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I have just purchased a new 10 gallon quarentine tank and in 2 days time I will be getting my new bristlenose to put into it. I've done quarentine tanks that are just "used as needed" with success, but I wanted to know what you did.

Do you keep your q-tank up and running all the time?
Do you have gravel in the tank? or is it just bare bottomed?
Do you only use it as needed and otherwise leave it empty?

The tank is going to be running with a quickfilter filled with carbon and will have a external light (I couldnt' buy a light strip for it) and of course a heater but that's about it besides a very light coating of gravel on the bottom and some decorations for him to hide with. I'll be loading the tank up on a rotating schedual with rock from my 40 gallon tank that needs to be "de-algaeized" so he can snack during the day andthen some cuc or zuc or algae waffers or lettuce to eat, and probably a little frozen foods too.

Hiya saylaveev:

I keep my QT pretty simple; bare bottom, sponge filter, air filter n heater. Currently I've a coupla new loaches in it, so I threw a fake cave and some easily sterilised plastic plants in there for cover and to reduce stress levels, but otherwise I don't want anything in there that I need to worry bout if any new fish turn out to be carrying disease. I don't bother with lighting. Once everyone is out, I plan on tearing it down, cleaning it carefully, and packing it away till its needed again.

As a suggestion, do not rotate those rocks in and out of your main tank. It will defeat the purpose of QT as they may bring disease from the new guy into the main tank if you put them back in. Keep in mind, while it may seem forever ( LOL especially to me; I have NO patience), a QT is still just a temp setup, and once your guy passes quarantine he'll have a great time in the main tank.

Well I added a very light layer of gravel to the tank. I don't have many extra decorations right now for hiding and felt he might be happier with that.

I didn't think about the possiblilty that the rocks could bring back disease with them, if I decide to rotate them, I'll give them a bleach bath first.

Thanks though.

Iâ??d suggest boiling them or even using hydrogen peroxide rather than bleach.