# Tetra LED 10g at Petco - good quarantine/hospital?



## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

First off -

Do I want to have a small tank on hand as an acclimation/quarantine/hospital/aggression tank? Or is that just excessive?

Petco has a $50 deal for a 10g tank with an LED hood, heater, filter and thermometer. I'm wondering if this is a good deal for a simple setup as an "emergency" tank.

It's on my mind because if any of my fish don't get along, or one is sick etc, I'm concerned what I could do to separate the fish from the rest. I don't have anything available besides my main tank.

Is this going overboard though?


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## 20gallonplanted (Oct 28, 2013)

yeah but you are probably going to have to get a better filter and heater the only heaters have found to last are aqueons


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I have a similiar set up.$50 for tank,light,heater filter is a pretty good deal.You would be safer and better off if you used it to QT new fish before introducing them to your tank.
Even if you pulled a fish from your 90,to treat it you may still have the bacteria or parsite in the tank and need to treat the whole tank(90g{ouch}).the 10 is quick and simple and for QT ing you could just add a sponge filter(you should keep in your sump for just such an occassion)mand new fish can be watched before adding to your tank.
Just my thoughts.


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## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

Well I have some errands to run and Petco is right on the way, so I think I'll at least stop and take a look at it.

If I have a sponge in my sump to seed it, do I need it actually hooked up and running in there, or will it grow bacteria along the surface just from the water activity in the sump?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

It will grow the BB as long as it is in decent flow.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If it is going to be a hospital tank, I wouldn't waste time with the cycle. Most people that go through a cycle for a hospital/qt don't do what you need to do to keep it going. In order for a quarantine to be satisfactory you need about 3wks and most will not do that. Not to mention some of the meds that you would use will kill the beneficial bacteria anyway.

My 20g qt is now a shrimp tank.


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## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

So when you quarantine do you just do a huge wc every day?

I didn't bother to buy it. Not that it wasn't a good deal, I just don't really know where to put it right now. I will just get it when I need it I guess.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

How many fish would you be putting in the qt at one time? Some people put an extra sponge in their main tank and when they need their qt tank use that sponge.

The idea of qt-ing fish is a good one, just takes discipline.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

As long as it was just for quarantine tank I don't see why you couldn't put it on the floor in front of your regular tank.
It's only temporary. You could set the heater and when sure it held the right temp, just unplug it and put on that
aquarium shelf in the closet. and in fact make room for the tank and all on that shelf. Just take it out when needed.
For just that you only need the heater as you can have a gang valve on the regular tank which you can run a line from.
Which brings me to my main point. A ten at Walmart cost just under $15. Other than the heater what more do you really
need for a qt tank ? But then I'm just looking at it from a "you spent how much on that ?" point of view...so...
But then the other day I looked on that aquarium shelf and counted 19 bulbs including 3 T5 and 4 from the fixtures
that I bought which were taken out and replaced with "good" bulbs. But I only have two ten G tanks...LOL...
So that's 12 bulbs for one ten G(not including the ones in it now) and you "need" this why ?
Thought I'd give you a laugh...


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## Threnjen (Jan 10, 2013)

Yeah, I think it can be simpler. I'm just going to wait for the $1/gallon sale at Petco and pick up the very basics. I was pointing out to my hubby I could literally just put a desk lamp shining into it if we need light, and I even have an extra heater and air pump, so all I really need is a sponge filter to seed in the sump (and jrman doesn't even think that's necessary). So I passed on the box deal, although I don't think it was a bad one.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

The $ per gallon sale rules!Only thing in world worth going to petco for,but !You'll be better off with a 10-20g for a qt.
The cycled sponge isn't needed if you're a hospital tank(meds will kill bacteria anyways),but if you were trying to just qt new fish then a cycled (air driven sponge filter) is the way to go.All qts get water changes,but never really want to count on just that for good water quality.


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## jccaclimber2 (May 6, 2012)

1) It depends on what you're quarantining and how you do it. You want fish to feel comfortable in a quarantine or hospital tank. Putting a large fish in a small bare bottom tank that isn't cycled won't do this.
2) I use a 20 long as my QT, I also keep it planted with a couple dither fish. The food I put in for the small fish (male endlers and danios work well for this) keep it cycled, and they are the sort that doesn't bother newcomers. The plants provide hiding spaces. It also keeps it nice enough looking that I'm willing to put time in to keep it going.
3) Note that I am entirely willing to lose all of the fish and plants in that tank. Plants are trimmings from other tanks, endlers are surplus that I breed.
4) You are filtering for the bioload, so if it is lightly stocked you don't need a ton of filtration. The plants will also help if you use a med that crashes your filter (this hasn't actually been an issue for me yet).
5) Separate net and other gear for the qt tank any time it has livestock in QT.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

5) Separate net and other gear for the qt tank any time it has livestock in QT.

This should be done for all of your tanks. Cross contamination can be a way to wipe out more then one tank at one time. Go ahead and asked me how I know. Could have wiped out not one, but two, 125g tanks. All from using the same net to net out acclimating fish between the two tanks. Lost over 50 fish in 4 days before I could stop it with meds. Would have been limited to one tank had I not done what I know I should have done.


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## jccaclimber2 (May 6, 2012)

Generally I agree, although I have some exceptions in my own practice. I also store my nets in an alternating solution of saturated salt (Roughly 10x the concentration of seawater), tap water, and being dry so nothing survives on them as long as they don't go into two tanks in between treatments.
My display tank gets 1 net.
My QT/hospital gets 1 net.
I share one net between the other five, but with two important notes:
A) One tank has nothing but snails and spare filters, two of the tanks have only shrimp and snails, no fish so I don't have to worry about most things in them.
B) I am entirely willing to lose the fish in one of the other two tanks.


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## choutman (Mar 6, 2012)

iv always used a qt tank and I use the big air driven box filters from jehmco iv had different plecos eat sponges before lol so I switched and I agree the dollar per gallon is the way to go throw a box filter in it and a heater and that's about it good luck


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