Quarantine tanks
So you have decided to create an aquarium for your
house. You can have a professional
company build you one or you can either purchase one or build your own. No matter which choice you make, you need to
think about introducing new fish to the existing aquarium. You will need to have an area in the aquarium
that you can quarantine the new fish, so that they become acclimated to the
aquarium. You need to watch them, or
check on them, to make sure they are acting in the manner that the species
normally acts. The recommended time to
be left in quarantine is two weeks. If
you have a saltwater aquarium, then you need to quarantine any new coral that
you plan to add to the tank. Coral can
bring disease or pests into the tank.
There are some species that you may not want to add to the general
population of the tank, so you have a quarantine section for them. Bettas may be one of these species.
So another reason for having a quarantine tank is to isolate
any sick fish from the regular population. So how do you create a quarantine
tank? It should be a separate tank than
the main tank that you use to maintain the fish. So what do you need to set up
this quarantine tank? Water from the
existing tank because it contains the nutrients that are familiar to the sick
fish. A filter that will hang off the back of the aquarium, but make sure not to use carbon in the
filter. Carbon will remove the medicine
from the tank. If it is a fresh water
tank, you need a heater to keep the temperature between 72 and 82 degrees. An air stone to give the tank plenty of oxygen. Fish usually like to hide if stressed. You can use PVC pipe for the hiding
spots. Then you will need the same type
of test kits that you use for the main tank.
These test check the quarantine tank for pH level, ammonia, nitrites,
and nitrates. The fish net needs to be
different than the one that is used in the main tank. That way you will not infect the main tank
with disease from the sick fish. Because
you will be using the water from the main tank there is no need to follow the
steps for setting up the water for a new aquarium.
Also you need to have the quarantine area to move any sick
fish so they do not infect the rest of the aquarium. When treating the sick fish the quarantine
tank will be like a hospital. This will
keep any medicine from affecting the other fish in the tank. Usually the quarantine tank is for the salt
water fish because fresh water fish do not get sick as often as salt water fish.
Source for article
Ezinearticles.com
