Passenger

I hope I've put this in the right section.

I've been reading about the importance of a quarantine tank. I just brought my first fish home the other day (3 Lemon Tetras and 3 Diamond Tetras) and since it's cycling I won't be bringing any new ones into the tank for a while. So here are my questions -

My house is overrun with stuff and I don't know where I'd put another tank other than my basement. My basement is not climate controlled. It stays cool in the summer but gets fairly chilly in the winter. Considering the tank would have a heater, would this in any way work for a location for a quarantine tank?

Second, this probably seems like an incredibly dumb question but can the quarantine tank double as a hospital tank? Some of what I've read seems like it can but I want to know for sure.
Thanks.

Dozey

The temperature of your basement might play a factor. If it gets very cold in the winter you might burn out a lot of heaters trying to keep the tank warm. But if it doesn’t get too bad then the basement should work.

A q-tank and hospital tank work as one just fine. The only issue might be if you are quarantining fish and get a sick fish at the same time. But I only have one spare tank for both uses.

agabr123

you wouldn't need to keep it set up all the time, just when you get new fish or have a sick one. here's one that a member has used that i think is great for a QT. you can easily set it up whenever needed, just keep the extra filter media in the 46 gallon that you have, and transfer it over to the QT when needed for an instant cycle.

Quick and dirty quarantine setup

Passenger

That is great - something like that would be small enough I think I could find a location for it somewhere other than my cold basement.

Do you not need to take precautions to keep the heater from damaging a tank like that though? If the heater comes into contact with the plastic/rubber tank it seems as if it would mar it badly or even melt through causing a hole. Or are they not that hot?

agabr123

i think it would probably be okay since most heaters use suction cups that would keep it far enough away from the plastic, and i also dont think that they're quite hot enough to do any significant damage.

Dozey

The water will absorb heat fast enough to protect the plastic even if contact is made.

zowie717

I have a question or 2 about QT tanks. I have a 10 gallon set up. I set it up about 3 weeks ago after I realized that i was of course given wrong info from pet store. ( see my thread) anyway, I put in tetra safe start and let the filter and heater run. I just went out and got my 2 fish to QT as my other tank is close to done cycling i think. So when i have transfered my fish over, can I just tank my filter from the 10 gallon and hang it on the back of my 26 gals until i need it again? and can i emptied the 10 gallon out.? sorry for the intrusion on your thread.
thanks so much!

Nick G

Yeah that'll work fine. As long as the filter is running in a cycled tank it will 'Instantly" cycle the quarentine tank when you need it again. When you fill it up use some water from your established tank as well.