How to Set Up a Hospital Aquarium for Sick Fish

Fish sometimes need a stay in a hospital tank to get well.

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Into every aquarium a little disease must fall. At the first site of white spots, bloat, fungal growth, or rotting fins, the aquarium owner needs to act fast. The best thing to do is remove the affected fish to a hospital tank immediately. This not only protects your other aquarium fish from the disease or infection, it can help you administer medication effectively and reduce stress on the sick fish.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Glass fish tank
Lighted hood
Aquarium Filter
Air pump and hose
Aquarium heater
Plastic plants

Step1

Choose a glass fish tank for your hospital tank. A two or three gallon tank would work if you have small sized fish. Of course, if you keep large fish such as some cichlids, you will need a larger hospital aquarium for your sick fish. You will only be housing the sick fish in there temporarily. Start with a plain glass or acrylic aquarium with a lighted hood.

Step2

Set up an air pump and hose with a bubbler or air stone attachment on the end. The hospital tank will also need a air stone bubbler or other air pump input device. High oxygen levels can help sick fish recover faster.

Step3

If your fish are tropical, use a fish tank heater appropriate to the size of the hospital tank.

Step4

Set up the aquarium filter. The filter should include mechanical filtration only: no activate carbon or other chemical filtration agents. These will reduce the effectiveness of medications.

Step5

Leave the bottom of the hospital fish tank bare glass. This makes vacuuming up waste easier. Since the bacterial colonies that help maintain healthy aquarium water often grow on the gravel, you will not have this help in a hospital tank. However, many medications would kill off this bacteria anyway, so it is not necessary to establish a colony.

Step6

Include some aquarium decorations for the comfort of your fish may help healing. Plastic plants should be used rather than live plants that could be damaged by medications. Weight the plastic plants by using aquarium grade sealant to attach them to rocks. Other good decorations for the hospital fish tank include tipped over flower pots and rock caves for the fish to hide in.