What am I missing in QT?

[azureus]

Hello! Pictured is my qt tank. Just a 5.5 gallon with a filter, heater and air stone. Ordered copper and a Hanna checker to dose. 
Basically what I’m wondering is if there are any tricks of the trade anyone can share? I’m following Humblefish’s general guidelines but didn’t know if there were any tips he didn’t mention.. 

Thanks for any input! 

[M. Tournesol]

Pvc pipes or plastic decoration for fish hiding area.

[Toomanymatts]

I'm cycling my first one as well!

[mcarroll]

On 5/15/2022 at 1:47 PM, azureus said:

Hello! Pictured is my qt tank. Just a 5.5 gallon with a filter, heater and air stone. Ordered copper and a Hanna checker to dose. 
Basically what I’m wondering is if there are any tricks of the trade anyone can share? I’m following Humblefish’s general guidelines but didn’t know if there were any tips he didn’t mention.. 

Thanks for any input! 

Well...that's built more like a treatment or hospital tank....like for fish that require some kind of medication.

 

And at 5 gallons, IT'S TINY.   Do not keep any but the smallest reef fish (eg Neon Goby) in there for more than a day.  If your designs call for fish any larger than that, I'd suggest at least a 20 gallon.

 

If you use what's in your picture as a QT tank....which implies some observation time.....it will be stressful for the fish, which can cause fish to become sick that are borderline healthy. You don't want this.

 

Further, in general, sick fish placed into tanks like this will experience a stronger outbreak of whatever ails them....and this factor is multiplied by however many sick fish you have in there at one time.....each sick fish will be transmitting what they have to all the other residents.

 

If you're going to have a QT tank (maybe you don't have a healthy reef tank yet), and you aren't buying sick fish (this is always more of a gamble....only buy fish that you can see are healthy if at all possible), then your tank should be set up like a GOOD, BASIC FISH-ONLY TANK – fake plants and hiding places will make a difference to these things.  Having some established live rock in the tank will also make a difference.

 

Borderline healthy fish that go into a stable, healthy fish tank (especially a stable, healthy reef) have a much better chance as they can begin healing, de-stressing and recovery...under these conditions, chances are there will be no outbreak.

 

The use of micron and UV filtration during acquisition of new fish is also generally overlooked (or even downplayed) in most QT and fish care guides.  

 

These are the best preventative tools we have if you're dealing with "fish of unknown character" – ie fish bought online.  UV and micron kill and/or remove parasites in the water...and can be EXTREMELY effective.

 

Amazingly, both can be used on a functioning reef and do not require a separate tank.  Adding a reef-safe anti-parasitic (ie Ruby Reef's stuff) would be a sensible "extra" to employ if it seemed prudent.

 

Only use a hospital tank and appropriate medications IF you have fish experiencing an outbreak.  Otherwise, they are the wrong tools and may cause more problems than they solve.

 

QT without medication is a different thing...observation time and TLC are the main tools to employ.   (Really this phase is what your local fish store is supposed to be for.) 

 

Most folks would be better off just putting apparently-healthy fish into their display tank....and if in doubt using UV and micron for a few months.  

 

Folks with an existing population of healthy fish that they do not wish to risk are where use of a separate QT tank comes into play....but it would be set up as mentioned before....like a nice fish-only or even FOWLR setup.....not like a prison cell/hospital room...no meds.

 

Unfortunately conventional wisdom seems to be that treating healthy fish like they are sick somehow makes sense....but in fact this course leads to most of the problems that folks have.

 

(If you haven't seen the fish section on my blog there's a ton of good articles linked there...this topic included!)