Hospital / Quarantine / Fry Tank

[Wblaze]

So, I have heard many people here say they use 2.5 or 5 gallon tanks as hospital / fry tanks so I have a couple of questions. When is a fish too far gone to bring back to health? How are you filtering these small tanks? Obviously a aquaclear from a 55 will be too big to move, so how are you cycling them? Thanks. I will hang up and listen to your answer on the air

 

[jonclark96]

I run extra sponge filters in all my tanks over 10 gallons, so I just pull one of those to drop into a hospital tank if needed.

As far as when is it time for a fish to go, that is really up to you. I have a hard time killing a fish that has a little bit of life left in it.

 

[Wblaze]

I did the "freezer thing today." he had no fins and a big bite hole in his side

 

[ezrk]

In general if they aren't dead I will give them a shot. We brought back a beat-up Red Zebra girl who had no tail fin and was lying on her side in the hospital tank once. We have had more equally distressed fish not make it, but I figure they want the chance to come back....

 

[dogofwar]

I prefer a 15g or larger as a quarantine or recovery tank.

Super small tanks (2.5, 5, 10g) can swing too much in temperature and pollution levels (especially for fish that may or may not be eating) to really make a fish feel comfortable.

Matt

 

[Hawkman2000]

I agree with Matt for the same reasons, and that you never know what size fish you might have in the future, or what kind of juvenile capacity you might need. 15g would be the smallest I would get.