Help with Hospital Tank

Ausndani7 · Nov 22, 2014

Hey Guys,

Looking to get some advise as I am putting together my first hospital tank....

A) Can I put hospital tank in garage or will temperature be an issue with garage getting too cold.

B) I currently have live sand in the tank and planning to run copper should the live sand be removed or can I leave in? I am not concerned about killing some of the live critters. I am more interested in the look and beneficial bacteria.

C) How can I build beneficial bacteria without live rock and also encourage the growth in my hospital tank while running it with copper?

Any ideas or helpful advise would really be appreciated. Thanks.

Straight_OG · Nov 22, 2014

A) you can put it there and if does get cold you can always add a heater

B) you might want to remove the sand because I think it can absorb some of the copper and when you go to test it can give you inaccurate readings. Also same thing with live rock. Just put pieces of pvc pipe for the fish to hide in.

And I'm pretty sure you can put a hob filter and add live bacteria. (the bottle one) . But maybe someone else can shine more light on this subject.

newtothis · Nov 22, 2014

Hey Austin, your going to need to remove the sand. The sand will eventually absord the medications and eventually leach it back out. To cultivate bacteria you should harvest it with ceramics/sponge/ or filter pad in your sump then when your ready to setup your qt/hospital tank you can insert them into your HOB filter. But ideally a qt/ hospital tank should only consist of a HOB filter, heater, PVC pipes or hose as hiding place, and air stone depending on what medication is being used. As far as the tank being in the garage is all up to you as long you'll be able to keep the temp steady...here's a pic of my current setup, as I'm qting for flukes and for observation..

rcreef · Nov 22, 2014

Not 100% this but i think that all you need to check is you ammonia, nitrate, ph, nitrite and copper. Plus copper will kill all the bacterias no carbon, no sand, pvc instead of rocks.

Tropical Reef Fish Store · Nov 23, 2014

all you need is
tank
hob filter heater
pvp fish hide
heater
do a 25%water change every day use water form yr DT.

Six2seven · Nov 23, 2014

When you treat any tank with copper it kills any bacteria there is. trying to establish a qt tank with a sponge or filter pad is pointless once you add copper.

This is what makes a qt hard for some. As jason pointed out you must make water changes daily.

keep a very close eye on ammonia during the whole process and complete water changes daily to keep the ammonia down.

blkg35 · Nov 23, 2014

Get the Seachem Ammonia Alert badge and use it for the qt tank. I've used it in the past and many others use it to.
It will change color if ammonia is detected, then you can do water changes.

newtothis · Nov 23, 2014

Six2seven said:

Its not pointless as ive been very successful with this method. Of course I start off with half tank water and I seed my filter with the pads. Even when I do a full dose of cupramine for 2wks I dont do any WC just topoff with RO. All my fish that I have now have been through thus process and also currently with the regal..

Six2seven · Nov 23, 2014

newtothis said:

I take that back, not pointless, always good to start with something even if it dies.

I'm sure fish will do fine but do you test for ammonia daily when you dose the cupramine? Some Fish can tolerate a high amount of ammonia but I wouldn't do it.

newtothis · Nov 23, 2014

Six2seven said:

I use the ammonia badge to gauge level, but I dont test everyday. Also I feed the fish small amount once a day and I net out whats not eaten.. I've also learned and which have worked beautiful for me is that I split the cupramine dosage into 4 days instead 0f the 1st day then wait 48hr then last dose.I only do small WC in the 3rd wk of copper treatment to drop the concentration. Everyone member have their specific method and order that they folllow, as long as the end result is a healthy fish is what matter the mostu

Six2seven · Nov 23, 2014

newtothis said:

I agree. Every tank (even qt) is different and in this hobby there are many ways to do things. Saw that regal you have in qt, beautiful.

newtothis · Nov 23, 2014

Six2seven said:

Sure is.. It was pretty aggressive with mysis and nori, but since im treating it with prazi its appetite has declined quit a bit. So crossing my fingers and not? Counting my chicken before they hactch. Hopefully once I drop the prazi concetration that the appetite will come back… getting a fish to eat is the hardest thing in this challenging hobby…

Ausndani7 · Nov 24, 2014

Thanks all for the posts it was extremely helpful. Almost done with hospital tank now just need to sell about 17 fish from the tank I converted. I want to find a good home for them. I would like to sell everything cheap as a packaged deal maybe $20-$25 fish to help someone out or get started. I need to sell them quickly as I have a fish or two that I need to treat in the tank. I will post photos shortly of all the fish. Here is a quick list of what I will sell as a very cheap package deal: powder blue tang, convict tang, clown tang, niger trigger, pink tail trigger, snowflake eel, 2 small copper butterfly, 3 yellow tail cleaner wrasse, 3 blue hippo tangs, red sea urchin, 2 small royal dottybacks. If nobody buys as a package I will sell item by item. Thanks guys!

Tangwich · Nov 24, 2014

I applaud you wanting a better home.for.your fish over making the almighty dollar. Good luck and hope everything works out.

Help with Hospital Tank

Ausndani7

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Straight_OG

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newtothis

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rcreef

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Tropical Reef Fish Store

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Six2seven

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blkg35

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newtothis

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Six2seven

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newtothis

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Six2seven

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newtothis

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Ausndani7

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Tangwich

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