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I was wondering about the importance of having a "hospital" tank, and if it's important, what's the minimum gallon tank I could do, and what do I need to do for setup? (meaning, do I have to have a heater, gravel, decorations? or should it just be a plain tank with water in it and nothing else?)

A hospital tank is preferably the bare minimum, which merely makes it easier to clean out so you can make sure conditions are good. Having to worry about gravel siphoning doesn't happen when you don't have gravel, hehe. A tank with a heater, a filter, and something to hide in is what you'll need.

Size of the tank depends on the fish that is being hospitalized. A 10 gallon is appropriate for most fish.

The preferable use of an extra tank, in my opinion, is for quarantine. I prefer to quarantine fish before they get in the tank. A fish getting sick pretty much only happens within a portion of time after I first buy it; after that, my fish are healthy and I don't really have to worry about them getting sick again, so I don't really have a hospital tank. I don't really have a quarantine tank either (I don't buy fish often, and when I do I am pretty good with not buying sick ones), but it's a pretty good idea if you're buying fish so you can make sure disease isn't passed onto your current fish and to get the fish a little more comfortable before introducing them to a tank full of other fish.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I have never had a hospital/spare tank.
The size you would require would depend totally on the fish you have in other words a big tank for big fish and a small tank for the small fish.

If I did have one it would have a heater a filter suitable for the tank size and that would be it.

Keith

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Hi,
Generally speaking, the size of the two tanks, Quarantine
and Hospital depends upon the type/size of fish the owner
normally keeps.

A 10 gallon hospital tank is about the right size for most
of us, you are not treating a school of fish, just one or two,
and - the math when adding medications is easy
(so many drops or pills/gallon). Hospital tanks are
normally bare tanks, no gravel, a sponge filter, a heater,
and a clay flower pot for shelter. The light should be
low, no more than a watt or so since there are no plants,
you just want to be able to see the fish to monitor its
recovery. This is like a ICU for a fish or two. When the
event is over, the tank is broken down, sterilized, all
the parts cleaned, and the sponge part of the filter can
either be discarded, or sterilized. Many will keep an
internal sponge filter running in their QT tank for
transfer over to the hospital tank when necessary.
That way you don't add the stress of a beginning Nitrogen
Cycle to the problems of an already sick or injured fish.

A QT tank on the other hand, is essentially, a home away
from home for newcomers. It is a complete aquarium setup.
It should have gravel, an established, filter, heater,
plants and places for fish to establish territories
or shelters.
It should also have permanent inhabitants to maintain
the Nitrogen Cycle when the others have moved on to
their permanent tanks.
This should be a larger tank, say 30 gallons or so. The
idea is to house single fish, or a school, or a shoal,
of a type of fish long enough to be sure that they are
all healthy, before adding them to your show or main tanks.

Frank

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

Frank-

As usual, excellent!!

I've had a vague idea of what a hospital tank is and what a QT tank is. but to have the clear explanations given consicely in one nice post, man that really helps! I am going to print this off and keep it handy as I re-evaluate my overal tank set-ups.

Once again, thank you very much for the info!

OK, thank you Frank. I won't be doing a quarantine tank. I just don't have room for another tank that size right now. A hospital tank I could do, but what's a sponge filter? And what would I use to sterilize the tank after I'm done using it? I know I can't use soap, so would I use bleach? I've heard that you can use bleach to sterilize tanks because it's the only thing that doesn't stick to the walls of the tank.

Hi, and Thank You, I'm glad I helped.

This is an example of a sponge filter:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/fish-supplies/aquarium-filter/internal-aquarium-filter/ps/c/3578/3579/3584

The second, third and fourth row show the various styles
of the internal sponge filters. They are driven by a regular
Aquarium air pump. For normal cleaning you just squeeze
the sponge out in the discarded tank water and stick it
back in the tank.

Generally, you can take a cup of Clorox and mix it with a
gallon of water and wipe everything down or submerse it
in the water. That will kill off most everything.

Frank


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

I took a look at the link. It all says "bio-filter." Is that a bio-wheel? Because I have a bio-wheel but it doesn't look like I can squeeze it. If I tried to squeeze it, it would rip or break in some way.

But I'll look into one if I do get the 10 gallon hospital tank. And cool I've got Clorox. I use it to clean out my washer, and to clean my basement floor. I've got a cat, so I'm ALWAYS trying to kill the smell down there! Love the cat, hate the litter box!

Great post, Frank.

I wouldn't be without a QT. I think it's important to always QT your new stock. My only differences are that my QT is bare bottom. I want to be able to see any suspect poops. I've found from experience, white jelly poops can often be missed in a tank with substrate & decorations. So BB, but with some driftwood and/or rocks / pots for hiding spots.

My QT doesn't run all the time. A couple of my tanks are over filtered, with an extra cannister and / or sponge filter running on them. So there is always a cycled filter that I can use on a newly setup tank.

I have a few QT's & they're mainly 24"L x 18"W x 18"H.

If a fish is going to get sick, this usually happens when they are new to my house & I'd prefer to find that out before adding them to my existing stock. If my QT needs to become a hospital tank, I just put a mark on the glass to the 10G level & that saves on medicine costs.

HTH

Cheers
TW

Hi,
There is a difference between bio-filter and bio-wheel.
The bio-wheel filter is a miniature version of a commercial,
water treatment plant, filter. It is a patented type of
filter.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+12320&pcatid=12320

The bio-filter concept is a take off on the main type
of filtration that is going on. You have filters that
remove particulate material, chemical filters, and
biological filters. Most of ours do all three in one box.
The sponge filters are mainly biological filters. The
small pores of the sponge offer secure housing for
huge bacterial colonies that manage the Nitrogen cycle.
If the water flow through the filter is large enough it
will hold some particulate material but they are not
really designed for that.

The bio-wheel filters use the felt material to house the
bacterial colonies. By flooding the felt slats alternating
with water and then atmosphere, the colonies get the
oxygen and water needed to flourish. The padding is
designed to give a huge surface area for the colonies to
breed on. By the simple feature of the water wheel, the
filter has expanded its surface area many many fold over
a similar sized filter and thus increased its biological
filtration way past a same size filter without the wheel.

Frank


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

Oh...

Well then, lol. No, really, I do understand the difference, thank you.

I don't buy online, so I won't get one from the link you provided, but I will get one at my lfs.

Thank you again for the help, Frank!