Quarantine help?

Hey Pete, first off don't worry about the salinity being an issue. As long as you didnt rush him through the acclimation process I don't think the salinity will be a huge deal, although it is generally recommended to have the salinity in a QT tank to be slightly lower because 1 it will be easier on the fish and 2 lower salinity is also useful for preventing ich from showing up. Making sure the fish ate before you took it from the pet store is always a good idea but it is really not uncommon for a fish to not want to eat for a couple of days after being introduced into QT. Just give it some time and try not to leave excess food in the tank for the water to get fowled up quicker. Also what kind of fish did you get? Because certain fish will not handle the stress well of being in such a small tank, even if its only temporary for QT.

 

Did you have anything like a sponge or cycled rock for the biological filter Pete? An airstone won't cut it; a filter is needed and a small powerhead wouldn't hurt. How long did you acclimate them before adding them to the QT? Do not use anything in the tank except PVC or cycled rock. Do not leave uneaten food in the tank. It is not uncommon for fish to not eat when going to a new home. How many fish did you buy? What fish did you buy? What were their sizes? From what you have posted, the problems could be too many fish added, no circulation, no filtration and death due to possibly ammonia spike, low oxygen and fish stressed.

 

I personally never liked those sponge filters. I believe a cheap mechanical filter that has those biowheels are better for the job.

 

Doesn't the use of an airstone raise the pH of the water?

 

Not necessarily. 

 

I would get the cleaner shrimp out of the QT because he is only going to hinder your ability to treat the other fish if something comes up. I never QT a shrimp because it has an exoskeleton so while the most common disease and parasites you will deal with cant affect a shrimp. Also most treatments against these common disease will kill invertebrates including hypo salinity. Also as far as keeping live rock out of the QT tank it is not always necessary. Parasites can't live in live rock I think, they bury themselves in sand and thats where they are born so live rock should be fine. But read the directions of any medications you add carefully because some will say to not have any live rock because it will kill the beneficial bacteria on it.

 

Get something like the Marineland Penguin BioFilter Power Filter. When not in use, just keep the biowheel in the DT sump to keep bacteria on it;-) Some people just hook their's up and run the unit on their sump until it's time for the QT/hospital tank. Of course, if you use a copper treatment, you won't want to throw the biowheel in the sump...but, if you use Purigen or a PolyFilter, that will remove the copper ;-) PolyFilters are good to have on hand ( http://www.marinedepot.com/Poly_Filter_Filter_Pad_Mechanical_Filter_Media-Poly_Bio_Marine-PB1111-FIFMMEPM-vi.html ). You can use (cycled) rock in a QT but you do not want to use it in your display afterwards if you used medication in the QT. I use rock in my QT but if I need to treat for anything, I take the rock out prior to medicating.

As far as ammonia burn, you can add Novaqua which will neutralize ammonia and put an extra coating on the fish to prevent any topical burn. Bacteria in a bottle, if it helps, probably doesn't last for long especially when it doesn't have anything to adhere to. When I acclimate, I use Prime and Stability in the bag. When setting up my QT/hospital tank, I use water from my DT, throw in some rock or pvc (depends on the condition of the fish), hook up my MJ powerhead and power filter (sponge filter for the MJ and power filter are kept in sump for bacteria) and heater.

If you didn't read any ammonia, it was probably due to a lack of oxygen and/or stress and/or the fish may have been sick. Shrimp are more sensitive to water params than fish IMO. Hang in there!

 

OK
Here are a few words of advice.
Salinity. Raising the salinity more then .02 a day is very hard on a fish. You can drop it like crazy, but bring them up very slow.
Get some prime or similar & treat the tank daily to keep your ammonia in check. Daily water changes will help.
Suck out any uneaten food daily.
An air stone and sponge filter is fine, as well as a power filter.
Give them hiding places such as cut up pieces of PCV.  Try not to use live rock or sand as they can soak up any medication you add to the tank.
Be proactive with your medicines. Cupramine is great for Brook & Ich, Prazipro is good for worms.
Good luck