How To Set Up A Quarantine Tank

Mari

Mari

LAST UPDATED:

How To Set Up A Quarantine Tank

Sharing is caring!

Quarantining fish before adding them to the main display aquarium or when they’re sick is a very important part of fishkeeping.

Even experienced aquarists often overlook this step because they think it isn’t needed and want their new fish in their tank as soon as possible!

First, we need to understand what a quarantine tank is and why they’re so important. Then, we can look at how to set one up on a budget.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about quarantine tanks and the cheapest and easiest ways to set one up!

What is a quarantine tank?

In short, a quarantine tank or hospital tank is an extra aquarium setup that can be used for housing new fish or treating sick ones. 

These systems are fully cycled, heated, and filtered. They are a buffer between the fish store and your aquarium, allowing new livestock to acclimate and be at their strongest when added to the main display.

Why do you need a quarantine tank?

A quarantine tank setup prevents diseases and illnesses from spreading from the store to your entire tank. Keeping new sick fish in quarantine in a separate, barebones system allows for aggressive treatments that wouldn’t be safe in the main aquarium.

Even if the new fish doesn’t show signs of disease, many hobbyists who use quarantine tanks use a simple copper-based medicine anyway, even if symptoms haven’t appeared yet. Any other symptoms that pop up can then be treated accordingly.

How long should you quarantine new fish?

In general, new fish should be quarantined for 4-6 weeks. There isn’t necessarily an end to the quarantine period, though most common illnesses will show up during this time frame. 

Likewise, quarantine tanks can also be used to treat already-established fish that might become ill or injured in the main aquarium. Quarantine tanks can even be used for spawning purposes, too!

How to set up a quarantine tank

Quarantine tanks do require extra space around the aquarium, which deters a lot of hobbyists from attempting them.

However, we’re here to tell you that you don’t always need to have your quarantine set up and ready to go at all times. In fact, they are very easy to assemble and disassemble at a moment’s notice.

Here’s how.

Cycling your quarantine tank

As with any aquarium, a complete nitrogen cycle needs to occur in your quarantine tank to make it safe for fish. But how can you quickly cycle an aquarium in the case of an emergency?

Most beneficial bacteria in the aquarium live inside the biological filter’s media, in filter floss and sponges. In theory, you can transfer some of this media to the biological filtration of another tank, and it will be considered cycled.

How can you make sure you always have extra media for your aquarium, though?

As we’ll discuss, you will need to clean and treat your quarantine tank between uses. This means that any media you use will be thrown out.

The easiest way to have quarantine media ready is to keep an extra piece in your filter. Once you use it, simply replace it for next time.

Another popular method is using an extra filter in the main aquarium that you can easily transfer. This brings in beneficial bacteria, and a sponge filter will also create surface agitation, leading to better aeration in the quarantine system. 

Do not use the original piece of media, as this will have the best-established bacteria!

How to set up a quarantine system

How To Set Up A Quarantine Tank

Setting up a quarantine system doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. Many long-time fishkeepers usually have a spare tank lying around that can be used to quarantine fish.

If you don’t have an extra glass aquarium, a food-safe Sterilite tub works perfectly as an emergency quarantine tank and is much cheaper than an actual fish tank.

How big should a quarantine tank be?

The size of your quarantine tank depends on the fish that will be in it.

A 10-gallon tank (37.9 L) is fine for a betta or groups of small schooling fish.

For larger fish that produce a lot of waste, like goldfish or angelfish, go for a bigger tank size, like 20 (75.5 L) gallons. This way, you won’t have to conduct partial water changes every day!

Quarantine equipment

Here is a quick rundown of everything you need for a basic quarantine tank:

  • Quarantine tank/tub. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, but it should be watertight and safe to use for animals. 
  • Heater. You will want an adjustable heater that allows you to control the temperature. Many aquarium diseases require heat control, and a preset heater won’t let you do this.
  • Filter. A filter will house the beneficial bacteria and keep the water aerated; use a sponge filter for best results. Water flow should be minimal but enough to allow for good gas exchange. 
  • PVC pipe. Fish will appreciate some hiding spots in the quarantine tank. A simple PVC pipe will allow for rest and can be easily cleaned afterward.
  • Lighting. Additional lighting isn’t necessary if some natural sunlight is available. Good lighting can make signs of parasites or infection easier to see and keep your fish on a regular sleep-wake cycle.
  • Aquarium siphon/vacuum. It is crucial to have a separate siphon/vacuum available exclusively for your quarantine tank to perform frequent water changes and clean the tank. You do not want to transfer possible pathogens to your entire display tank by using the same siphon/vacuum.

In addition to this list are any medications you might need. Most people in the aquarium hobby do an overall preemptive treatment for parasites and bacterial infections with medications like Paraguard and Metroplex/Kanaplex

On the other hand, some hobbyists wait for symptoms to appear to start dosing. This is usually only recommended if you already have an assortment of medications available or can quickly get the ones you need in case of an emergency.

Setting up a quarantine tank

Setting up a quarantine tank is essentially like setting up any other aquarium. However, quarantine tanks are meant to be barebones to make them easy to clean and observe the fish.

As mentioned before, use a piece of filter media from a pre-existing tank to immediately cycle the tank; this can result in a mini-cycle, but it’s nothing that can’t be managed with a few water changes.

There are some exceptions to this, though. Many hobbyists successfully run uncycled quarantine tanks. This is easier to do if you have a larger tank and less fish.

The idea behind this is that any medications you plan to use will kill off many beneficial nitrifying bacteria, voiding the whole concept of a cycle. As long as you have filter media to spare, it’s definitely worth cycling your quarantine system.

With that, the steps to setting up a quarantine tank are:

  1. Fill the tank with water. Use about 50-75% fresh water and the rest from the main aquarium. This should help get parameters matched and lessen stress. Make sure to use a water conditioner.
  2. Install the aquarium equipment. Begin to run the filter and heater. You will want the water temperature to match the conditions already in the main tank.
  3. Add hiding spots. All a quarantine tank needs is a piece of PVC piping. This gives the fish protection and is very easy to clean. Some hobbyists like to add easy live aquarium plants for better aeration and hiding, though they will die with harsher medications.

Notice how this list does not include gravel or substrate. Not only does this help with cleaning the tank between uses, but substrates are essential for some parasitic life stages.

Having a substrate would allow for better production of parasites within the tank, which you’re trying to avoid.

Also, having a bare bottom helps with cleaning and keeps ammonia levels down.

If you do have a fish that needs sand, like most species of saltwater wrasse, then there are a couple of ways you can do this. 

One, get some cheap sand for one-time use. The other method is to fill a small container with sand and place it in the quarantine aquarium. This helps avoid some of the mess while still giving your fish a place to hide and sleep.

Acclimation

Don’t forget to acclimate your fish! Any time you move fish from one tank to another, you need to give them time to adjust unless all parameters match exactly.

The best way to acclimate is through drip acclimation after temperature acclimation.

First, float the bag of fish in the aquarium with the lights out to prevent stress. Then slowly drop water from the aquarium into a container holding your fish for about an hour or two.

At this point, they should be ready to enter the quarantine system. Keep the lights out for a few more hours or until the next day for extra security.

When moving your fish from your quarantine system to your main display tank, you can usually use a net or other container to transfer the fish directly, as parameters should be almost identical.

Make sure that no aquarium water is moving in between the two systems!

Maintaining a quarantine tank

Once you have your fish in the quarantine aquarium, it’s time to wait. 

As mentioned before, some hobbyists use this quarantine period to medicate for general parasites and fungal infections preemptively. But, you can also wait to see if your fish develops any symptoms.

If you have a sick fish coming from your display tank, you may start treatment immediately. Otherwise, good maintenance and observation will make for a strong fish.

Like any other aquarium, quarantine tanks need water changes to help remove wastes and increase gas exchange. For cycled tanks, water changes may be less frequent. For uncycled tanks, you will need to perform daily water changes.

If you’re treating external or internal parasites, like ich, you’ll also need to do daily water changes.

How many water changes you need to perform on your quarantine tank setup largely depends on how water parameters are changing throughout the system, how many fish you have, which diseases and illnesses you are treating, and how you’re treating them.

In general, you want to keep your quarantine tank water as pristine as possible. This usually adds up to about two water changes every week in a quarantine tank with no problems, though this is on the low side.

Watch water parameters, read medication instructions, and perform water changes as needed.

Sanitizing a quarantine tank

It is necessary to sanitize your quarantine tank after each use to ensure that all medications have been removed and no parasites or infections remain. 

Don’t worry. This is easy to do. Never use harsh chemicals like Windex. All you need is some 2-5% bleach.

Simply wash all equipment with a mild bleach solution. Thoroughly rinse and dry off. Once filled again, use a water conditioner for extra safety. 

Naturally drying the quarantine tank out can kill most pathogens, but it is best to use a solution to guarantee that none remain.

Conclusion

If you plan to introduce new fish to your aquarium or deal with a sick fish, you will want to have a hospital or quarantine tank ready at all times. 

These systems don’t need to be elaborate or expensive, but they can help save hundreds of dollars in livestock, time, and frustration.

If you have any questions about quarantine tanks, how to tell if your fish needs to be quarantined, or have had experience with disease outbreaks in your tank, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!

Sharing is caring!

49 thoughts on “How To Set Up A Quarantine Tank”

  1. Hello! Sorry for commenting on such an old article, but I figure this is one of the better places to ask about this. I’m going to be reciving a betta fish in a few weeks, and I was wondering if half a gallon is too small for a quarantine tank? Its one of those tanks that hangs off the side of another tank (in this case, a five gallon). I was going to pump the water from the main tank into the quarantine tank, since by the time I get the quarantine tank, it’ll probably be cycled. Thank you for your time! ⭐️

    Reply
    • Hi! Half a gallon is a little small in my opinion, I would be a little worried about water quality. A food-safe tub is fine as a quarantine tank if you have the chance to buy any of those (or even have one lying around).

      By the way, since you can’t really keep anything but a Betta in a 5 gal I assume it’s going to be the only inhabitant – if that’s the case you can also just opt to place it right into the main tank without quarantining. If it’s carrying any contagious diseases there is nothing it can pass them on to anyway, and if it turns out you do have to use medication that damages the main tank’s filter bacteria you can always set up the quarantine tank.

      Reply
      • Thank you replying so quickly! Yes, it’s going to be the only inhabitant, if you don’t count plants (just a java fern and an amazon sword for the forseeable future). ⭐️

        Reply
  2. If I’m getting a single betta, and don’t plan on introducing any tankmates, should I still quarantine it? The main tank (which hasn’t been set up yet) will likely have some live plants.

    Reply
    • I personally wouldn’t. The only danger is if the fish has an infection that requires you to use an antibiotic, which kills off the beneficial bacteria in your main tank’s cycled filter. So do make sure you have a quarantine container on hand in case you have to use an antibiotic, but other than that I don’t really see a need to quarantine the fish. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Hi, I was hoping you could help me out. My betta fish has fin rot and I’ve read up about it and my tank i have him in is a 15 litre ( 3 gallons ). I wanted to have my quarantine tank small enough to float in the main tank so i don’t need to buy another heater ( i live in a colder climate so i would definitely need a heater ). but what you’re telling me is that i need a 7 gallon tub??? Also, i plan on using aquarium salt and the article before that i was reading said it needed to be 100% clean water. How would i acclimate him to that? thank you so much please respond quickly, I’m really struggling.

    Reply
    • Hello,

      The 7 gallon tub thing is just so I could link to an example, you can also use something else. I’m not a fan of keeping Bettas in tanks under 5 gallons, so I usually recommend anything between 5-10 gallons. I guess you could use something that floats in the main tank, though, although you have to keep in mind that the water quality might deteriorate very quickly in such a small container. A nice sized food-safe container should also work.

      Also, on an important note, aquarium salt doesn’t do anything for fin rot! If super clean water (extra water changes, etc.) isn’t helping you unfortunately have to go for medication. I’ve got a full article on fin rot here.

      I hope that helps a little! Hope your Betta recovers.

      Reply
  4. I think I understand how and when to use a QT with an established tank (although I would like to know what I’m supposed to be looking for with the QT’d plants other than snails?).
    My question is when you are initially setting up the tank and cycling it;
    1) When can plants go in? Assuming this is the only tank I’ve got and the plants are coming from a store.
    2) After the tank has cycled and the values look good – I’m ready to add a fish, but would there be any reason to QT this new fish before adding to new(but cycled) tank?
    thank you

    Reply
    • Hi,

      With plants it’s basically snails and maybe damselfly larvae, although I don’t think those are very common. Sme parasites like ick might also hitch a ride on plants though it probably won’t be very common.

      When you’re setting up the tank the plants can go in right away. If you’re setting up a “main” tank for just one fish (such as a Betta fish) then quarantining isn’t really necessary – if the fish turns out to be sick you can just treat in the main tank, as no tankmates will unnecessarily be affected by the medication.

      I hope that clears things up a bit!

      Reply
    • No, that’s why you have to do the water changes! It’s explained in the article 🙂
      If you’re just quarantining a fish you can cycle the tank, but keep in mind that if it turns out you have to use medication, the cycle can quickly be destroyed.

      Reply
      • I am doing this for my daughter’s betta. I think the poor thing got fin rot. I don’t want to kill her fish. So I just want to make sure that it is ok to use conditioned tap water with no ammonia, no nitrate but high nitrite as long as I change the water everyday? And it is ok to use the old water in the hospital tank? It won’t spread the disease? I really don’t want the fish to die sooner because I try to treat it. Thanks.

        Reply
        • Okay, thanks for the extra info! I misunderstood a little there, I didn’t realize your tap water itself had high nitrites.
          That’s definitely difficult, as 5.0 ppm is much too high to be safe. If the fin rot is just starting, you don’t have to move the fish to a hospital tank. If the current setup is suitable (5+ gal, heated, filtered & cycled), you can just keep the fish in there and keep the water VERY clean. If it’s already pretty bad or keeps progressing, you’re faced with a bit of a problem: you have to use antibiotics, which can crash your cycle. That means the fish has to be moved to a hospital tank to protect the main tank, but in the uncycled hospital tank you have to do daily water changes and the nitrites will be too high. I hope that makes sense! It’s very difficult to determine what’s best (or least bad) for the fish in this situation.
          What I would do if a quarantine tank is really required: cycle it, then treat with antibiotics and HOPE the cycle doesn’t crash (too badly). Do daily water tests to monitor it.
          If you can avoid using a quarantine tank, that’s definitely preferred in this case. I’m really sorry I can’t give you a clear answer, all of the options pose a risk to the fish unfortunately. If you need more information about treating fin rot, be sure to have a look at this article.
          Best of luck and I hope the fish is okay.

          Reply
          • Thank you. This sure clear lots of thing for me. I think will try the fish less cycle in my spare 10 gallon tank and use that water in the 1.5 gallon tank. That should give me enough water to do water change for a few days. Hope this works. Never done a fish less cycle before. Thank you.

    • I’m not sure what you mean by medium – if it’s larger than 2.5 gallons, you can use it for small fish like bettas. If it’s not, I would try getting a tub instead. 🙂

      Reply
      • its around 1 or 2 gallons
        my mum wont allow another tank due to space problems so can i treat maybe one sick goldfish at a time?

        Reply
        • For goldfish that’s definitely not enough and will do more bad than good, unfortunately. What’s the situation here with your goldfish? What happened to them?

          Reply
          • i dnt actually knw …. two of my goldies one bubble eye and another (i dnt knw the breed) but ita a multicoloured goldfish are sitting at the bottom but whenever i go near the tank they get up and swim

          • If you don’t know what’s wrong there’s no use in treating them in a quarantine tank! I may be able to help you out if you give me some more information about the setup. How big is the tank? Did you cycle it? What are the water values? In the meantime, the fancy goldfish caresheet may be of help.

          • yeah sure see i have around a 21 gallon tank and it has a bubble eye and 2 other goldies and a shark it has an in built filter which is kinda good as i think…. but since the past few days i have been noticing them sitting at the bottom….
            i had done a cycle just a few days before … today i havnt fed them … i hope thats okay …. and am thinking bout giving them peas as i suspect my bubbly to hav constipation or swim bladder …..
            plzz do reply soon … what do i do?
            🙁

          • Hi!
            I unfortunately see some big problems here.
            A 21 gallon tank is too small to keep goldfish in. You need at least a 40 gallon and that’s suitable for two fancy goldfish (they need 20 gallons per fish). You also need very strong filtration and that’s likely not present with the built in filter. You also can’t keep goldfish with any type of shark; they should only be kept with other goldfish!
            The problem with your goldfish is probably not caused by constipation or swim bladder issues but by ammonia. You unfortunately can’t just cycle the aquarium a few days: it has to be fully cycled, which takes about three weeks, during which you test the water a lot with a liquid test kit to see if the beneficial bacteria in your filter are working as they should. Now that the tank is probably not properly cycled, there are not enough beneficial bacteria to break down the ammonia the fish poop out and it makes them very sick.
            If your mom doesn’t allow you to get a bigger aquarium, you should rehome the goldfish to a fishkeeper that does have one or bring them back to the store. If she does allow it, you still need to rehome the shark unfortunately. Until you’ve found a new home for them or have set up (and cycled!) a larger aquarium, you should do daily large water changes with dechlorinated water of the same temperature. This should help bring the ammonia down and they should perk up a bit.
            If you haven’t read the caresheet I linked to in my last reply yet, I really recommend you do so! You can also show it to your mom to try to convince her. I’d also recommend reading this information about cycling an aquarium because you NEED to know how cycling works before you can set up any type of aquarium.

            I hope this helps a bit! Please follow this advice or your goldies may pass away soon, which I would be very sad about as well 🙁

          • Help!!! i fed my goldies peas but after that neither they are excreting but one goldy is sitting at the bottom and having a hard time breathing what do i do????

          • Hi, did you read my last reply? Feeding peas unfortunately isn’t going to help. You HAVE to change the water NOW with dechlorinated water and take the others steps I mentioned! Your goldfish likely have ammonia poisoning.

          • yeah i did that i see a lil improvement in my bubble fish …. but my other one is still in a bad shape…. my bubble fish is still sitting at the bottom ….. 🙁

          • Sorry about my late reply! Did you keep up the water changes throughout this week? How are the fish doing with the cleaner water?

          • hey yeah they are doing much better …. its scale abrasions are no more 🙂 and its eating too… but its not swimming properly although it looks healthly … thanks for the help
            🙂

          • That’s great to hear! Please do upgrade them ASAP and follow the other advice I gave you because the current setup is unfortunately just not ideal. If you do that, they should make a full recovery eventually 🙂

          • hey ! mari long time … sry had been sick for a while and unfortunately my bubble eye died 🙁 but i managed to save my other goldie :)…. i brought in 2 milky white koi ….. i was thinking about breeding them and would like ur advice so can i ???? i dnt know if i hav got male or female …. so if i send u the pics if u could help me ?????

          • Sorry to hear about your bubble eye. Honestly, I’m pretty shocked to hear you bought more fish, especially koi which are exclusively pond fish. I gave you good advice numerous times and you just go completely against it and make the situation a hundred times worse even though one of your fish has already passed away. Excuse my wording, but what were you thinking?
            So no, unfortunately you can’t breed your koi and you should return them to the aquarium store ASAP. Please research before you buy and follow the advise that’s given to you!

          • Oh my god, this thread is insane. I wonder how Sukanaya’s fish keeping endeavors are faring these days.

            Two goldfish, 2 koi, and a shark…in 20 gallons. WTF?

          • Hi there, its been such a long time since i checked my mail !
            I see people are still commenting on my question so just to clear up , Mari thanx a lot for your advice but had to learn it the hard way !!! 🙁 I gave away my shark to a bigger tank and the koi to a pond .
            Since its been such a long time let me shorten it up ….. i tried small fish for some time tetras and all but realized they were not for me 🙁 and so after all the trial and error i got a 20 gallon tank in between of it and currently i got 4 juvenile african cichlids (malawi ones )
            And also kim , XD i know i was quite stupid back then …….
            Anyways its nice to talk to you guys really 😀

          • Hey! I’m so glad to hear you rehomed the shark and koi, we all have to learn 🙂

            Hope the Malawis do well for you – if they’re species that grow bigger be sure to eventually upgrade. Good luck!

  5. Where do you buy plastic food safe storage tubs? I want to use them as a main aquarium, as they are much cheaper than glass or acrylic ones. Is there such thing as a 600 L food safe storage storage tub?
    __
    / \
    | |
    /
    |
    O

    Reply
  6. Hello, Mari!
    Thank you for the useful advice.
    As I am beginner and just starting my first aquarium, I have couple of stupid questions:
    1) when there are nobody in tank yet (only bacteria, plants and several hitchhiked baby snails), should I also quarantine the very first fish which come to it?
    2) when I buy group of small shoaling fish, should I quarantine them all together or set up several smaller individual quarantine tanks for them?
    3) Isn’t six weeks too long time for the fish to live without extended ecosystem (plants, bacteria, etc.)?
    4) What are the rules for a) plant and b) invertebrate (snails, shrimps, crayfish) quarantine?

    Reply
    • Hi! Glad this article was useful to you.
      It’s a good idea to still quarantine the first fish you put into your aquarium, especially if you already suspect they may be carrying a disease. Fish medication can kill the good bacteria in your filter, which means that if you put the fish in the tank and then find out they have a disease, you may damage the cycle. If the possibility of cycle bumps is not a problem for you then you can put the first fish straight into the main tank.
      All fish that are bought from the same water system can be quarantined together. Shoaling fish come from the same aquarium store tank, which means there’s no use in quarantining them separately!
      Six weeks is a very long quarantine period, although it is done sometimes, which is why I mentioned it in the article. I know some HQ fancy goldfish importers quarantine their fish for that long because the fish are very expensive and they can’t risk contamination. They do, however, usually have an automatic water change system. This means there is no cycle necessary as the fish are constantly supplied with fresh water.
      If you want to ‘quarantine’ your plants, which a lot of people do because they may be carrying pest snails, you can do a bleach dip with diluted (1:8-1:10) bleach to kill any unwanted organisms. If the plants are too fragile for that, you can also put them in a bucket with water and keep a close eye on them to see if anything unwanted comes out of them.
      If I add inverts I quarantine them the same way I do fish, although it’s harder to see if they’re carrying disease. To put it bluntly, if they’re not dead after 2-3 weeks I usually deem it safe to add them to the main tank, haha… 😀

      Sorry about the wall of text, but I hope this answers all your questions! Good luck!

      Reply
  7. Surely 100% water changes are a bit drastic? You’d have to drip acclimate every time you did the change so as not to shock the fish. Tap water straight from the tap (or even aged for a day) will NOT be the same as the used tank water, and moving the fish into a container every day will cause it stress and increase the likelyhood of it getting a disease.

    Instead you can use an extra filter (or extra filter media) from an established tank and move it across to the QT tank when you add the fish. Make sure the filter has been running in the established tank for at least 2 weeks first.

    AND / OR

    Use lots of fast growing stem or floating plants (either from an existing tank or bought at the same time as the new fish) in the QT tank. Floating plants are best as they use atmospheric CO2 and are closer to the light so generally grow the fastest. The dangling roots of the plants usually harbour lots of beneficial bacteria too (although they can also harbour parasites so if you bought them from the store you may wish to rinse the roots thoroughly in tap water before placing into the QT).

    You still need to do water changes (about 20 – 25% every 3 days or so) because the tank will probably undergo a mini cycle, and the plants may not remove 100% of the ammonia produced – but at least these smaller changes will not shock the fish.

    Reply
    • Hi! Thanks for your input.
      I personally always do 100% water changes every day, because after the first day there is not that much difference any more. A small fish doesn’t produce that much ammonia in a day, so the water quality etc. stays pretty much the same. I do agree that you shouldn’t put your fish in a container if it’s a species that’s easily stressed! It works fine with fish like goldfish and bettas, as long as you don’t go around chasing them with a net. I can usually scoop them straight out of the water and cover the temporary container so it’s not too stressful. They stay calm and seem to go into “night mode” as soon as the light disappears.
      I guess the amount of water changes you need to do also depends on the fish, if you put five neon tetras in a 5-10 gal tub the plant method is probably fine!
      Adding an extra cycled filter/filter media is not very effective in a quarantine tank in my opinion, unless you’re already 80% sure the fish is healthy. If you’ll end up using medication anyway the filter bacteria will just die off again, resulting in an ammonia spike. I do often use an uncycled filter that I clean out daily to remove poop and food bits. That way those things can’t sit there releasing ammonia. I do love the idea of floating stem plants and floating plants! They do indeed help keep the water clean and they’ll also provide the fish with shelter to avoid extra stress.

      Again, thank you for your comment! I’ll change some things in the article because you make a good point.

      Reply
  8. Mari is totally right. It’s something you never really understand until it bites you in the butt. I brought in fish lice and ich on a fish I didn’t QT. I learned my lesson early. I personally know people who have brought in other terrible things like calumnious worms and bacteria infections that can wipe out a fishroom in days. I don’t mean to scare anyone; I just want you to be careful. Even the best fish stores can get infections.

    Reply
    • Exactly! Even your absolute favourite super trustworthy aquarium store can get a bad batch of fish in, or fish that are just so stressed out from shipping that it has made them ill. Taking the right safety precautions can really save your entire tank!

      Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.