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I am setting up my 20 gallon long as a quarantine/hospital tank. I was wondering what substrate, if any, I should put in there. My feelings on the subject are that the tank and everything in it should be able to be sterilized, right? What do some of you have in your hospital tanks?

I was also wondering if it is better to add ammonia to the tank to keep it cycled or if I should have a couple fish in there that I can move when ever I need it for quarantine/treatment?

Thanks!

- Meow -

Most people suggest no substrate for a quarantine tank. The more simple the better

-Josh

I tried a bare-bottom quarrantine tank, and it freaked the fish out to see their reflections below them. If you do go bare-bottomed, you might want to paint the bottom of the tank to minimize reflection. I also actually found it more difficult to keep clean. The gravel vac just swirled a lot of the debris around instead of sucking it all up efficiently. So I went with a very thin layer of pea-gravel, and I've been very happy with it. It's easy to keep clean, and if I do medicate the tank, it's easy to either throw the gravel out completely and replace it, or it's such a small amount of gravel that it's not a problem to bleach it clean if I have to.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

I have played around with diffrent subtrates, something I have played around with in the past is this:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=6489&N=2006+113531

It's easily cut to fit most smaller tanks and can be easily removed and replaced each time. What I had originally play around with was using it over an under gravel filter grate for a fry grow out tank. It kind of worked like a sponge filter across the bottom of the tank that you could vacuumed off. Only problem was that I could never get it completely clean that way and had to pull it up after 3 weeks to change it.

The cleaner the better as you can give it a full cleaning after it has been used. If you use any substrate I suggest you give it a good washing and long boiling to remove any problems and medications.

Painting the bottom sounds a good idea, Outside of course.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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I got tired of cleaning everything in my Q/H tank....empty as now. Water, filter and heater.





***************************************
Just one more tank........

Thanks for all the replies!

I have used the cage carpet with reptiles before. I didn't know that you could use it in a fish tank. I had been thinking about using a thin layer of those large glass pebbles that you see sold for betta bowls, but those are usually reflective.

Now I am thinking about painting the back, two short sides and the bottom with a matte/flat paint. My reasoning is the fish should feel more secure if it can't see much reflection or stuff outside the tank at all. There won't be a bunch of ornaments or plants in the tank for them to hide in/behind.

Does this sound okay? Would one of those backgrounds with a picture of plants be a better idea? It could be cut to wrap around the three sides of the tank and I could paint the bottom.

Thanks!

Kat

- Meow -

If you don't want the "sterile" look, do the background on 3 sides and put some darkish material under the tank. No need to paint...






***************************************
Just one more tank........

Hi,
Actually, there is a huge difference between a QT tank
and a hospital tank. They have two different purposes.

A QT tank is a holding tank and is designed to keep the
fish in a comfortable transisioning stage. It is the time
to be sure that they are healthy, yes, but its primary
purpose is to separate them from their soon to be knew
neighbors while we are sure that they bring no disease
with them. A QT tank should provide adequate hiding
spots for their security. It should be (IMO) planted,
and have a good filter and heater as well.

If your new fish do have a disease, you should,
depending upon the disease, remove the sick fish to
a hospital tank for treatment. Only if they all have
disease should the QT tank be treated.

A hospital tank, on the other hand, is where we treat
injured/sick fish. It should be bare, and should have
a sponge filter, and a heater, and I would provide a
flower pot or two for the fish to "think" it is hiding
but still be visable for our observation.
Put a piece of black paper under the tank so they do
not see their reflection in the tank bottom. The sponge
filter is easily cleaned and restarted, while the air
that drives it provides aeration and some current within
the tank. Generally speaking a 10G tank is ideal for
a Hospital tank (for most fish) as the water is easily
changed when necessary, and the math for doseages of
medication is so much easier (divide or multiply by 10).
Once the disease is gone, return the sick fish to the
QT and tear down the Hospital tank, clean it throughly
with a disinfectant, and set it off to the side, dry, till
it is needed again. During this time, the sponge filter
should be added to your QT tank to maintain the bacterial
colonies for the next use.

You cannot, easily, do that to a QT tank and you do have
to if you try to do both in the same tank.
To keep the QT tank cycled between new comers, always keep
a few guppies or some other fish in the tank. They will
serve as dither fish for the new fish and help them settle
in to the new tank.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thank you Frank, that was very informative.

So here is another question. If the hospital tank filter is kept running continuously on another tank, is that enough to prevent a cycle from happening when the hospital tank is set back up? Should water from an established tank be used to set up the hospital tank or is new water okay?

Also, would you remove the QT fish when putting new arrivals or just have inexpensive ones in there that you could handle getting sick? You mentioned keeping them as dither fish?


- Meow -

Hi,
By keeping the sponge filter running in the corner
of the QT (out of sight if possible) it should cope
with the Hospital Tank when necessary.
Usually, you only would have one or two fish in that
tank at a time. If you have a whole bunch sick, then
it might be better to treat the tank they are
normally living in instead of transfering them all
to the Hospital tank.

As far as the QT tank is concerned, the other fish are
considered permanent residents and remain in the tank.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--