Those of you with MTS...

Just wondering how you folks with MTS treat your gear?

I don't have that many tanks so I have a separate set of everything(I do now anyway) that I use for each tank. Maybe I have gone over the top but nothing from one tank is used in another. They all have there separate buckets, nets, siphons, etc. The only thing I use for all at work is the 45G plastic barrel I treat my water in and that's only because nothing from any of the tanks ever touches it. I have a small pump and pump the water into the different tanks. I now even wash my hands when going from one tank to the next. After what I went through this winter I can no longer take any chances with these guys.

How about you?

Steve

Hi Steve ! Great to hear from you after the busy time.

I have support gear that I use for all my tanks. This could be a problem if there was a disease or parasite outbreak but I hope I have thought out enough of the details should I have an emergency.

The support gear : one bucket, gravel cleaner and siphon, several nets of various sizes. I do not treat my water; straight Pointe Claire treatment water for all my fish. In case of emergency I have meds (that I hope never to use), bleach (to disinfect) and Canadaquaria forum members to ask.

I have different gear for fish room than show tanks and also rinse in as hot a water as I can( almost boiling) when I may go from tank to tank for water changes etc.That and I use meds if necessary with luck sometimes.

We have two tap-pressured type vacuums, one for the 55g and the other for the 220g. We have a small pump vacuum that we use on both betta tanks (clean with hot water in between). Then one pump vacuum for the tequilas, mosquitos, guppies, snails, and Callie (panda cory; and we also shoot hot water through the hose in between each cleaning); Though we are soon buying a separate hose for the tequilas and Callie. We have three Rubbermaid "holding tanks" for all of the tanks in the fish room/office, one rubbermaid bin "holding tank" for the 55g, and two bucket "holding tanks" for the betta tanks!  So, yup, we go to slight extremes to ensure the health of our water babies!

I like the idea of water holding tanks. Many years ago I had two large Rubbermaid garbage bins reserved for just that: holding and conditioning water. While Niagara water is not known to be soft, my father had a water softener system. For the Africans I used old shells and added bicarbonate as needed. As the use of DH kits was still new, I could not afford to test so I used a hygrometer to give me an idea of dissolved salts in an indirect water.

I had a Diatom filter that could knock out any protozoan parasite. The trouble was the turbulence and the disruption to the gravel / plants. Forget about a tranquil overthrow; this was a tornado in torrents. Still it made brown water unfathomably drinkable, and because it used diatomaceous earth, filtering out any microbe was guarenteed. This little vortex pump has fallen away in favour of canister filters; but I still wish I had not given it away.

I have some small aquariums that I use to "hold" my water however, and they double as emergency holding tanks if need be. I have 1 gallon round aquariums that I alternate with water changes. From the Dollar store, I have a few glass aquariums, about 3L in size that hold water. In case of emergency : disease, separation or incoming quarantine, I think I can call up enough reserves to accommodate.

How many nets do I have: matbe a dozen. How many buckets : 1 but at least 6 in the garage used for various jobs. I would never trust them in carrying new water, just to move old water. Back up equipment : yes a few unopened boxes of heaters and HOB filters. As my tanks are small, I can always use a plastic bag (3 mil) to line the insides in case of a leak until I find a larger permanent container.

Very nice to see what everyone has got going for their tanks!
For my part, I have buckets for every tank, with spare smaller buckets, in a case of I don't know what.
I also have different nets for every tank, extra motors for my filters, heaters, siphons, glasses for thawing food, adding water to filters, etc..
I am very cautious about cross contamination as I worked in a kitchen in the past and I know how bad it can get.
I am thinking about getting a R/O system in the future, but that is in a long time.

I think I have not been as careful as I could be or maybe should be. With my bettas I do regular rearranging of tanks depending upon how they fare with other tank mates.

The only disinfecting that I do is with plants, whether I move plants from one tank to the other, or I get new plants in, I put them in a hydrogen peroxide bath first.

I do have a full range of meds though and enough facilities to quarantine a sick fish and given them a treatment.

After I heard about Gary's disaster though, I am looking into an UV filter.

I am pretty bad over all about this since I somehow feel they are all in the same house, therefore are all exposed to the same junk. I guess that is my years of dog kennel experience! I forget that fish don't actually breathe the air like the dogs and cats do.
I DO, however, have nets for each tank, although I pretty freely will snag a fish out of one tank and plop it in another...so much for individual nets! I also siphon the water out of all the tanks at once with the same python, but I clean it and rinse with hot water before filling each tank.