Whats your Hospital tank set up and

[Dave27]

Whats your hospital tank set up and do you keep it going all the time.

If so How do you keep it going with no fish in it.

[Don Trinko]

I have a 20H that I do a fishless cycle on and then add 1/2 teaspoon of ammonia 3 times a week to keep it cycled. You have to wait a day or two after adding ammonia to put fish in. (IMO You should have a ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph test kit as a minimum.)
However in most cases ( unless it is a horrible contagious disease) I normaly treat them in there home tank. Don T

[Harriett]

I keep a 40breeder with a good sized aquaclear running on it going all the time in a room separate from my fish with a separate water source and hoses for water changes, etc. I just keep a couple healthy fish of some kind in there all the time. If I have to QT, I move the guys that are in there into one of the other healthy tanks and do a water change--ready for the QT guys. I do very long QT periods--usually about 3 months--so it's QT which turns into grow out...by the time they outgrow the QT tank, I really know they are safe to go into the main aquariums in another room. I also always move a healthy fish from one of the tanks into the QT tank and watch them for a week or two to make sure nobody is harboring a problem that didn't show up in their own group.
Best regards
Harriett

[1077]

I keep a few guppies in ten gallon quarantine to keep bacteria alive.

[brewmaster15]

Hospitol tanks don't need to be running all the time and by my thinking....shouldn't be:) A hospital tank is by definition a tank thats used to house and treat Sick fish ( and in some cases...qt new ones).. If you are treating a sick fish...the tank should be sterilized when you are done...same for QTs....so that you start with a clean slate when you need that tank.

Maintaining a bio filter is easy and can be done in your existing tanks... here I just maintain a little extra filtration than I need...and when ever I need a biofilter for a tank..I just need to take some biofilter out...... conversely you can easily maintain a Biofilter in a bucket with ammonia as Don indicated....just don't use the biofilter from a Hopsital tank that had sick fish .

hth,
al

[1077]

Damn! i really need to be more attentive. original post asked about hospital tank as opposed to quarantine. I use ten gal as quarantine and rubbermaid tub for hospital tank. Thankfully I have not needed to hospitalize fish for some time.

[Dave27]

Thanks all for the info everyone.
Brewmaster15 that is what I am going to be doing and thought it was the best solution for my needs.

[Alfred]

How would this be as a solution.

I have a pre filter sponge on a Aqua Clear 100 with a sponge in it and the top above the sponge is packed with Bio glass on a 50 gal grow out tank.
I also have a sponge filter in that tank.

Would it be enough to take the established sponge from inside the Aqua clear on the above tank and replace it with a new one then use the used sponge by itself in a smaller Aqua clear hang on filter on a 29 gal Hospital or QT tank.

Would that sponge be enough bio for the 29 gal tank?
Then you just pitch the sponge when the Hospital or QT is done

[Don Trinko]

You will know if it is enough. If you get a ammonia or nitrite spike it is not enough. It's always a good thing to check ammonia and nitrites in a QT/sick tank because the bioload is not consistant. You can add chemicals and/or do WC if you do have a mini cycle. Don T.