info on setting up a hospital tank

im new to this whole fish keeping thing and i just baught a few cichlids today and by the time i took the 15 minute drive home one was gasping for air so i quickly filled a bucket with water put in an air stone a put the fish in it so far hes not belly up but the question is how exactly how is a hospital tank set up

Put a 10 gallon tank into a quite and dark area with a heater and good filtration. Keep it around 84 degrees and quarantine your new fish.

Someone will probably give you another idea but this is what I do.

good luck

When I get new fish I grab my orange 5gal bucket that I got at home depot for $2. I put about 2 gallons of water total into the buckett. About 1.5 gallons of water from the tank that the fish is going into and .5 gallon from the bag that they are in. I put a airstone in the bucket for air and let sit for about 30 mins. I then scoup the fish out of the buckett with a net and then grab the fish out of the net and release him into the water with my hand. I try not to mix water from the bag into my tank. I am weird about my water and don't want any new bacterias messing with what is already good water.

thanks for the advice and kmx i did just with the bucket just not the water mixtures so for next time i will remember that but i really think there should be an article write up on setting up a hospital tank just for some members to get a better idea

The water mixture wont always be = to that. Sometimes the bag may be small and only have a few cups. I just try not to mix the bag water with my tank water.

BUMP BUMP BUMP

Hospital tanks are usually 10-20g depending on your typical size fish. get a bare tank with a filter, add fish and the bag water to the tank, the rest of the water will be from the main tank.
When not in use you will run the filter on the main tank so that it will always have a good supply of beneficial bacteria growing in it. Leave the tank empty when not in use and fill with 50-50 new water and tank water to lessen shock.
After using the quarantine / hospital tank you need to thoroughly clean the filter, toss the media and wash well with tap water before placing on the main tank. This prevents cross contamination if you have had a sick fish in there so diseases wont get into your main tank.
Do not run carbon in your hospital filter, carbon removes meds from the water and that's not good if you have to medicate a fish.
Typical quarantine time of new fish is 2-3 weeks, if they are fine the whole time then you can assume that they have a clean bill of health and will not bring any illness into your main tank.
Quarantining new fish gets really important when you have expensive fish in your main tank, most people learn that the hard way......


I hope that was helpful and the info you were after!

well done. Very Descriptive. thank Fern. Do you put a Red " H " on the glass not to get it confused, LOL

thanks that was very very helpful much appreciated

CajunGator wrote:

well done. Very Descriptive. thank Fern. Do you put a Red " H " on the glass not to get it confused, LOL

No.... in my fish room the blue water gives it away and I know which tank is my QT tank by the dark blue stained silicone

Jesse if you need any more details on how its done I will be more than happy to help! We all have to learn somehow! And I'm sure theres a lurker or two that this will help as well