastic reef-safe items that can be disinfected after use. A QT is supposed to be a preventative measure not a display tank.

[georgeortiz]

Great,
So what should be my plan of attack when I get my specimens. Should I only dose copper? Does it matter what I dose depending on the specimens?

[matt]

I would not use copper unless you have sick fish. Copper is toxic to fish also, just not lethal at the small concentrations like it is for invertibrates. Using copper will make it very difficult to maintain any sort of bio-filter, as it kills the bacteria involved. Just use some tank water to set it up, and I personally would go ahead and use some rock; rubble is fine. This will give you a bacteria culture; you can also add some bacteria with one of the culture products used for cycling a tank. The purpose of the q-tine is just to get the fish eating and observe it for signs of infectious disease before you add it to your community.

Of course, this all changes if you want to treat sick fish. Then you must have a tank with no rock or sand, and attempt to keep a bio-filter in a copper environment; that's not easy.

[georgeortiz]

Thanks Matt,
So my quarantine tank just needs to be a place to view my new specimens for sign of problems before I put them in the main tank and no treatment is necessary. Is my assumption correct? What about inverts and corals? How should they be quarantined?

[matt]

George;

Look at the chapter in Eric Borneman's book for a lot of good info about introducing new corals to your tank. Most people do not quarantine animals like shrimp, snails, and crabs. Quarantining corals is probably a good idea, because some corals do conain infectious diseases, but people typically don't do it because your quarantine tank must contain an environment suitable for them, which means strong light and water wovement, and excellent water quality.