Is this a suitable quarantine tank?

[lsuber]

I'm wondering if I can use a tank already setup and running as a suitable discus QT. It's a 5-gallon mini-bow that has been used in the past as a general community tank. Nothing in there now but gravel and 10 small cardinal tetras waiting to come out of quarantine. Would this be acceptable to quar. discus in? And could they be quarantined along with the cardinals? I was thinking of picking up two more discus from a LFS that carries Jack Wattley discus. I'm assuming that if the two discus are small enough, that water changes become the most glaring necessity in such a small water volume.

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Why? 10 gal Tanks are only 8 bucks at wal-mart.

dan

[lsuber]

Yeah, just for the tank, right? Plus top, plus some sort of filtration, etc. etc. I already have this tank in hand. It's set up, and running. If it will work, then I'd like to use it. Any word on THIS tank?

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Take everything from the 5 gal tank and move it all to the 10. All you need is a sponge filter and a heater. I like to use 20gal as quarantine for small number of fish. Water is more stable. Give your 5 gal a try, but IMO I would use a larger tank. Plus 2 discus usually don't do well. A group of 6 - 2" is a better size group. They find comport in school when young. Again JMO.

Dan

[Lauren]

Tank 8.50
Hood - not needed.. this is a QT tank
Sponge filter 4.50-7.00 depending on type
airline .50?
air pump 6.00 (cheapie)
heater (depends vastly on brand) 8.00


total cost = less than the cost of a quality discus :P

[lsuber]

Regardless of the tank size, I'll only have 2, maybe 3, to quarantine. I already have 3 healthy ones in my 90-gal tank, and one in quarantine that doesn't look so good. So the maximum addtion to my group would be 3 depending on the health of the little guy in quarantine. I'll wait him out, then figure out what to do about additional fish.

[Ryan]

Five gallons just seems very small to quarantine even one discus in. Last night while I was cleaning angel pair tanks, I moved a pair of smaller angels into a 5 gallon... they looked very cramped. I can't imagine moving a sub-adult or adult discus into a tank this size. I always quarantined 2 - 3" discus in a 10 or 20 gallon tank. I wouldn't personally go any smaller than a 10. They need a little room.

Ryan

[M0oN]

Just get a 10 gallon tank, a heater and an airstone (the heater for your 5 gallon would probably suffice, even)...if you perform large daily water changes and keep some weighed down sponge in the corner next to the airstone it should be fine...couldn't cost you more then 20 bucks in total, and that's if you don't have an air pump...

[Carol_Roberts]

5 gallons is too small. Really a QT tank should be at least 20 gallons. AS Dan said move the filter and heater from the five to the 20 gallon. Instant cycled tank. I'd buy the extra sponge filter and get it cycling and another heater so you have an extra.

A 5 gallon tank isn't good for much more than little cardinals

[discus_nw]

Tank- Too small

Hood - needed

:)

[slicksta]

sorry kid...
5g is really to small...
others are right you don't have to get fancy and do a cheap-o set up...
but I always regret when I do things solely based on cost.....so if your going to be doing this(keeping fish)....do it once and do it right ...you will always have it for future qt and or a tank for grow-out or small community.

[korbi_doc]

:bounce2: 5 gals is way too small, get a 20g! Use a piece of plastic or cut a piece of the square light covers for a top, & just switch what you have already. Where are you? I have an old 20g & some air pumps that you could use if you could p/u.. or look in the newspaper for yard sales, pick up an old one cheap. HTH, Dottie ;D