jolliolli Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 hey guys, Went down to the animates fun day and bought an AR320 (28 Litre) tank with undgergravel filter, powerhead etc in their half price sale. Im going to use this replace my existing quarantine tank which is a little large for what i want ( AR380 38 Litre). My AR380 has the standard built in filtration, the new tank has the undergravel filtration which I haven't used before. As its going to be for quarantining i want to leave the tank bare, is it ok to leave the undergravel filter exposed without a substrate on top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 an UG filter with nothing on top of it is pointless.... you may aswell have no filter in the tank.... go buy a sponge filter for $10 or so and put that in... much better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Yup... the gravel is actually the filter media.. without the gravel.. you have a fancy airstone. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted July 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 thanks guys, have spare gravel here so will use that. I assume the ug filter in a small tank will be fine for just a quarantine tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 IMO theres probably no point in having gravel in a q-tine tank or using an UGF.. If you leave the tank running with a filter heater etc then you will have to leave fish in there (or keep cycling it with ammonia etc).. Personally as its only a 28litre tank I would just leave it empty and leave some sort of media (or a sponge filter) running in another tank and just take like 20 litres of water from an existing tank and your established spare filter and then its going.. Wont be much effort at all and saves having another tank running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Second what Ryan said. Normally you can hide the sponge filters behind a decoration or something to keep them out of the way until you need them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 For a Q tank that small I wouldn't bother putting anything in there. Just do a 10 ltr waterchange daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 daily water changes are alright for a discus breeder lol.. But if your quarantining for 3 weeks it would be a bit of a chore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 for 10 ltrs WC is easy. 1 min to siphone and 10 seconds to tip a bucket of new water in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 My thoughts are to keep a couple of crash test dummy fish that you can drop in the Q tank when it's not needed for quarantine. Then you can just keep it set up and cycled like a normal tank. It's only there as a precaution, 9 time out 10 there will be no problem with new fish and the tank can just be left set up with a couple of spare fish in there. When needed they go back in the community tank, the new fish are quarantined, if there is no problem they move on, the crash test fish go back in till next time. If you have something nasty happen you can nuke the Q tank, set it up clean and let the crash test fish cycle it again. It's also there and ready to go as a hospital, breeding or time-out tank if needed. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 I would go with discusguru. A bare tank is best for quarantine as you want to sterilize it between uses or it only becomes an infection chamber. I wouldn't use a filter either, for the same reason. Siphon the gunge off the bottom with a hose reserved for that tank, scoop out water with a container reserved also and replace with a bucket of water (all while the jug is boiling) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 That is what quarantine is all about. Everything you use is is not contaminated. Don't want any old filters, gravels, water or fish in there to cycle the tank. You don't know what sorts of nasties these stuffs is harbouring. Any little thing can trigger an outbreak of diseases. ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 I understand your point.. but... A fish tank is an ecosystem, it contains all sorts of life other than the fish you put in there. Have a look at a speck of crud syphoned off the bottom of an established tank under a microscope. It's a whole other ecosystem in a drop of water. Thats the natural state of a fish tank / pond / lake / river. Fish live in that and it's a naturally balancing environment. What you are effectively doing is bringing the new fish home to a partially cycled 'sterile' tank, but still bringing in an establised filter with it's load of organisms from an established tank + whever the new fish is carrying. Isn't it possible that this will stress your new fish even more and make them more prone to some disease? Or some bacteria may flourish in the improperly cycled tank? Where putting them in a properly established tank they may settle faster and not get sick at all. Most of these bacteria / fungus organisms float around in the air / water of the tank anyway, but dont attack healthy fish. I think the whole idea of quarantine is to make sure you dont bring home some strange exotic disease with the new fish, infect your main tank and kill your valuable existing fish? So you pop them in the Q tank for a couple of weeks, if they stay healthy then all is good, move them to the main tank. In the relatively unlikely event that they are carrying something, you can treat them/ send them back/ have a nice funeral without endangering your main tanks. THEN it's wise to NUKE the tank from orbit and set it up again. You are not really trying to quarantine your new fish from whatever is in your established tanks, they will just have to live with that eventually anyway. I just think it's better to get the fish into a properly established tank ASAP, while still maintaining your quarantine to protect your main tanks. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted July 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Hi guys thanks for all the input and discussion, my original idea was to set up hte tank with filtration running and keep a couple of tetras in there to cycle the tank and remove as necessary when new fish arrive. The main purpose of this tank is to quarantine new fish for a couple of weeks prior to introduction to the new tank and also as tank for treating disease/illness. I would have thought that if i didn't have any filtration running in the tank during the quarantine period the fish would not survive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 I would have thought that if i didn't have any filtration running in the tank during the quarantine period the fish would not survive? Yes you do need a filter. What the guys are suggesting is that you keep an extra little filter in your main tank, all cycled and ready to go. When they set up their Q tank it's all ready to pop in with the new fish. Otherwise it's frequent water changes to keep the water fresh. I prefer to have the tank set up and fully cycled, but their ideas aren't wrong either. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 And when you put the filter back in the communitytank to keepit "alive" you take the diseases with it. I raise killies to half grown with no filters gravel or airstones and they do alright. I just remove the gunge and change the water frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 I sometimes pop goldfish into a plastic tub with no filter if I need to separate some out. I usually grab a handful of plant cuttings that I will throw out at the end and sometimes add handful of gravel in a saucer to anchor them down, sometimes I just let the plants float to make some cover for them. The gravel doesn't go back into my tank either but could do if it was sterilized it to be sure. The plants probably have some good bacteria on them plus they help use up the wastes as they do in a fully established tank. I use a bit of air hose to syphon the bottom clean. (I don't use my gravel vac, that's for my tank only) You just have to keep an eye on the water quality by testing until you're sure things have settled (every day in the early stages) and do changes if required. The tub usually cycles just fine as bacteria and stuff colonise on the surfaces and plants. I guess the big thing if you don't have a filter or any aeration is to be mindful of the surface area (so there's enough oxygen) and stock appropriately. Plastic tubs are cheap too! The only downside is it's hard to get a good view of the fish but I use a 1L glass container when I need a good look at them.. just scoop them out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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