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When you have a sick fish, it's often necessary to move it into a separate tank for treatment. One reason for isolating a sick fish is to prevent the spread of illness to other fish. Another reason is so you can treat only the sick fish, there is no need to medicate all the fish if only one is sick. When feeding medicated food, it is virtually impossible to ensure that only the sick fish will eat the food. Some common treatments, like salt, will damage live plants and snails, and removing the sick fish is the easiest way to treat it.
Hospital tanks can also be used to quarantine new fish before introducing them into the main tank. New fish, especially those coming from a pet shop, frequently have problems that can easily be taken care of with a short stay in a quarantine tank (qt). If a new fish is put directly into the main tank it can quickly infect all of the fish. This can be easily avoided by isolating new fish to observe any problems. Once the new fish is observed to be healthy it can be introduced to the main tank.
A hospital tank can be an aquarium, a large Rubbermaid tub, or any container that will hold an appropriate amount of water. A ten-gallon aquarium is a convenient size because some medications in tablet form are made to treat 10 gallons. Tablets can be split, but it is difficult to be precise. If using a tank less than 10 gallons, it will be difficult to maintain good water quality.
The tank should be bare bottom, or include only a few artificial plants to give the fish a hiding place to feel secure. The bare bottom allows for close monitoring of fish waste and uneaten food. Gravel and ornaments simply give bacteria and parasites a place to establish themselves.
Using a cycled filter is ideal in maintaining water quality. But, many antibiotics will kill not only the bacteria targeted in the sick fish, but also the beneficial bacteria in the filter. Some fish might be too weak to withstand the current produced by some filters. A sponge covering the intake or simply using a small sponge filter can be helpful for weak fish. Keeping an extra filter running on an established tank, or just an extra bag of colonized media in an established filter, will ensure you have it ready for the hospital tank. Without a cycled filter, water quality must be monitored closely.
Some medications, as well as increased temperature, will reduce the oxygen concentration in the water. An airstone should be used to pump oxygen back into the water.
A heater is helpful to raise the temperature and stimulate the fish's immune system for some treatments. Care must be taken when raising the temperature because it may also speed up the lifecycle of parasites.
Lights are not necessary on a hospital tank, as a matter of fact light will inactive some medications. The tank should be covered to avoid fish jumping out, or cats getting in.
Running Hospital/Quarantine tank. The gravel on the bottom was from an established tank to help get the cycle established in the Quarantime tank. There is also a Visa-term heater and an AC 30 with biomedia from an established tank.
The waste in the tank should be removed promptly to help maintain good water quality. A small piece of air pump tubing or a turkey baster makes it easy to clean up any waste in the tank. It is important to keep the water in pristine condition so the fish will have minimum stress while fighting an illness.
When changing the water, some medications must be added back into the clean water to maintain appropriate levels (such as salt). Other medications (usually those added daily) lose their potency over time and you simply need to follow the dosing schedule. Changing the water immediately before adding the next dose of medicine is a good way to keep the water clean and the medicine at recommended levels.
Here is the same tank as pictured above but with a goldfish. The large fake plant provided some security, and gravel from a cycled tank is in the corner filter. There is also a Penguin 200 on there.
When the hospital tank is no longer needed, it should be thoroughly disinfected before storing for the next use. Many times we don't know what caused the illness and can't be sure if any pathogens are still lurking on the hospital tank surface or any of the equipment used.
There are two common solutions used to disinfect tanks: common household bleach or potassium permanganate (PP).
Empty the tank and discard any mechanical or chemical filter media (pads, floss, carbon). The biological media can be disinfected and used again. Fill the tank and add a 10 parts water to 1 part bleach solution and let it run through the filter for about an hour. Drain and re-fill with fresh water, adding 10x the normal dose of de-chlorinator and run through the filter for another hour. The tank is now ready to be drained, dried and stored.
The same process can be used with PP. Add 10ppm of PP, enough to turn the water pink (2 teaspoons of Kordon’s Permoxyn for 10 gallons will result in a 10ppm solution). Do not treat the water with any dechlorinator for three days prior to dosing PP. If you have used a dechlorinator within that time frame, keep an eye on the color of the water after adding the PP. If the pink color fades, redose another 10ppm PP to keep the water pink for the duration of the disinfection treatment. PP will also stain fabrics, fingers, etc. so be careful. After running the filter 4-8 hours in 10ppm of PP, you can deactivate it by adding hydrogen peroxide or sodium thiosulfate. This will allow you to drain the tank without worrying about staining. Just a good rinse in water is all that’s needed to finish up.
References
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