[Myka]

My QT is always set up, and I always have a fish in there to keep the biological filter going (she is removed when I have fish to quarantine). It has a bunch of rock rubble with hiding places, a heater, a powerhead, a SeaChem Ammonia Alert (they actually work well), and a Coralife 50/50 screw in compact fluorescent bulb that is screwed into one of those clip on bell-shaped lamps (desk/shop lamp). My QT is placed near a window so it gets natural light which I find helps new fish acclimate. Once the fish is acclimated I will start getting it used to the tank lights which are on the same cycle as my display tank.

I keep the live rock rubble in the tank because it helps with biological filtration. I find it also helps fish acclimate quicker than PVC pipe does. Because the rock has been exposed to medications I am very careful to keep it away from any other live rock I have. It never leaves the tank, and I will never sell it to anyone else.

The medications I choose to use are PraziPro (dewormer), hyposalinity, broad spectrum antibiotics, Methylene Blue, and Formalin dips. I choose these because I find them the most useful, and also because they won't harm the live rock rubble (keep reading to see why).

Almost all fish are medicated with Prazi for flukes and internal parasites once they have settled into the QT. If Ich pops up they get hypo. Hypo will kill off most of the micro and macro fauna (aka pods, other inverts, and algae) on and in the rock, but won't significantly harm the nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. Broad spectrum antibiotics are mixed with food and fed to the fish rather than medicating the whole tank. Three reasons for that; I find it more effective, it is cheaper, and it won't harm the live rock rubble since any antibiotics in the water column will be well diluted. I use Methylene Blue dips as treatment to alleviate symptoms of cyanide or ammonia poisoning. I also use Methylene Blue in any freshwater dips when treating an extreme Ich infection as an extra kick. It also helps for flukes, and skin and gill parasites. Finally, Formalin dips are done outside of the tank, and used only for Brookynella or done as a last resort when the antibiotics haven't had effect on whatever it is I'm trying to treat.