Quarantine/Hospital Tank Questions

Well, I'm just going to jump in and start asking questions!

There something puzzling me about hospital tanks. I know that some people keep a sponge or small filter or something going in the main tank so if they need it on the H tank, it's already got good bacteria in it, and then if you need it, you just move it to the H tank.

What I don't understand is if you have a sick fish in your main tank and you move it to the H tank, after filling the H tank with water from the main tank (to have same parameters), and you also move your filter or sponge or whatever over there too, aren't you introducing more bad stuff into the H tank along with the sick fish? Aren't you adding to the problem by bringing over more than just the sick fish?

The typical point of a hospital tank is to isolate the fish so you can:


1) Observe it by reducing its hiding places
2) Isolate it from stressful conditions in the display like aggressive tankmates, toxic water
3) Provide an area where you can medicate/sterilize without wrecking the biological ecosystem in the display tank.



There may be bad critters in the filter sponge you move over, but if the problem is due to the fish being stressed (which can cause disease) or from a rotting crab in the display, then the sponge isn't the issue anyways.

Sea Witch...

So, do you have a fish thats in need of a hospital tank? and tell us a bit about your setup...

just saw your other thread

It really depends on what you are treating the animals for.

For example, if you have a newer fish that took a beating upon being introduced into your display and now has a secondary bacterial infection, then you have no worries. The fish just needs some time to recover be itself and possibly some antibiotics.

On the other hand, if you are treating an outbreak of marine ich, sure you would be moving the parasite from the display into the quarantine tank. But, you are also going to treat it and eventually kill it all anyway.

I think of hospital and QT tanks as two different things.

hospital= a tank to treat something you know is sick

QT= a holding tank meant for observation only


More specifically to your question, yes, taking a sponge filter or piece of live rock from your display and placing it in either a QT or hospital tank could transfer unwanted things but IMO its nothing to worry about. For a hospital tank specifically you know you will be doing some type of treatment so you shouldnt have to worry about adding the same parasite or disease into the hospital tank because the treatment should take care of that too.

Adding something totally different then what you want to treat could be a problem but thats where a QT tank comes in. If you use a QT tank for all new additions then the chances of ever getting a parasite or disease in the display tank are much lower.

GREAT input on the purpose of QT's! .........I think that a QT is an absolute MUST for all of us...........and yet...........as we get "seasoned" many of us stop using this very important component (yes........we are guilty of this)........I truly believe that EVERY new livestock should be acclimated properly before adding it to our system - - many many "issues" can be avoided that way........when I redo our 75g I'm gonna make sure that this step is never skipped

so how many of you are guilty like me? and ...........how many of you are "good" reefers who always include this step?

I've never used one. I even have chemicals to dip corals in and I've never even opened it. I'm horrible at this. I have so many tanks just sitting around and they are all empty.

I've been working on my fish room and have a few shelves up and a rack up so hopefully soon I can start using one religiously.