5 Gal Quarantine Tank Ok?

Hello guys,

I want to add more fish to my 55 gallon tank. Last time I tried to do this, I added about 15 neon tetras and it was a disaster, all of them died and whatever killed them also killed 2 of 3 mollies that I had. Now I would like to add 10 neon tetras and 10 zebra danios (the other fish in my tank are about 20 rasboras and 1 angel). Now, the thing is, I have a spare 5 gallon tank that I can use as quarantine, I already set it up with heater, air stone, and media from the big tank. My question is, is this tank ok to quarantine these 20 fish? For how long should I keep them there and should I add any medication to the water? Thanks!!!

 

That many fish introduced to a tank that small would cause a massive ammonia spike.

 

If you already set up the quarantine tank, what is keeping the bacteria in the filter alive? Without an ammonia source, it is going to die.

That being said, your fish are not compatible temperature wise. The angel does best at temps between 78-80 degrees. That is at the extreme high end temp for the rasboras and the neons. It's even worse for the danios.

 

Would it work? For 20 no 10 yes. is the bacteria dead? Probably not. All according to how long ago you set up the tank. With 10 you will have to check your water for ammonia and do water changes. At that size you can do 50% in like 10 min. As for temp yeah your going to have to look for different fish. Neons should be avoided just because how bad they are in general. Try cardinals. Danios like colder water. You could try one of the smaller rainbow fish. A 5gal is better than no qt. Yes if you can afford a bigger qt tank (20gal) get it if not use what you have. Also it allways better to add less fish to the main tank. Even that tank will take time to build up bacteria to take care of the new 10 fish.

 

Hmm, I see, 20 is too many, and neons and danios are not compatible temperature wise. Seems like cardinals are a good option for my setup, I might start with 10 of them. In the meantime, I've been feeding ammonia to the tank and I've been monitoring the levels every day.