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Setting up a quarantine tank/Plant nursery

mrhoyo said:
Having lost 2 gourami in the last 6 months I'm somewhat nervous about adding 'replacement' fish in case anything gets passed on to my remaining residents.
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Echo advice regards Iridovirus, especially concerning dwarf gourami.

The best defence against passing diseases to current tank residents is time; as in quarantine for a couple of weeks and see if anything shows up before introducing to main tank.

Getting stock from reputable dealers/stores that have already quarantined and kept them in good conditions will help mitigate the risk somewhat, but even then there's no guarantees.
 
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Lost 1 more today- same symptoms as before, all the other fish seem fine. 1 gourami left, so far seems unaffected.
 
Hi all,
So I've got the QT tank all set up now with some old bits i had laying around and some Microsorum Needle leaf plantlets that I'm going to try and grow in there too.
I have a few questions though

Firstly, It has gravel in it, I want to get some more Corydora but will the gravel harm them for the week or so they'll be in there?

Obviously it's only low tech so will i need to add any ferts for the Microsorum? I'm guessing so, I have some TNC lite but will that be enough?

The light is playing up, It's starting to flicker quite regularly so I'm guessing it's on its way out. Any cheap suggestions for a light that would suit the tank? It does have a lid but i was thinking of removing the lid so it makes it easier for the choice of light. I know there is quite a lot of cheap LEDS available on the market now.

Tank is 35cm in length and around 25-30 litres

Cheers, James
 
I have a number of corydoras and my substrate is gravel which isn't ideal. I've slowly been adding finer gravel (2-3mm) on top and they seem to appreciate it.
Could you not add a top layer of fine gravel?
 
John q said:
Could you not add a top layer of fine gravel?
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Possibly yes but as it will only be temporary housing I won't if i don't need to. I don't plan on keeping the tank running permanently so i want to make it easy to break down again.
I have sand in the main tank by the way
 
Leave it as is then. I only started adding the smaller layer after maybe 3 months having noticed one of them had damaged barbles. I'd assume a couple of weeks would be fine.
 
Just set mine up today:

64L Really Useful Box
APS corner filter filled half with foam and half with matrix from my main tank
Hidom heater
About a billion java ferns and other bits from the main tank

Gone bare bottom seeing as it's temporary.

Those APS filters are amazing for the price!
 
I’ve just cleaned up the main filter and nicked some media while I was there for the QT tank.
Will the media be ok like that? I’m sure I’ve heard/read before that it needs to be in the dark??
Cheers
 

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Anyone?? ⬆️

Was hoping to buy some more Honey Gourami tomorrow that i finally found after a long time looking but i don't want to put them in the QT tank if its not right

Cheers
 
Light is not the deal breaker- it's surface area that matters. There's an entertaining thread <here> about using nylon pot scrubbers as filter media based on their price/surface area - they've gone on my list! I've seen some reports of bacteria preferring the dark, but they all appear to be anecdotal rather than data driven (and don't mention Archea which is my spot-test for accuracy). Sponge filters and HOB filters aren't in the dark and work fantastically well. The only indisputable advantage of dark is that you don't get algae growth clogging up your filter!
 
Thanks for the reply @Karmicnull, I'm well aware of the surface area needs but that shouldn't be an issue with this set up. It's only a 25L tank that'll i'll be using for a couple of weeks while the fish are in QT. Should only be 4 fish in there at any one time. The media has come out of my FX4 that's been running nearly 2 years so it's definitely mature!

The tank only has a small LED and it's in my main tank cabinet so it's in the dark, It's also shaded by the rest of the filter so it shouldn't get much light anyway. I don't think algae will be an issue. I didn't think of sponge filters and HOB filters, obviously the same applies to them! Looks like I'm good to go then 🙂

Cheers
 
Courtneybst said:
I saw a video recently of Cory from Aquarium Co-op out in South America where Corydoras are found in the wild and he picked up handfuls of the substrate. It was literally like large jagged rocks, no smooth sand.
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I don't think it's a very god example. The barbels of corydoras over hard substrate normally wear away(?), the accounts of collections of most of these fish normally state they're over silt/sand/pebbles.

What I imagine is happening is that the fish are moving across large areas, catching food as it comes down stream but would likely only sift in the sediment built up areas. I suspect in aquariums, when food goes down into gravel, corydoras will naturally sift a little damaging themselves.
 
Hi all.
I am surprised at the lack of chat on this subject. Maybe most people trust their LFS and don't quarantine.
Does anyone know if Maidenhead Aquatics Quarantine new stock? I am guessing that they have too rather than have a barrage of upset customers.

Anyway Cory from the Aquarium CO-OP has some really interesting info on Salt for quarantine and diseases. Its really worth a listen along with everything else he bangs on about!!
.
 
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