quarantine tank decorations?

[fishyfun34]

:notsure: I have a 29 gallon bare bottom quarantine with pvc fittings in it. "It's a beaut Clark!"

Anyways, I would like to get some dead sand and fake corals and fake rocks to put in it just to make the transition of the fish a little smoother for them. I know I can't use live sand or rock because of the possibility of having to do hypo but what about all the fake stuff? Medicines and hypo can't kill the decorations cause they are already dead. Any suggestions? PVC couplings really just are not all that attractive!!

 

[hatessushi]

I went to Petsmart and got a ceramic looking fish tank fixture shown below. Worked really well for the size trigger I had in QT. It gave him a nice place to hide and he could turn around in it. What was interesting and ammusing was that he would stick his head out the top to look around.
They had a large selection for different sizes.

 

[f14peter]

I believe the concern with real rock and sand (live or not) is that it can absorb, and then eventually leach out, any medications that may be dosed in the tank. Now if you never do that, maybe you'll be okay, but I will happily defer to anyone more versed in the subject. They also may serve to trap detris and/or leftover food.
Fake objects (rock, coral, plants, etc) would be fine, although they may need to be removed and cleaned off between QT sessions, as well as having any detris/leftover food that's collected in them vacuumed out during water changes.
I have a couple of those wretchedly colored fake corals (I personally don't care for them, but that's just one of the sacrifices good husbands make!) in our QT. While they don't provide full cover, they are placed near a corner and close to each other so a fish can tuck himself in between them, and inspite of their color, they do look (a little) better than nothing at all. Have only had small fish in there so far (chromis and clowns) so I may have to go with something else to make a larger fish more comfortable.

 

[ice4ice]

I'd get rid of the sand in your QT tank. There is no use for it. A QT tank is simply a bare-bones tank for new arrivals / sick fish treatments. Why go through all that when it'll only seep out meds in future QT sessions? What some people do is spray paint the back & sides black to help further calm the fish better. A simple decoration such as what you already have there is fine but a PVC is much better. Your call though.

 

[gmidd]

In my research you don't want to have sand beds in a QT tank. Having a few fake decors is ok. Basically you want to have something they can hide in if thats their thing to help keep a stress free stay.