Quarantine Tanks in the Marine Aquarium Hobby

If you go to any of the respected online marinewhere you will put any new marine aquarium fish that
aquarium forums such as reefcentral.com, reefs.orgyou recently picked out from the pet store. You are
or nano-reef.com, they will all tell you the same thing.not going to dump it directly into the display tank as
Always quarantine new specimens. While they meanthis can be very dangerous to the current inhabitants.
well, not all of them put this procedure into practiceA tank of a suitable size should be used and is very
as it is usually a lengthy but overall straightforwardmuch dependent on the size of the recently acquired
process.specimen.
Why is a quarantine tank needed. Fish that areA biological filter is needed t ensure any wastes
collected from the wild can come into the trade withproduced by the treated fish are nullified in short
a variety of marine parasites and diseases. Some oforder. Something as simple as a hang on filter with
these were contracted in their habitat or from theceramic rings or other biological media should be just
exporters/importers holding tank. Marine parasites infine. The PH and temperature of the water should
particular can be very deadly as they spread veryreflect that of the main display tank since the fish is
quickly in an enclosed aquarium system.going in there after the treatment period. Decoration
These parasites have a very short life cycle andshould be sparse with a few pieces PVC pipes used
breed like rabbits in captivity. If there is a sizableto provide shelter.
amount of fish in the aquarium, there is a possibilityYou will also need anti-parasite medicine of some sort
that all of them will get infected eventually. Whichalong with other types that tackle diseases and
usually means heavy losses at the end of the day.funagl infections if any. Since this is the new
So to avoid such situations, we need a quarantinespecimens first home, it is here that you will teach it
tank.to consume prepared fish food and acclimate it to life
So what is a quarantine tank? The quarantine tank isin captivity.