Setting Up a Quarantine Tank

[Lulu_Lunette]

It’s been a rough week for my lagoon. I have lost three of my five fish for an unknown reason. I have run tests and cannot find anything out of the ordinary. The fish also appear to be normal and show no abnormal behaviors one day and are gone the next.

I’ve decided with the remaining fish to quarantine the fish so I can observe closer for about a month and treat for anything if something develops. This will also allow what is ever in my display tank to die off and be gone. As a precaution, I may even leave them in there for three months.

So far this is my equipment plan for this quarantine tank

• 10 Gallon GLass Tank
• Hood/cover with light
• Aqua Clear hang on back filter
• Heater
• PVC elbows
• Ammonia/pH Alert Badge
• Small container of sand (for a wrasse)
• Bio Spira to get everything going

I will add some photos once I have it all set up.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Sounds like a good start

 

[Big G]

It’s been a rough week for my lagoon. I have lost three of my five fish for an unknown reason. I have run tests and cannot find anything out of the ordinary. The fish also appear to be normal and show no abnormal behaviors one day and are gone the next.

I’ve decided with the remaining fish to quarantine the fish so I can observe closer for about a month and treat for anything if something develops. This will also allow what is ever in my display tank to die off and be gone. As a precaution, I may even leave them in there for three months.

So far this is my equipment plan for this quarantine tank

• 10 Gallon GLass Tank
• Hood/cover with light
• Aqua Clear hang on back filter
• Heater
• PVC elbows
• Ammonia/pH Alert Badge
• Small container of sand (for a wrasse)
• Bio Spira to get everything going

I will add some photos once I have it all set up.

Consider adding a flow through mesh bag of ceramic media (BioMax or Seachem Matrix, etc.) to the HOB that has been soaked in the BioSpira. Soak the foam pad from the HOB as well. And consider adding a foam bubble filter where the foam has also been soaked in BioSpira. Soak all for at least 24 hours. Pour the remaining liquid after the soak into the QT. Haven't lost a fish in a long time since I started having 3 different filter materials soaked in the BioSpira or that have been soaking in my DT sump for a month.
Change out the sand once a week to keep the sand & container clean for the wrasse. You don't want the sand and container to become a pollution factory.
Consider painting the two ends of the QT and the back with dark paint. It creates a "cave like" environment the fish really seem to like.
Leave the light off at least initially. Use ambient room/window lighting. Helps calm down the fish.
PVC elbows are great but I've found adding a couple of plastic "Sea Fans" really helps also calming down the fish. They like to hide behind it:

 

[Lulu_Lunette]

Consider adding a flow through mesh bag of ceramic media (BioMax or Seachem Matrix, etc.) to the HOB that has been soaked in the BioSpira. Soak the foam pad from the HOB as well. And consider adding a foam bubble filter where the foam has also been soaked in BioSpira. Soak all for at least 24 hours. Pour the remaining liquid after the soak into the QT. Haven't lost a fish in a long time since I started having 3 different filter materials soaked in the BioSpira or that have been soaking in my DT sump for a month.
Change out the sand once a week to keep the sand & container clean for the wrasse. You don't want the sand and container to become a pollution factory.
Consider painting the two ends of the QT and the back with dark paint. It creates a "cave like" environment the fish really seem to like.
Leave the light off at least initially. Use ambient room/window lighting. Helps calm down the fish.
PVC elbows are great but I've found adding a couple of plastic "Sea Fans" really helps also calming down the fish. They like to hide behind it:

I was just going to use the media that came with the HOB. I’ll definitely soak that and the sponge in the Bio Spira. I didn’t think I should use anything from my DT tank since I don’t know what’s going on there

 

[ectoaesthetics]

Good start. If you don't already I would try feeing them fish roe, sliced up clams/oysters, and I might even try some black worms. The idea simply being to boost their nutritional health as much as possible to increase their immune system. The back worms are a theory of mine (so feel free to completely ignore). However, if black worms are often used to induce spawning in fish and spawning only occurs when fish are at their healthiest state then it would stand to reason that it might be possible that the fish are responding to the nutrient increases.

@PaulB Would you recommend adding anything else nutritionally to boost the immune system in her remaining two fish?

 

[Big G]

I was just going to use the media that came with the HOB. I’ll definitely soak that and the sponge in the Bio Spira. I didn’t think I should use anything from my DT tank since I don’t know what’s going on there

Right you are about the DT. My DT is clean without disease and has been through the 76 day fallow and nothing gets added to it that has not been QT'd. So just soaking those foam pads and ceramic media in something like BioSpira is the safe thing to do. These days I use Seachem Stability instead of BioSpira, But both are good.