Setting up a quarantine tank

[edikpok]

I was just wondering how to setup a proper quarantine tank.

I have my main 29g biocube and I have a 10g tank that I use as a quarantine. I currently have a coral beauty sitting in the quarantine tank (it's been a wee... and no any signs of anything bad).

So my question is: how long should I keep the fish there? should I be treating them? should I change the salinity?

Thanks!

[Diana]

Hi there! I find the best way is to quarantine fish in the same water parameters as your main display, that way there will be minimal stress when moving him/her over. They recommend two weeks in quarantine, with a month being the best. This is to allow time for parasites such as ich and other ailments to surface, which often need a few weeks into their life cycle to become apparent.

Be patient! ;)

-Diana

[Slick Fork]

My own personal method when quarantining a new fish was to start them off in the Quarantine tank with water directly from doing a water change in the display. I let them settle for a couple of days and then begin a hypo-salinity period http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/6/fish I keep the salinity at 1.009 for about a month, then start SLOWLY bringing the salinity back up over the course of a week or two.

When it's all said and done the fish will have been quarantined for about 6 or 7 weeks.

[edikpok]

Ohh wow... I was just hoping to do what Daina suggested... let it sit for a while in the quarantine tank that has the same exact parameters as my main tank and then just transfer it after 3-4 weeks if no signs of parasites appear on the fish. What is the advantage in such low hyposalinity?

[Slick Fork]

Basically I assume it's contaminated and treat it as such. This catches maybe a minor outbreak of Ich or something nasty that I might miss on casual inspection. It's a lot of work but I never had ich in my tank