What would a proper quarantine tank look like for Ottos?

pdxKris

I have a 12g established tank that I'd like to add a couple of ottos to, but I want to quarantine the new ottos for a couple of weeks first. I'm pretty sure the 12g tank has enough algae to support them (we scrape it off about once a week), but how does one go about setting up a quarantine tank for these little guys since they need an established tank?

My plan was to buy a smallish (2.5g?) Q tank, and use an existing heater and bubbler that I already have along with water changes 2-3 times a week. Will that work? If so, what do I do about food?

Also, how do you do water changes w/ ottos? If they're sucking the glass near the top and the water level starts dropping, are they smart enough to let go?

Thanks!

Twistersmom

To be honest, I did not QT my ottos, not that I recommend you doing that.
I would QT in a large enough tank, that you are able to run a filter and seed it with established media from another cycled tank.
I have read that many ottos will not eat anything but algae. I might be lucky, mine will eat algae wafers, veggie sticks, blanched zucchini, greens, and a few others.
My ottos are not always stuck to the side of the glass. They also spend some time at the bottom of the tank. They will go to the bottom during a water change.

Rohland

i heard a good way to make algae for them, is to put a rock in a bucket filled with some old tank water and put it in the sun.

Twistersmom

Yep, that will work. You want to also add a little fish food into the bucket.

pdxKris

How critical is it that the QT tank be filtered and/or cycled if I'm keeping up with very regular water changes? I'm willing if I must, but I'd rather keep the cost down since this tank will only be used for such a short period of time.

Have you done this before? Any idea how long it takes for the algae to grow? I'm curious how many rocks I'd need to put in at a time to keep a constant supply handy.


Thanks to both of you!

Twistersmom

Can't answer the first question, it could work, but you would not want to expose them to any ammonia or nitrite and ammonia can spike quickly in a small tank.

It will take a couple weeks to grow the algae, a little faster if you use a plant light and leave it on 24/7 and take some algae from your tank and rub it on the rocks.