quarantine question

[crete456]

hello all...I had a complete wipeout of my tank due to an addition of a potters angel that I didn't quarantine...dummy dummy...I have since purchased a 10 gal QT setup...it's been 4 weeks since my tank has been fishless...I have a couple of questions...how do I sterilize the QT since I used copper and formalin to try and treat my fish from an Ich breakout...also I put a sponge filter in my display to be used in my QT, Is this OK, or will it transmit disease to the QT... thanks Denny

[leebca]

Hi Denny.

The QT/hospital tank that was used with a copper treatment has copper still attached to the walls of the tank. That tank cannot be used to quarantine invertebrates or any marine livestock sensitive to even very small amounts of copper until that small amount of copper is removed. However, that QT can still be used to quarantine marine fishes just after a simple rinsing.

So before I go into the cleaning procedure, I want to be sure you need to clean the QT.

The sponge filter running in a potentially diseased aquarium can transmit the disease to the QT. This can or doesn't have to be, a problem. For instance, in my recommendation for the quarantine of Tangs, I write to go ahead and treat them with copper for Marine Ich and Marine Velvet. If the sponge filter already has the potential for having Marine Ich and/or Marine Velvet in it, then using the filter to quarantine and treat a Tang for MI and/or MV, there is no concern.

I don't know (or remember) the size of your display aquarium, so I don't know if it is large enough for a Tang. Still, a 10 gallon QT is not large enough for a Tang going through the quarantine process. So I'd say that the most likely scenario you are faced with is trying to quarantine a fish in a potentially diseased QT if you use that filter from the diseased display tank system.

If you're anxious for stocking your display (and what hobbyist isn't! ) then let the sponge filter remain in the display tank system and start a new one in the QT. The new filter in the QT won't be acting like a nitrification biological filter for a few weeks, but you can start your quarantine process and control ammonia and nitrites by large water changes, the use of chemical absorbents (e.g., Algone, ammonia resins, etc.), or chemical pads. A 10 gallon QT isn't hard to control with water changes, but it does require that you pay close attention to actual ammonia and nitrite readings in the QT water.

Good luck!