Michigan Cichlid Association

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: kruuuzn on March 13, 2015, 07:57:46 AM

Title: Maintaining a hospital tank.
Post by: kruuuzn on March 13, 2015, 07:57:46 AM

I have a cycled 10 gallon hospital tank without fish.
What's the best way to maintain it's "ready" condition?

Title: Re: Maintaining a hospital tank.
Post by: jamarini on March 13, 2015, 08:47:40 AM

Three quick thoughts:

Put a fish in the tank to keep the beneficial bacteria viable.

If you're using a sponge filter, move it to another tank with fish in it to keep the bacteria viable.

Let the tank go and just use the "bacteria in a bottle" approach just prior to adding sick fish.  Can't recall specific names but there are a couple very reliable products on the market that work very well for this purpose.  Maybe some others on the forum can help with a "bacteria in a bottle" product name or two.

Title: Re: Maintaining a hospital tank.
Post by: kruuuzn on March 13, 2015, 09:26:02 AM

I was wondering if I could just add ammonia at regular intervals. Although I'm not sure of how much or how often.
I guess if I did that I would need to watch the nitrates and do water changes when necessary?

Title: Re: Maintaining a hospital tank.
Post by: jamarini on March 13, 2015, 10:46:28 AM

Yes, you could add ammonia and monitor but some have successfully used a bunch of snails that they fed flake food to keep some bioload going that would feed the beneficial bacteria in the sponge filter. 

Another thing you could do is to take a cup or two of gravel from a cycled tank and place that in the hospital tank to jump start the sponge filter - I assume that's how you're filtering the hospital tank - however it would take some time to get the bacterial colony going sufficiently but it does happen ultimately.  Since the bacteria "anchor" so physical sights for the most part and there aren't appropriate concentrations in the water column, layering cycled gravel onto the sponge can speed up the process.

One other idea that can work is squeezing out a currently active sponge into the hospital tank.  Live bacteria get squeezed out of the sponge and ultimately get pulled into the sponge filter of the hospital tank and begin colonizing the surface of the sponge filter. 

Title: Re: Maintaining a hospital tank.
Post by: eitakppurk on March 13, 2015, 11:08:42 AM

Quote from: jamarini on March 13, 2015, 08:47:40 AM

Maybe some others on the forum can help with a "bacteria in a bottle" product name or two.

I have used Seachem Stability and it worked great for this.

Title: Re: Maintaining a hospital tank.
Post by: kruuuzn on March 13, 2015, 01:35:10 PM

I actually doubled up on the filtration to keep some handy "bio farms" for other uses.
I've got a little Marineland HOB with a bio wheel AND a sponge filter going in the tank.