If you don't mind asking, as I am looking for best way to set up my future qt., are you not afraid to transfer any parasites to your main tank with qt connected? I know you disconnect while qt fish, but do you disinfect it somehow after before connecting to main DT later? Or do you run it follow for 72 days after qt to make sure ich or anything dies off. I assume if you need to treat fish you are using separate tank for medicine? Sorry for all the questions, but trying to understand it a little more. It is appealing to me to have qt connected to DT like you, but don't know what's the best way to go about it. Thanks Josh.
Don't mind the questions at all. I've put serious thought into all of it and you got it mostly correct.
First I very seldom buy fish. When I do, I usually go with Diversden and smaller fish. I have both a 10 and 20 gal QT/hospital tanks in storage. For smaller fish from DD (which I feel have a less chance of bringing in some nasty parasite as compared to transshipped,) giving them a short 2-4 weeks QT to monitor them, it's super easy to use one of these small tanks.
Second, the 45 cube is never a hospital tank. It'll never get any meds other than prazi. I’ll only medicate in the 10 or 20.
Third, when I do have to use the 45 cube it depends on what I'm using it for. If for a fish from my existing DT that has either become sick or injured, I can transfer it to the 45 cube without doing anything. Then monitor it or decide on next steps. If it needs meds it'll go into the 20gal.
If it's a new fish from DD or elsewhere that's too large for the 20gal, I use the 45. Before I do, the rock comes out and goes into a large tub to keep it alive for the several weeks. The tank is then separated from the DT and gets its own filtration. After the QT cycle is complete, the entire 45, all the equipment and even the piping comes down. Everything gets bleached, scrubbed, bleached and scrubbed again. After one QT cycle when the fish had a nasty face flesh eating disease, I added the steps of letting it sit dry for a week or two, then bleached and scrubbed again.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a ton of work to make sure the DT never gets infected from the attached QT. But when you look at the benefit of having a QT always up and running without the hassle of maintaining a separate system I think this way is less work. Plus it has a couple more benefits. This tank is where I do all my WC. I can drain the cube doing a 35g WC. Then slowly turn on the flow and have it gradually mix the new water into the system. It’s also a huge biological filter and even a refugium of sorts. The cabinet also houses a bunch of reactors and my ATO containers.
Overall it works out great and with as little as I need a big QT, its well worth the hassle of disinfecting.
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