Can I quarantine 3 fish in a 20g?

Here's a QT question. I am thinking about purchasing 3 Heniochus Butterflyfish from LiveAquaria, 2-3 inches long each. Since they are a "school", should I quarantine them together? I used a sponge and filter that had been in my main tank for 2 months, and then transferred it over to the QT tank, which has been up and running for about 2 weeks. All water parameters are in check-pH-8.0, Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates all 0. So what is the best way to QT these fish?

 

a 20 is on the small side, depends on how long you are going to keep them in there. There is always an element if question when trying something that there is no set standard for, I would be prepared to have another bigger tank or another tank in general on standby.

a week then yea I don't see a real issue longer than that then there will be problems Also the real job of the QT is just to have water in there so you can test/treat disease and not let it in your DT. The levels will get high just add new water, be prepared to add a lot of new water since there is no real biological filter in there. Also prime is a good thing to have on hand to help treat the level swings.

BTW how big big the DT?

 

I will be quarantining the fish for 6 weeks. The display tank that they will be going into after that period is 225g.

 

Any other thoughts on this? I am still not sure how to proceed.

 

You went about things right by setting up the tank, but as mentioned, I am not sure how long you can safely keep them in there for. 3 smaller fish, that would be no problem at all. But these are fish that do appreciate a large tank. I feel bad quarantining my 4-5" Foxface in my 46BF. Any opportunity to setup a larger QT? A 55 would be a nice size I would think, and you can get them dirt cheap. I figure most of the fish you will be housing will need a larger QT anyways.

 

Holy long quarantines Batman! 6 weeks?

Why 6 weeks?

 

I do 4 weeks minimum (only if they do not show any signs of disease throughout the 4 weeks).

 

I would think if you have good hiding spots that and the fish are on the smaller side (maybe juvenile size) a 20 long would be ok IMO. I would question the need for it to be 6 weeks though unless you note some problem. That's just my .02.

 

Thanks for all of the responses. I have been in the hobby for 5 years and never quarantined my fish. (by pure luck, I've never wiped out a tank due to disease.) Now that I'm setting up a fairly large tank, with a lot of money invested in fish, I want to do everything I can to keep my tank healthy. So when I started reading about QT tanks, it seemed like 6 weeks was the time period that most people suggested. I agree that it seems long. It does seem logical to QT for 4 weeks unless the fish is diseased or otherwise unhealthy.

To solve the problem of quarantinging 3 Bannerfish together in a 20g tank, what if I kept my current 75g. tank running after transferring all of my livestock and rock over to my new 225g. Could I buy an aqua clear 110 hob, and seed the sponges with bacteria for a month before the transfer? Does this make sense?

 

yes that makes a lot more sense, just relocate all the rock/sand and place a small filter as mentioned and just watch you still may have to do water changes but you wont have near as many issues in the 6 week period.

a BB approach would probably be the best solution with the 75 that way if you did have to dose there is no sand to absorb the chemicals and it would keep the waterflow higher

BTW 6 weeks might be a little long but better to be safe than sorry

HTH