Quarantine Tank Size

[roadracr]

I'm in the process of setting up a 160g discus tank. For me, this will be a return to the fish hobby after a several year hiatus. My tank arrives in two weeks and I've been diligently planning, preparing, and researching everything I can in order to maximize my chances of success.

While I never went this route in the past, I've concluded that a Quarantine Tank will be a necessity once I establish my main tank. The question I have is what is the minimum size for a QT for discus (assuming I'll be purchasing juvies)? Would a 10g or 15g tank suffice for the four to six week isolation period? Due to space considerations (and the fact that I've "sold" the concept of a humongous discus tank, but not a bunch of satellites), I've been considering putting the QT in the bottom of my tank stand. The stand is a closed cabinet type and I'm not sure how much room I'll have left after the canister filters, etc. Therefore, a small QT would be most convenient.

Anyway, I'll appreciate any recommendations you might have for this newbie.

[dpt8]

Best approach is to aquaire all the discus at once.. Then quaranteen the other fish as you want to add them..

[yim11]

What dpt8 suggests is pretty much what I did as well. I bought the first 4 together and they went directly into the main tank (first and only fish in the tank not counting the tester tetras that came out weeks before). Then I purchased 2 additional a few weeks later and they were in the QT for a month before going into the main tank. My QT is a 10g but I have never had to put anything over about 2" in it yet.

HTHs,
-jim

[Sam Chicklets]

I suggest a 20 gallon tall as it uses the same foot print as a 15. The larger the the tank the better the stability, and discus need stability.

[ashaysathe]

Along with QT tank, you might also want to think of having a seperate setup for a hospital tank (air supply/filters/heaters etc). Goal is not to use this but its important to have it on hand. Its hard to run around in haste at time of absolute need.
These 2 things I unknowingly ignored when I did my research. Lesson learnt...
Remember: Food, clothing and shelter same thing with discus; Food (avoid live food and avoid overfeeding less quantity more frequency is better than vice versa), clean water and QT.. you will be successfull.
I am not sure what your experience with fish is its critical you get discus in number and size (of fish) that is proportionate to the size of tank. 160g is a lot of space to hold juvies. In my opinion when first time with discus, try to stick around fish size of 3.5 inch or more. Not that you cannot do 2 inch fish, its just how susceptible you are with their behavior e.g. when I got discus that are 2.5 inch I did everything right but since they were small they use to hide all the time (skittish as it is called) and that was a cultural/behavioral shock to me... to get out of that I made some mistakes: 2 negatives make positives - that was not true here because being skittish was not a negative thing. So along with infrastructural necesseties tune yourself as to what you want to keep in your 160g. On this forum, you will always have a lot of great fish coming and its hard not to get fish every now and then.. follow strict measures to what goes in the main tank.. rest is all hands on.. Talk with sponsors on the forum .. they are amazing people even if you don't buy fish from them they will guide you.
The other thing I will suggest is go thru the disease section on the forum and see how people post information about "sick fish" and what symptoms. Main thing is catching a sick fish.. reality is we do not live in a vaccum and things go wrong wo/ your input so this is a back up plan hence QT tank to control what comes in.. food/water to keep them in and hospital tank to control if anything happens when in.
Hope this helps. Welcome to Discus hobby .. its not hard.. we make it hard..

[endo213]

thats a big tank that needs lots of water changes,i imagine a big can to age the water is a must also..

[brewmaster15]

Hi,
A good Qt tank really follows the same rules as regular tank...generally 10 gals per discus will work.

One note here... If you are setting up a new tank (this 160 gal) why not just use that as your QT tank for the discus, just get them all at once......... and Just avoid adding anything like substrate or wood until after the qt period....incase you run into a problem. Subsequent fish orders will need that separate tank for QT though.

hth,
al

[Harriett]

I would suggest a 40g breeder tank to use for QT, for hospital, for potential breeders! 40g is plenty of room for a bunch of new babies for QT--I have put up to 10-12 2" discus in and kept them in there to grow out until they were a good 3.5" or so before moving them to a larger grow out tank--the KEY is to set up and to do a lot of water changes--esp if you will not be sticking to the one discus/10g rule [not needed when they are 2", IMO]. I have used a 40g breeder for new babies for years and had no problems. I also do religiously, 75% or better water changes daily in this situation--no barrels, just a python and a bit of conditioner.
Best regards
Harriett

[roadracr]

Thanks for all the comments. I didn't want to be too wordy in my first note, so let me add a few things.

For the 160g tank, I was planning on initially purchasing about 8 small discus, along with some other compatible fish (BN Plecos, tetras, etc.). I am planning a fishless cycle and will add all of the above to the tank without quarantine.

My question on quarantine tank size was really for follow-on purchases, such as additional discus pairs. In this case, would 10g or 15g suffice for the quarantine period? For filtration in the QT, I was planning on moving a sponge filter from the 160g once the cycle was complete and I had established a track record with the initial fish.

Anyway, I appreciate the suggestions thus far. Looking forward to participating in this forum going forward. I'll probably do a picture series of the whole project.

[brewmaster15]

Hi again,
Sounds like a great tank in the making!:) If I could make one suggestion though.....

Initially start with just discus in that tank......try to get them all from one source and at one time.. If you are already thinking that you'll be adding discus, I'd suggest getting more than 8 small ones initially...They'll get lost in that big tank and since you know already that you'll be adding.....might as well get more small ones now.

On the tank mates...I'd qt those separate from the discus...because if you mix them with the discus initially...you really aren't qT'ing the discus:)

hth,
al

[aquagal]

PLEASE do what Al suggests, you will avoid a lot of heart ache! I did not initially and had sooo many problems.

Discus only first (all from the same source)...and then worry about the other fish.

Good luck!

Sherry

[Harriett]

Thanks for all the comments. I didn't want to be too wordy in my first note, so let me add a few things.

For the 160g tank, I was planning on initially purchasing about 8 small discus, along with some other compatible fish (BN Plecos, tetras, etc.). I am planning a fishless cycle and will add all of the above to the tank without quarantine.

My question on quarantine tank size was really for follow-on purchases, such as additional discus pairs. In this case, would 10g or 15g suffice for the quarantine period? For filtration in the QT, I was planning on moving a sponge filter from the 160g once the cycle was complete and I had established a track record with the initial fish.

Anyway, I appreciate the suggestions thus far. Looking forward to participating in this forum going forward. I'll probably do a picture series of the whole project.


When, in the future you do buy more discus, please remember that babies do best in groups of at least 6. It decreases stress, increases vigor and interest in food, etc because they just feel safer in a school. If you want fewer discus than 6-8 to add to your big tank eventually, a workaround is either just buy extras and sell them when they've grown out some, or go in on a buy with someone and offer to grow them out some at your house.
SO, the translation is I still think a 40g or so tank is a good idea; not just for the QT, but because if you QT for 6-8 weeks and then just put 3" babies into the big tank with 5-6" discus, they are going to get bullied and not grow well, potentially...I would grow them out some before considering putting them in the big tank. When I've added new babies to my collection over the years, I found through trial and error that if I grew them out to a good 5" or better before putting them in my 180g, they did much better...
If you buy adult pairs, a 20-29g tank or a 40g is much preferred. 10g or 15g even is pushing it--you would need to be all over the water changes to keep them in shape, and even then---I just would not do it.
Just food for thought?
Best regards
Harriett