I have some empty tanks a 10 and a 20 gal witch one should I use? What kind of filter works best for this kind of set up? Should I put substrate?

Thanks
Aaron

I would recommend the 20 gallon tank, 10 gallons is just a little bit too small. 20 gallons may still be too small for a very large fish, you may have to increase to 30 gallons, or maybe even 40 gallons if the fish is going to be in this tank for a while. You will definitely have to do a sizable water change in between medications if that is necessary.

Don't put anything in the tank, leave it completely bare. As for filtration, as much as you can get on it, treat it in much the same way as your main aquarium. You got to remember that your fish will still produce ammonia even if it isn't eating so lots of filtration is still necessary.

I guess you have to cycle the tank too? If you keep it running all of the time with no fish do you still do regular water changes?


Aaron

Oh yes, it is very important that the hospital tank is completely cycled containing good quality water. Medication will not be so effective if the water quality is bad. The bacteria in your biological filter will need a source of food so I would suggest you keep some community fish in the hospital tank so that it is always cycled. However, if you don't want to go to that trouble, after all you may never have to use the hospital tank, you could always keep a spare filter running on your main tank.

I have got a hospital tank that is not running. I have got tons of filtration in my sump and could easily take some of this and put in a spare canister filter if need be, I would then be able to visit straight on the hospital tank without having to cycle the whole thing which would take several weeks.

I like the idea of the extra filter. I don’t want to maintain a tank for no reason and the extra filter would be good for the main tank. You could have the whole thing up and running in no time at all. Sounds like a plan to me.



Aaron

I think having a spare filter running, or having some spare media is probably the most convenient option rather than keeping your hospital tank running 24/7. You got to remember that if you do keep a running using small community fish, what is going to happen to those fish when you move a large fish and with them?

They would become a nice light snack!

Aaron

The problem with keeping a hospital tank is that it usually ends up with fish in it and being used as a display tank. What i have is a large plastic container that i keep in the loft, for filtration i have a spare filter and i just use some of the bio media from one of my filters