# Quarantine tanks



## Exquizique (Nov 19, 2012)

Someone mentioned/recommended having a quarantine tank in response to my other post …

What’s considered a quarantine tank? Is it just a tank set up like how you would a “regular” tank but only used for quarantine of new stock? 

How large does a quarantine tank needs to be? I’m assuming it would need to be cycled first as well? 

How long is new stock typically quarantined?


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

Generally speaking a quarantine/hospital tank should be 10 gallons because most medication is dosed on a per 10 gallon basis. Having said that you won't be able to keep a large fish in a 10 gallon tank of course so the size of the fish you plan to keep will have some factor in the size of your quarantine/hospital tank.

All you need is the tank, air powered sponge filter (seeded from your main tank) and an adjustable heater. I also have a cover for mine to keep the fish from jumping out and a light so you can observe your fish and look for signs of disease.

You probably want to keep a new fish in quarantine for at least 4 weeks to make sure they're not carrying any parasites or disease.
--
Paul


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Also don't put substrate in, if a fish does have a disease, you would just end up throwing the substrate out.

Its easy to disinfect a tank, not so easy to do substrate and no need for it

and in case you want to know, to disinfect a tank, add bleach and let it sit for a bit, rinse well and fill up and put double the normal amount of declorinator, let sit for a bit, drain and dry it completely. Bleach becomes inert when it dries.


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## Exquizique (Nov 19, 2012)

Y2KGT said:


> Generally speaking a quarantine/hospital tank should be 10 gallons because most medication is dosed on a per 10 gallon basis. Having said that you won't be able to keep a large fish in a 10 gallon tank of course so the size of the fish you plan to keep will have some factor in the size of your quarantine/hospital tank.
> 
> All you need is the tank, air powered sponge filter (seeded from your main tank) and an adjustable heater. I also have a cover for mine to keep the fish from jumping out and a light so you can observe your fish and look for signs of disease.
> 
> ...


Thanks!! This is great basic info for someone just starting out! 



pyrrolin said:


> Also don't put substrate in, if a fish does have a disease, you would just end up throwing the substrate out.


Oh, good point! Question: what about fish or stock that require substrate? Like bottom-feeders or shrimp? Or is substrate not really required in the quarantine tank because it's just a temporary "housing" situation and they could get along without it for a short spell?



pyrrolin said:


> and in case you want to know, to disinfect a tank, add bleach and let it sit for a bit, rinse well and fill up and put double the normal amount of declorinator, let sit for a bit, drain and dry it completely. Bleach becomes inert when it dries.


I did not know that about bleach! Thanks for outlining the disinfection process!


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I must disagree with the statement that bleach become inert when dry. If you evaporate all the water from bleach, what you are left with is a white powder form of sodium hypochlorite, which is not inert at all. In fact, before the chap who invented Chlorox decided predissolving bleach powder in water at a guaranteed percentage was easier for the consumer, bleach was sold as powdered sodium hypochlorite that you mixed up with water at home. Getting the proportions wrong could result in holes in your laundry, among other problems. 

But dissolved in water, chlorine IS volatile, which means it will gas off into air. That's why you smell it at swimming pools. And it's why we used to 'age' our tank water before using it, to allow the chlorine to gas off into the air, before modern water plants started adding other crap to it, like chloramines, that are much more persistent.

That said, having rinsed well a couple of times, adding some extra dechlorinator will certainly take care of any residual chlorine left by the bleaching process. If you are not sure, simply test for chlorine.. if it does not read zero, you add more dechlorinator.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

I think you will find that the white residue left behind from the use of sodium hypochlorite, is in fact sodium chloride, not dry bleach.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Though I grew up with a chemical engineer dad, I am not a chemist, and have never claimed to be one. But I remember him explaining to me as a kid that chlorine was volatile, when I freaked out at his suggestion I use bleach to sanitize a old tank that was really filthy. So that kind of stuck with me. 

And I actually buy bleach tablets, when I can find them. Weigh nothing, easier to store, and you just dissolve one as needed in water. But I had an old bottle of bleach that acquired a thick white deposit on the neck and lid.. it was forgotten in the back of a cupboard for a long time. The deposit wasn't table salt.. it was dried bleach. When wiped off, it reeked of chlorine and took the colour out of the rag I was using to wipe it with. 

But I also have learned that the trend to 'salt water' swimming pools essentially uses the same old chlorine bleach to sanitize the water as standard pool cleaning methods do. But instead of the chlorine ending up in the pool water, somehow the sodium hypochlorite molecule is split so that it's only the sodium part of it that ends up in the pool water, not the 'chlorite' part. So the pool water is slightly 'salty' afterward, but you don't have any chlorine smell or irritation, because it was utilized in the sanitizing process. Don't even pretend to understand how that actually works, but I know it does. 

But the point I wanted to make is that rather than assuming that rinsing and drying has neutralized, or rendered 'inert' any bleach that was used to sanitize or clean a tank,it is safer to use Prime or some other dechlorinator to ensure any remaining bleach is neutralized. 

You could also just leave it full of water for a week and the chlorine would gas off. But who wants to wait for that ? I recall what a nuisance it was having to leave the buckets of water for WCs out for a couple of days to age, to get rid of the chlorine, back in my high school days.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I use double declorinator always just to be safe


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Salt water pools don't use the same old hypochlorite to sanitize. They take the sodium chloride and split off the chlorine.
Regardless, I use lots of bleach to sterilize pretty much everything that isn't foam. Chlorine is a powerful oxidzer, that literally"burns" organic material, so is very helpful in reducing/removing any organic films on any hard surface in the tank, including gravel/sand, and equipment. A little vinegar will neutralize it or any of the dechlors. In fact, I use vinegar and water to neutralize the bleach after I decapsulate Brine Shrimp cysts.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I've done that too. I figure better safe than sorry.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

vinegar removes bleach? That is cheaper than declorinator


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Well, I did say I don't understand how that salt pool effect works exactly  ! Though I did think they used the same stuff.. so thanks for letting me know otherwise.

And while I realize you were talking about very diluted levels of bleach after rinsing and such, I wouldn't want to use any acid to neutralize bleach, simply because bleach labels always say not to mix any type of acid with it, to avoid producing a very toxic gas. 

I've had the unfortunate experience of finding out what happens when you do mix acid with bleach. One day I used a rag soaked in a strong solution of bleach+water when I had to clean up a puddle my cat had left on the floor. Nothing like a pissed off pussycat, making a statement about it's frame of mind. .

It was a fair size puddle, and I didn't know urine was acidic. Soon as the wet rag hit the puddle, it started producing that gas, virtually instantaneously. Really burned my nose and throat, I was hoarse for days afterward and it was an extremely unpleasant experience. 

Doctor told me that people have been overcome by breathing just one or two breaths of this stuff, and it can be fatal in a very short space of time if you can't get into fresh air right away. The pee puddle I was trying to clean up didn't stop producing the fumes until I flooded it with water. Now, if there's a puddle, which is thankfully very rare, I clean it up with water and a bit of detergent. Then I use bleach to deodorize the spot, after it's been washed and dried.

*Pyrrolin, I don't think you can use vinegar to neutralize bleach in the way a dechlorinator product does, to the best of my knowledge, that would not work the way you are hoping for.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

oh well, too bad


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## Exquizique (Nov 19, 2012)

Thanks for all the very detailed thoughts and discussion everyone ... who woulda thought I'm learning so much from an aquarium forum, and not just about fish lol!


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Just one of the many delights of this forum !


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