Few questions about a quarinten tank

[55reef55]

I was thinking of buying myself a 10gal saltwater tank (no coral or a few small ones) and just have a 2 small fish in the tank with LR. Ok then i was thinking i could use this tank as a quariten tank before i put a fish into my 55 reef. Would that work or no? Also if a fish does develope ick that is in my 55reef i could catch him and put him in the 10 gal tank for treatment. Now the questions are can i treat the 10 gal tank with a few small fish in it that will stay in the tank with a fish from my 55 that has ick or is this a bad idea? Im thinking of getting a small Blue tang (hippo) and a small purple for the 10 gal tank, i know these just love to have ick, not really but are really subsetible to it. could i hurt them by introducing a fish that has ick and treating the fish with ick in the tank with those fish? I really dont know how to exlain this in writing so if you understand what im trying to say just reply. thanks

 

[byrself]

okay, first off, the 10g makes a good quarantine tank. you should really only need a cheap hang on filter or an airstone for filtration and a heater. no sand, live rock, etc.etc. bare bottom. this is because the meds you would use to treat the disease would destroy any live sand, rock, whatever. you should only keep fish in this tank for treatment. i would put any sick fish here and leave your main tank empty if you develop an ich prob. this is because the ick will die without a host(fish) and is the correct way to treat ich. you might could find some more detailed answers from the disease and treatment forum, but these are my personal opinions on the matter.

 

[jeo]

a 10 gal tank is way too small for any type of tang, most people say a 75 gal is the minimum size for a tang- they like to swim.

 

[kris walker]

The tangs will get ich much faster if they are in small tanks, and as mentioned, most agree that 10 gal is too small for any.
Also, you need biofiltration for a QT tank just as you need for a regular tank. So you need more than an airstone if your tank has no substrate. I would recommend a biowheel hang-on filter for this purpose since you really don't need nitrate processing capabilities for a QT tank since the inhabitants are only temporary.
Personally, I would never introduce ich into a perfectly healthy tank, even if I were to use that tank as the treatment tank. In fact, if you use the tank as a treatment tank, you will degrade those things that are living in it (like the LR as mentioned).
Also, remember if you use hyposalinity (preferred) or copper to treat ich, you must remove all invertabrates and corals, as they will di if in the treatment tank.
kris

 

[55reef55]

thanks guys. This tang i saw was like 1 1/2 inch long that still too big for a 10 gal? Oh well, i figured i dont want to waste the 300 or more dollars on a 10 gal tank just put it into the 55 gal. Also what sucks is that i have a blue tang in my 55 right was going fine had ick but then was gone so i was like ok intordueced a powerder blue tang good for like a week then Ick. Ended up killing my powerder blue tang after about 3-4 months. I really want aother powerder blue (those fish rule) i have a 30 gal(emty) should i use that as a quaritine ? also i would have to let the tank cycle and stuff, oh well do i need a stong lite on the quaritne tank or just a dinky one? i really want to get my tank healthy again. Was good then we lost track of time and did not take good care of it. now we are trying to get it back to nice clear and good health now.
Also last question I think im getting rid of my LS iv talked to my LFS's about it and all say they dont recomend the LS b/c it gets stired up to easy and clouds the water? I was thinking about getting a sand bed of finnaly crushed coral or somthing like that. Good or bad?