Quarantining Fish

Quarantine tanks are recommended for all aquariums. If you plan to add

new fish to your tank after the whole tank was complete, you should

consider getting a quarantine tank. It is also considered to be a

hospital tank because it is used to treat diseased fish. A quarantine

tank is basically a place where the fish temporarily lives for the one

of the two reasons listed above. Normally a ten to twenty gallon tank

can be used as a quarantine tank.


When adding a new fish to the tank, it is very important to isolate

the fish before adding it to the main aquarium. A newly bought fish

need to be examined carefully. You want to make sure that the fish is

not diseased or, in any way, unhealthy; make sure that it is behaving

the way it is supposed to. If you add the fish to the tank right away

without ensuring its health, it may spread to the other fish in your

tank and possibly wipe out your entire tank population. It is better

to be safe. The fish should stay in the quarantine tank for at least

two weeks. It is considered a need for saltwater aquarium keepers. If

you have a saltwater aquarium, not only will you need to quarantine

the fish, but you should also quarantine corals. Corals can introduce

different pests and diseases to your aquarium.

Quarantine tanks are more of a hospital tank for saltwater aquariums

rather than freshwater aquariums because freshwater fish generally do

not break out in disease as readily. However, for both, in order for

the diseased fish to not affect the other fish in the aquarium, and

invertebrates for saltwater aquariums, quarantining them is a must.

When treating diseased fish, the medicine used can affect the whole

tank. However, when the diseased fish is being quarantined, the

medicine will benefit the diseased one without negatively affect the

healthy ones.

In order to set up a quarantine tank, you will need a filter, a

heater, an air stone, some sort of hiding place for the fish, test

kits for pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, a fish net, and water

from your main tank. The filter can be a hang on, power filter on the

back of the tank. You can also use filter floss, however, without the

carbon because then the medication will be removed from the water. A

heater is only necessary for a freshwater quarantine tank because the

temperature of the water for freshwater fish has to be 72 to 82

degrees Fahrenheit. An air stone is used to provide the fish with more

oxygen. For the hiding place, you can simply use some PVC pipes; it is

for the fish to hide and relieve stress. The test kits are to keep the

pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates level of the water at where it's

supposed to be. When the list says fish net, it has to be a fish net

different from the one you use for your main aquarium because you do

not want to spread the disease to your healthy fish through the fish

net. Finally, water from your main tank. Since that water contains the

nutrients and everything appropriate for the fish to live in, it is

what you will use for the quarantine tank, too. You will not have to

do the process you did when you first started the aquarium.

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