hospital tank advice

[jimmyd]

Hi, i'm wanting to set up a hospital tank as i'm needing to observe 2 of my discus for treatment. Any advice on what water treatment is required before i place the fish in. I don't intend to keep the tank going unless necessary (eg quarintine or treatment). Can i place the fish in straight away if i use existing tank water.

The following equipment has been purchsed for set up.
2 ft tank
Heater
Small sponge air filter and pump.
Any advice much appreciated.Thanks

[DR.V]

Yes you can place the fish in straight away if i use existing tank water.

And that setup would be great.

HTH

[lovenotthrowdiscus]

this might be a silly question but does anyone sell existing tank water?
i dont know how you'd transport it but just wanted to know.

[jimmyd]

Thanks for the feedback. What i meant when i said tank water, i meant water from my existing fish tank. Would that be ok to reuse, like 80% tank water and 20% new tap water. Any advice how i would maintain it? What water treatments would be recommended? Thanks.

[Merrilyn]

Hi Jimmy, your hospital tank or quarantine tank shoud be treated just the same way as your display tank. It should have a cycled filter, but they are usually bare bottom with a minimum of decorations, usually just a bit of driftwood, or maybe an upturned flower pot for the fish to have somewhere to hide.

Give it a good scrub out with salt, before you use for the first time. Then fill with 50% tank water and 50% new tap water treated with dechlorinator.

Add your sponge filter and heater, and allow a few hours for it to stabilize before adding the fish. You need to transfer some nitrifying bacteria over from your existing tank to deal with the ammonia the fish will produce. Take some used filter media from your existing tank, and wrap it around, or hang it close to your new sponge filter, and leave it there for a few weeks.

You'll need to do small daily water changes on that tank, so bio filtration won't be a big problem, but keep testing your water, so you don't get a big ammonia spike. At the first sign of ammonia, do a big water change immediately.

When the tank is not being used, it can be left empty, but keep your sponge filter running in an existing tank to maintain the bacteria colony. That way, it's ready to use at a moment's notice.

[jimmyd]

Thanks for your very helpful advice Merrilyn. The tank is now running nicely.