Quarantine question.

If you want to set a quarantine which I hear is the only way to go if you are investing in A bigger system what is the best way to set one up without having to make a whole complete new system (sump, skimmer, the whole nine). Or is all that necessary? Just trying to learn how you guys have done yours

 

Quarantine tanks do not need to be an entirely new setup. They are used mainly to monitor new livestock, introducing new fish, and treating diseased fish. I personally had mine set up with a stock light, HOB filter, and heater. I put some sand and rock in there but it really isn't needed. IMO you could probably get away with just keeping a small spare tank and only setting it up if you need it. Just add water and a heater and then use some of the water from your DT. They are nice to have for the few reasons I've mentioned above (and probably more). If you have a sump you could use that for aggressive fish, but if you don't have a sump then the QT will be a good place for them. Anytime I got new fish I would put them in my QT for a day or so just to make sure they were healthy. I also used my QT for treating ICH because some of the medicines contain iodine which is something you don't want anywhere near your main setup. No matter what, whenever you get new livestock, never use the water they came in. Drip acclimate them and "dip" them before you add to the main tank. This has worked for me in the past, maybe some other reefers have used a QT differently?

 

I two QTs; one is a run of the mill 10 gal tank, HOB filter, fluorescent light (only for observing fish), small powerhead, heater, sponge filter ( I keep one going in my DT sump at all times) and HOB skimmer that I wasn't using. My other is a 46 BF that is basically a complete reef setup. I already had the 46 tank and stand from my freshwater days. I knew I wanted to do a seperate semi-predator tank (dwarf eel & lionfish), so it is a complete setup. Live rock, sand, 4 powerheads, wavemaker, heater, HOB 'fuge, HOB skimmer, decent LED light, carbon reactor, etc. I have been using this as a QT for almost a year now. Once my last couple fish for my 55 are QT'd, I will then stock that tank and use the 10 gal as my QT.

 

Yep, as others have said, a QT is bare minimal and cheap to set up. I have a 20 gallon and a 10 gallon QT for my 90 DT and 55 gallon frag tank. Both of my QT tanks, have a simple HOB filter, with just the sponge in it and a heater. I don't even use a light over mine but you will need some way to "view" the fish to determine the health of them. Place a couple of PVC pipes and keep it bare bottom and you're good to go!

Many people keep a sponge in their DT to "seed" and then when it is time to set up the QT tank, they place that sponge in the HOB filter on the QT tank to ensure that it is practically "insta cycled." Another great thing that makes QT pretty easy, imo, is that you should not be too concerned with nitrates in the QT system (I don't even concern myself with nitrites). The only thing I even test for in QT is ammonia (via a seachme ammonia alert badge) and copper if I am doing a copper treatment. For the most part, the only thing you are concerned about is keeping the fish healthy / getting them healthy and making sure no ammonia is present. The hardest part about QT is the long "wait" imo =).

 

QT for me is a 15g with a bunch of old equipment. I will say it is much easier for older (not years in age, years in hobby) to set up QTs, just because we have so much aquariums junk lying around

although a ten gallon from craigslist with a heater and maybe even filter/light would cost under 100 bucks. Call it 80 for a QT that could save you thousands in the long run

 

Here's a primer on the different types of QT's, their pros and cons:

Quarantine!
It's a Life Sentence, not a Death Sentence.

 

Guys. Awesome input!! Thanks so much