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Im going to switch my 20g long to a quarentine tank. Im wondering if I should leave the substrate in. It would be easier to clean.

I'd suggest keeping only a small ammount of substrate in a q-tine tank. Remember anytime you end up with a serious illness you're going to want to sterilize the substrate or throw it away. I wouldn't go much more than one inch deep.
So long as your current substrate is disease free it should be just fine to leave a small ammount of it in for q-tine purposes. If you have more substrate in there now it can be removed, washed well and put away for later.

^_^

[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

Hi,
I'm not sure why you would put substrate in a "QTank."

As Babel mentioned, many times the medications used will
kill off any bacterial colonies in the gravel.
Additionally, many of the critters that we are trying to
eliminate through the use of the QTank will simply
"hibernate" snugly in the gravel till the tank is occupied
again. The addition of an inch of gravel in a 10G tank
for instance, means that there is not 10G of water in
the tank, and that will throw off your calculations for
how much medication, if any, to add.

Normally, any QTank is bare bottomed and simply uses an
inside sponge filter. Yes, there can be a difference
between a QTank and a Hospital tank, but generally speaking
the same tank is used for both purposes either at the same
time, or at different times.
Bare is better. It is far easier to disinfect after use,
and easier to make accurate calculations for medications.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 14-Apr-2005 09:35

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greenmonkey51

I have never owned a quarentine tank, but what I know of them, they are always just the bare glass.
By doing this you are not leaving any nasties in the base also most medications would/will kill all the good bacteria in there anyway.

Keith

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I think it's better to leave it bare. Personally i don't own one, but i always heard that it's easier to clean &amp; better health wise.


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There are some cases where you want substrate. I'd think most bottom feeders would be quite upset @not having some ammount of substrate. Ottos especially spring to mind. But the above reasons are all very valid. Personal preferance on my part is that it be set up to make the fish as happy as possible. If that means throwing out the substrate or needing to make extra calculations when dosing meds if needed, then so be it.
Even with hospital tanks (sometimes the same as your q-tine tank but not always) you sometimes add some gravel and or decor to help calm the fish.

^_^
[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"