How To Set Up A Quarantine Fish Tank! (And Why You NEED To)

Quarantine tanks can be a pretty controversial topic among fish keepers. Some swear by them, others swear against them, and some don’t even know what they are. Today, I’ll go over why I quarantine my fish, some various techniques used, and what I use.

WHY YOU SHOULD QUARANTINE YOUR FISH:

I think the biggest reason for quarantining your fish is preventing the spread of disease. You don’t want to bring a new fish home that has parasites, fungus, or whatever else and have it spread to your other fish. Even if you have “cheap” tetras, guppies, or a similar common fish, loosing an entire tank of them can add up, and can add up to even more if you are trying to cure it with medication. Some medications can also kill plants, or even your cycle. Not to mention, medicine is much cheaper in a 10 gallon quarantine than something like a 40 or even 75 gallon tank.

LENGTH OF QUARANTINE:

I personally do a 30 day quarantine. I have seen some that quarantine for 6 months, and some as little as 7 days. This kind of depends on your comfort level, and the type of fish you keep. Most common diseases will appear in 1-3 weeks, but some parasites and internal issues can take a few months to show up.

MEDICATION TECHNIQUES:

There are two major techniques used when it comes to medication. Some people will not treat the fish, but will just watch them, and only treat for things that they see. The second technique is medicating your fish right off the bat. The popular medication used for this is API’s General Cure, API’s Erythromycin, and Hikari’s Ich-X. This technique was made popular by Cory of Aquarium Co Op. I use to use the former technique, but switched to the later after noticing I had a significant drop in sudden and random deaths.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED:

SOMETHING THAT HOLDS WATER

I have seen QT tanks using everything from tuba ware containers to 5 gallon buckets to storage bins to ice coolers to actual aquariums. As long as it holds water, you should be good to go.

A FILTER (USUALLY)

Some people choose not to use a filter on their QT setup. Usually, the argument is that they are changing 50% of water daily (again, lots of techniques) so they don’t need a cycled tank. The problem that I have with it, is lots of medications require leaving them in the tank for a few days, and redosing medication runs up the price of treatment. My filter of choice is a Aquaclear of the appropriate size (I use a 20 on my 5.5), as I run Aquaclears on my other tanks and always have spare media to cycle a QT tank. It allows me to not have to run a sponge filter all of the time in another tank. An option I have been looking at is a box filter, as I would still be able to use my media, but could eliminate the need for an air stone and eliminate the need for that plug.

ADJUSTABLE HEATER AND THERMOMETER

Next up is an adjustable heater. I like to treat Ich with Heat, so my QT tanks tend to sit around 87 degrees Fahrenheit.

COVER

Lots of fish are skidish, or they need to have something to break the line of site in case aggression happens. I use PVC Pipes, elbows, etc. Plastic plants will work to, but may be harder to clean.

AIR PUMP AND AIR STONE

I like to have one on hand. Oxygen levels decrease with an increase in temperature, and you don’t want your fish to die from lack of oxygen. Some medications can also do this. You can skip the air stone if you’re using a box filter or sponge filter, as it does the same thing.

LID AND LIGHTS

This is technically not needed, but I run it. I like to be able to see my fish so I can check for ich, fungas, etc. I also don’t want my fish to jump out (or my cats reaching their paws in).

SEPARATE EQUIPMENT

You’ll need a separate net, water siphon, buckets, etc for each QT tank. disease can spread in a single drop of water.

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR QT TANK! LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS!