Setting up a very basic Hospital / Quarantine Tank

Hi there,

Frequent visitors to this forum know that I've only recently joined but I haven't bloody shut up! Just trying to learn as much as I can, especially as I haven't had much luck so far (broken aquarium glass, algae outbreak, fish dying etc.).

Anyhow, I'm trying to see if I could make a very basic temp Hospital / Quarantine tank. I say temp 'cos I really do not have a lot of room to work with, I'm running out of floor space at this stage!

Anyhow, a post on here suggested that even 15L would be enough for a basic quarantine tank. That got me thinking, as I have a few 14L buckets already, and 14L isn't that much less than 15L. I should point out at this stage that I'm working on a community tank, so my fish are all around 1 inch in size, maybe 2 inches when fully grown.

So, assuming that a bucket would do in a pinch, I then need a heater and filter. I've enquired on a post in the For Sale section about two such items.

Now, I don't want a 'permanent' hospital tank, but something I can set up quickly if needed. With that in mind, I was thinking it might be possible to put the mini-filter into my main tank and have it running alongside my main filter. I presume (please correct me if I'm wrong) that over time this mini filter will cycle (as there are fish in the tank) and then, once it's cycled, I can simply move it to the temp tank whenever needed, and move it back to the main one afterwards. Does that sounds ok, or am I missing something?

If the 14L bucket is really a bad idea, I'll have to look at trying to buy a tank, but it'll need to be as small as possible, and I'll need to rearrange the room to find where to put it. Even then, it'd still be a temp tank, and empty and off when not needed.

How does all that sound? Thanks...

J.

If you can make it over to the Santry/Airport area of Dublin i have a small 15L Perspex tank you can have....i'm sure I would have a small light somewhere aswell and one or two other bits........Plenty of marks on the tank but spot on for a quarantine tank....Let me know.

Ger

Hi
You have it exactly right about the filter if your community tank is clear of infection because you will have an issue if you transfer the filter into a hospital/quarantine tank as the filter will carry any infection into your hospital/quarantine and i'm not sure about your bucket idea if for no other reason you will not be able to asses the fish as you will not be able to see them.

What i do is keep a small tank running with a few zebra danio in it and run a sponge filter and if i need a hospital/ quarantine tank i can transfer the danio out to another tank and use it then when all is good back go the danio and they keep the tank and filter cycled.
jim

In reality, the notion of quarantine has changed susbtantially over the years.

I don't think many people actually put their fish through true quarantine (= 40 days or 6 weeks to round to weeks)

A "quarantine" system is to not only to protect existing fish from imported disease, but should also be a means to acclimatise a new fish. As such, the "quarantine" tank should be quite comfy to reduce stress and have a good mature water system plus any necessary "home" things (eg caves or plants).

15 litres is not ideal, but better than nothing.
Maybe a clear-view storage box with a lid is better than a bucket.

ian

Thanks for all your replies everyone, I appreciate it.

I take your points, Jim and Ian, that a bucket isn't ideal, both from not being able to see the fish and from trying to recreate a decent temp 'home' for the fish. The advantage with a bucket though is that I have one, and it's fine on the floor (and stacks up into other buckets when not in use). If I got an actual small aquarium, it would probably need to go on the floor as well!

Regarding keeping the mini filter in the main tank to keep it 'alive' while not being used in the quarantine tank. I know what you mean about not bringing the infection from the main tank to the temp one Jim, and obviously if I'm setting up the temp one it's probably because I'm worried about a fish so therefore the main tank *may* have an infection! However, if I had the small tank up and running all the time (like with some Danio in it like you do) then that means I'm suddenly running two tanks! And if I needed to move the Danios out to use the small tank for Quarantine, they'd have to go into the main one. So really I'd have two tanks running, and still no ready to go 'temp' one.

As far as I see it, the 'quarantine tank' (and I completely understand your point Ian about how we use that word incorrectly) has two functions. Firstly, any new fish I get would spend a few weeks in that tank to make sure they're ok before they go into the main one. This is to protect my existing fish. In that case, moving a mini-filter from the main tank to the smaller one would be fine (if my main tank does have an infection I don't know about, those new fish are going to get it either way!) and the mini-filter wouldn't move back until I was happy that the fish are 'safe'.

The second function would be a hospital tank. In this case, it's to separate a suspect fish so that it reduces the risk of other fish getting sick, and makes it easier to treat that fish. Yes, I would be transferring a mini-filter that might have the infection that fish has, but once again it's still an improvement on leaving the fish in the main tank, right? And once again, I wouldn't move the mini-filter back until I knew the sick fish was better or was gone.

Does that all make sense? I just need to make sure having a mini-filter living in the main tank, apart from when it's needed in the small one, is a good way to go. It keeps the filter alive without me having to keep a second tank alive.

With all that said, thanks for your offer Ger. Could you let me know the dimensions of that 15L tank and how much you want for it?

Thanks...

J.

For small fish, 15 litres is better than non.

I would also hazard a guess that not all people do any form of quarantine...from shop to tank. So, even an non-ideal set-up is going to be better than what some people do (and how many shops actually quarantine their fish.....I mean something a bit more than 3 days with some writing on the tank "not for sale" ???)

Quite often, cases of white-spot being "introduced" by new fish are probably from the new home itself as opposed to being brought-in. The new fish may not have an immunity to existing white spot in the tank.
Hence, that is something to consider.......but, again, better that doing nothing.

ian

Thanks Ian, that all makes sense, and any kind of quarantine would be better than what I currently do (i.e. nothing!). And I'd probably fill a quarantine tank with some water from my main tank, to help the new fish acclimatise.

But (and I feel very stupid here), just to show how I'm a bit overwhelmed by all this, and not thinking straight, I have just remembered that I actually have a 30L plastic box and lid! I'd completely forgotten I had it, even though it's in the same room as the tank, and the buckets I keep going on about are sitting in it!

So, now my temp tank can be up to 30L, in a see through box, and with a lid. I'll hopefully have a filter and heater this weekend, and I can get a fake plant and some cave or something (all fake, the only thing I want to have to mind in this tank whenever it's in use is fish!) just to help the fish relax.

All going well, I can get the mini-filter up and running in my tank, get it cycled, hold off getting any new fish until it's done, and then set up the temp tank for when I get my next fish (Harlequin Rasboras). It's still a basic temp tank, but 30L with filter, heater and simple ornaments isn't too bad really! And I can empty the box and leave the buckets in it when it's not needed.

Thanks for all the advice on this, and sorry to appear ungrateful Ger but it now looks like I'm sorted for a container to use...

J.

I use the method you describe on occasion and it seems to work fine, although my quarantine tank i a bit bigger. It's no harm to have a small air driven filter running in the main tank anyway, it's also a backup in case something happens to your main filter.

As you use water from the main tank to to fill the quarantine tank the fish will also acclimatize to roughly the same conditions as it will eventually go to.

Andreas

Thanks Andreas, that's good to know...

J.

Hi all,

Thought I'd post up an update. As of yesterday evening I now have my basic temp tank up and running:





It's got 24L of water, a small heater and filter (thanks Brian!) an ornament to give the fish somewhere to hide (thanks Lydia!) and a thermometer (thanks Seahorse! ). As can be seen from the pic, it's now also home to Finny, who so far is still alive...

All in all it cost me about €20 and when it's not in use I can easily empty it and stack my buckets and other equipment in it.

Thanks for all your help...

J.

Hey jason .. Its looks perfect . Nice one

looks very smart,im actually kicking myself i did not think of something along these lines for my own setup

Hey Jason, your hospital seems nice and when you don't have sick fishes you can use it for breeding!

I'll have to prepare one for the future in case I need it.

perfect little tank im glad you got sorted!

SM