Quarantine Tank

[mattr]

So my tank has had no fish in it for about two months now. I did this on purpose so that I can get rid of any ich or anything else. Now I am planning on getting some fish in there.

Can i set up a QT and do a copper treatment on the fish that I put in there, and then move them into my display tank? I don't have much space to have a QT so I want to have it setup for as short as possible.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

[Alberta-newb]

You will probably get a lot of different opinions on QT procedures. I used to go without, but now that my investment is so much larger I don't take risks. I QT all new fish a minimum of 6 but usually 8 weeks. Once a fish is in QT first thing I do is make sure it's eating well. Once it is I first do two weeks of prazi-pro for parasites. Once that's done a minimum of 4 weeks copper (cupramine) or for sensitive species, chloroquine phosphate. Sometimes prazi, copper or CP will affect appetite so that's why I make sure it's eating well and is healthy first.

In the event the fish comes down with anything, I will change my schedule and medicate accordingly (example: I see ich in the first week I go straight to copper or CP.)

As for the QT tank itself, nothing fancy a 10 or 20 gal is usually sufficient depending on size and number of fish. For filtration a cheapie HOB aquaclear works great. I keep extra sponges in my display so there's always active bacteria when I need to set up the QT. a heater is needed as well, lighting not necessary. If space is limited, it could always be set up in a closet or on the kitchen counter.

Live rock, I like to keep fish less for 10 weeks if I have the room to make sure it's ich free although I've cut back to 8 weeks if I'm confident of the source.

Sounds like a long time, but beats having to tear apart your reef because you got ich, brook or velvet.

[neoh]

Seconded. I got about $500 worth of stock from a reliable source - were healthy and eating, then a fish died, then another, and another - by the time I could notice, they all had marine velvet. The two that made it are in a 33g tank QTing for the last three weeks with copper, high temperature and low salinity. So far they have had a huge improvement and are eating twice a day like pigs.

Always quarantine!

[hillegom]

I used to do 8 weeks in a 30 gal QT tank but found it a pain to wait that long.
So now, only corals, LR, snails etc go into the QT tank now.
I now use the tank transfer method for fish, where every 3 days you transfer the fish to another tank for a total of 15 days.
I use 15 gal pails for this, each with its own heater and air hose.(3 pails) Mind you, I have not done a tang yet, this would require a larger pail/tank.
I also use prazi-pro for 3 transfers. No copper
Read up about this

http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/3daytransfer.html

I mainly use this method to eradicate ich and worms/parasites
Luckily I have not had to deal with marine velvet yet.

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by hillegom

I used to do 8 weeks in a 30 gal QT tank but found it a pain to wait that long.
So now, only corals, LR, snails etc go into the QT tank now.
I now use the tank transfer method for fish, where every 3 days you transfer the fish to another tank for a total of 15 days.
I use 15 gal pails for this, each with its own heater and air hose.(3 pails) Mind you, I have not done a tang yet, this would require a larger pail/tank.
I also use prazi-pro for 3 transfers. No copper
Read up about this

http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/3daytransfer.html

I mainly use this method to eradicate ich and worms/parasites
Luckily I have not had to deal with marine velvet yet.

+1 I do the same thing now. The only times I've lost fish in QT is when I've used copper. If you understand the life cycle of ich, this will accomplish the same thing with much less stress of the fish... in my opinion, of course.

[Reef Pilot]

I prefer the hypo route myself. Much easier on the fish and has other benefits as well, especially with delicate and finicky eaters. Unfortunately, it is not a quick process, though.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/6/fish

[Alberta-newb]

I used to be a big fan of tank transfer including bleach washing and air drying tanks between steps . I recently changed my mind after going through it with a pyramid butterfly that came down with velvet AFTER going through tank transfer (day 22 of QT). It did not cope well with copper at even the lowest dose so I used CP. Fish survived and is still with me today. I could have lost my entire tank if I had trusted tank transfer and put it in after 15 days.

[George]

Tank transfer and hypo-salinity method are only good for marine ich. They don't work on any other parasites like marine velvet and brook. You should have copper and/or chloroquine phosphate on hand to deal with those things.
Also after tank transfer treatment is done (and hypo also), you should leave the fish in QT up to 2 months for observation.
There is no stress to fish in a properly set up QT.

[mattr]

my last tank got marine velvet so I want to make sure thats taken care of also.

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by hillegom

I used to do 8 weeks in a 30 gal QT tank but found it a pain to wait that long.
So now, only corals, LR, snails etc go into the QT tank now.
I now use the tank transfer method for fish, where every 3 days you transfer the fish to another tank for a total of 15 days.
I use 15 gal pails for this, each with its own heater and air hose.(3 pails) Mind you, I have not done a tang yet, this would require a larger pail/tank.
I also use prazi-pro for 3 transfers. No copper
Read up about this

http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/3daytransfer.html

I mainly use this method to eradicate ich and worms/parasites
Luckily I have not had to deal with marine velvet yet.

+ a million. This is almost my exact QT procedure for fish now. I do it in two 15 gallon tanks, each with it's own set of everything. Also do Prazipro for 3 of the transfers. So far it's kept ich completely out of my display. It's also kind of a giant pain in the rear to do and is pretty labour intensive (maybe it's be less of a pain with smaller transfer vessels), so it keeps me really conservative about this fish I buy... "do I reeeeeeally want 15 days of work for THAT fish?" is a question I ask myself all the time. Cuts way back on the stupid impulse purchases.