Quarantine 10g Tank

[IDunnoWhy]

OK, while I'm waiting for things to settle down in my 29g, I've got to thinking about my 10g quarantine.

Things I know:

-It will be bare bottom
-I will have a few pieces of PVC tubing & maybe a couple artificial plants in there
-I have your basic 20" Flourescent strip light hood (All glass brand 18watts I believe) I know thats not adequate for corals, but should be ok for fish.
-HOB filter (Penguin 100) should I use the filter media/bio-wheel?
-50 Watts HOB heater


Things I don't know:

-Is a power head required?
-LR is not recommended because of potential medication correct?
-What should be left in the tank to keep it cycled, when I'm not quarantining something? (snails maybe?)
-Is there a bulb that I could use for quarantine corals (one that will fit my existing 20" strip)? I'd rather not go buy a whole new fixture just for this purpose.
-Suggestions on a few good meds to have on hand if needed?

 

[Lotus]

With the Bio-Wheel, you can seed it in your main tank, then put it in your quarantine tank, and basically avoid a cycle. Of course, don't put the Bio-Wheel back in the main tank unless you've bleached it and dried it out (so you don't contaminate the main tank).

I used a piece of live rock in my quarantine tank before I put fish in. That way, I seeded the quarantine tank, then took it out an put it in the main tank. Live rock in a quarantine tank would work if you have cycle problems, but you'd have to trash the rock afterwards if its been in there with fish.

A powerhead isn't really necessary, but if you have a spare one, there's no harm in using it.

The lighting should be OK for low light corals, which most of your first corals will likely be (mushrooms, etc.). You could always build a plastic platform to put the corals closer to the light.

You could add some fish food to keep the cycle going, but it might be better to break down the tank and reseed it between fish, just to be on the safe side. Snails or hermits won't do well with meds, and if the Q-tank gets infected, you'll probably have to euthanize the snail to make sure disease isn't transferred.

A lot of people like Cupramine for copper treatment for ich. Maracyn One and Two are good for bacterial infections. A refractometer is all you'll need for hyposalinity (for ich). It would probably be better to buy as needed, if you have those meds available locally. You might also want to pick up some Lugol's coral dip for the corals (but only some corals should be dipped, so make sure you read up on that before you dip).

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Thanks Lotus!

That's exactly what I needed to know!!!

I have the Maracyn Products, but they are for FW, so I'll have to grab the SW variety.

The coral dip is something I'd have forgotten *thumbsups

Great Idea for making a shelf for the frags, I've got some left over egg crate, so looks like I'll be making a frag shelf

 

[Lotus]

I only quarantined one set of corals (that I got at a frag swap). I really only had them in quarantine for a week for observation. I found a couple of unwanted hitchhikers (aptaisia). A lot of people recommend a 4-week quarantine for corals, and some people never quarantine. I only did it the once, as they were from many different unknown vendors, usually I get corals at the same LFS, which probably has all the exact same nasties in its tank as I do in mine by now