Hospital tank questions

should you leave a hospital tank set up or set it up when you need it? :-\

 

I think leave it set up or else you will have to re-cycle it every time and the sick fish will probably die from the ammonia before they die of the disease.

 

Right you are Emma Some people leave the "Q" tank running with a platy or molly in it to keep it cycled then move it when they put a fish into quarantine. Hope this helps ;D
Carol

 

yeah it does i've never had a hospital tank before and i'm buying another 55 so I will have my 10 for a hospital tank.

 

I think Carol has also mentioned elsewhere that it's OK when you keep your filter from the Q tank running on your main tank, so that when you need the Q tank, all you have to do is to fill the Q tank with water and transfer that filter from the main tank to the Q tank. Carol, which is better: keeping the Q tank filter running on the main tank OR keeping the Q tank cycled with some fish?

 

I prefer to keep the "Q" tank filter running on the main tank to keep it cycled. Then I can put the empty tank away until I need it. But not all people can stand an empty tank around so keep a fish or two in it to keep it cycle ;D
Carol

 

so if you keep that filter running on a another tank it would be ok to put the q tank empty then fill it up with water when you need it?how long would it have to run until it would be safe to put a fish in?

 

As soon as you put the filter on it, the beneficial bacteria is all ready established in the filter.
Carol

 

so you won't have an ammonia problem or anything

 

No that's the advantage of keeping the "Q" tank filter running and operational on another tank with fish in it.
Carol

 

I REALLY APPRECIATE THE ADVICE 8)

 

Glad to help
Carol

 

HI everyone,
I recently posted a question about fin and tail rot and took your advice to medicate in a hospital tank. It's now day 4 of Maracyn/Maracyn 2 treatment and everything seemed to be going fine- however, tonight I notice that the entire top of the water surface is covered with bubbles- looks like soap suds! Have I done something wrong or is this ok?
Thanks,
Lisa

 

what are the conditions of your hospital tank? is it cycled? what is the temperature? what are the nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia levels? Maybe these things don't have anything to do with the problem and maybe the situation is okay but the information will help us to determine whether there is one. How is the fish doing today?

Rose

 

That's normally what happns for me also, just make sure you have enough aeration.
Carol

 

aeration seems good- temp is 82, nitrites are less than .3, ammonia is a little high at 1.5 but should I wait until the course of meds is complete to do a water change? I'm glad to hear this has happened to someone else too!! The fish himself is eating and swimming well, very interested in whoever's walking by, like a typical oscar!! I even think I may see a little fin regrowth. Thanks for the input-
Lisa

 

Let's say that I had a platy in the hospital tank and he had ich. Later I put him in a different tank since he got better. Let's say I have a platy with a dropsy now. Should I clean the hospital tank before I put him in? Would fish diseases affect snails or shrimps?

 

I would definitely clean the hospital tank before using it again. I'm not sure about the fish diseases affecting your shrimp or snails. However, the meds might affect them if you treat in that tank.

 

Once the sick fish is back in his/her tank, yes you should disinfect your hospital-tank so it's ready for the next case.

 

Should I clean the hospital tank with vinegar and water solution?

 

A vinegar/water solution would do the trick, after which you rinse out the tank thoroughly and let dry in the sun if possible.

 

Well how much vinegar should we add?

 

Well how much vinegar should we add?

how large is the tank? You don't need very much it's like a 10/1 ratio of water/vinegar

 

Thanks! ;D I get the vinegar thing now.

Actually, I don't. I was about to clean my tank when all of these questions popped into my head. Should I clean the decorations in there with the vinegar/water solution? Okay and when you clean the tank do you fill it with water 9/10 and with water 1/10 and use a sponge to scrubb the tank? ???

 

yes you need to clean everything that is in the tank. You can use a sponge but it must be new otherwise there will be traces of soap still on the sponge. I use terrie cloth towels to clean my tanks, I have a stack that are for the fish tanks only. If it is a 10 gallon tank you only need to use say 1-2 quarts of water and like 1/4-1/2 cup of vinegar. After the wash make sure to rinse all of the decor and the tank out very well to remove any remaining traces of vinegar from the tank. The vinegar is toxic to fish.

 

Thanks!!! I'm scared that I won't remove the all the vinegar....

 

You got all of the vinegar out of the tank when you smell the tank and no longer can smell the vinegar in the tank

 

Great!!! Thanks, I understand the vinegar/water thing now. ;D

 

then when done just let it air dry out in the sun.

 

Okay.

 

when I need a hospital tank I usually do a fast and dirty set up and tear it down after. I have a 3 and a 5 gallon tank for this purpose. anyways, after a terrible week, loosing two of my favourite fish, I'm considering leaving it up and running...or not. I'm unsure. anyways, questions...


the tank was treated with antibiotics for bacterial infection. the fish died anyways. I have a sponge filter in there as well as two seeded sponges from the established tanks that I threw in there when I set it up. are the sponges now going to be carrying the bacteria?
can I put those sponges back in the tanks I got them from or am I going to carry over something?

if I keep the tank up and running, how do I keep the cycle established and going if there is no fish in it? shoudl I throw a snail in there or something? is that enough to keep it going?

 

You could keep the tank running by adding flake food. Or you coud add a snail.
I am curious to see what others say about the spoinges, I am going through the same thing

 

The antibiotics should have killed off the bad bacteria, but there's always the chance of a resistant strain. I never put sponges from my QT back into my main tanks without sterilizing them with very hot water and/or salt, and letting them dry first. Sometimes I just throw them away. It's not worth saving the few dollars for a replacement sponge vs the chance of infecting my main tanks with something.

If I need to keep a QT running without fish, I usually put a few drops of ammonia in every other day or so to keep the bacteria fed.

 

Coffeebean. I would be very reluctant to use the quarantine sponges in my main tanks after they've been introduced to disease. I recommend always having extra sponges or bio matter just for the purpose of having to set up a quarantine tank. You can never have too much bio media!
I would sterilize them. I don't know that I would add any fish to the quarantine tank either in order to keep the cycle going. It's risky in my opinion.
Sorry to hear about your fish loss
Ken

 

I would keep the sponge filters running on your established tanks at ALL times....when you need them in a qt situation, they are always ready to go..once you use them on a QT tank , with or without medication / sick fish, I would always put it back onto the established tank with totally new media and a good cleaning....as others have said, putting extra media in your tanks has some always available for such situations ...

 

Only thing in my 20 gallon long is filter, heater, and a cave for hiding. I moved the male convict so the female has a break. Here is the issue. The male is acing really weird. He will swim around with his nose pressed against the bottom. Will he get use to no substrate?

 

He probably sees his reflection.

When I use a bare bottom tank I usually put something with a design under it. this breaks up the reflection.

carol

 

The male is acing really weird. He will swim around with his nose pressed against the bottom.

He is most likely just reacting to seeing himself. I have had Oscars that did the same thing if there was a bare spot in the substrate.

 

If you can remove most of the water, i.e, a major W/C, with someone's help you can safely lift the tank just enough to have someone slip a piece of black construction paper (or whatever works for you) under the tank.
Then refill. and voila-------------rick

 

He seems to be over it. After I took him out the female has lost her black strips but is super dark grey/blue. I think she misses him, I think Ike and Tina would be fitting names for them.