QT question

[Curtis1551]

I have been doing research on QT and I had a thought. Is there any reason not to keep a few Blue/Green Chromis in it while it is not in use. Of course I would have to put them into my display tank when I need the QT. Everything I have read on QT assumes that you would leave the fish in the QT while using it and this is not what I am considering doing.

[Randall_James]

Best practice is to break down your qt tank when not in use. No need to keep it running anyway

[Reeses]

Your QT really should be disinfected after each use, even if the fish that left it showed no signs of disease.

[Randall_James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9769737#post9769737 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reeses
Your QT really should be disinfected after each use, even if the fish that left it showed no signs of disease. drying it out and storing dry will disenfect it

[Reeses]

yes. yes it will. :)

[Curtis1551]

So would you dry out your filter and everything?

[Randall_James]

Yes ...

UNLESS...

you had to use copper treatment, then throw it away.

Reason is this: Typically you will move your filter sponge to your refugium or sump a week or two before starting up your QT tank to populate it with bacteria. IF by chance you forget that you used copper, you will induce copper to your display and the inverts are not going to like that very well.

No chemicals used? then I would rinse everything off (1 tsp bleach to gallon of water) and store it all until needed next time.

As long as the stuff is dry, there will be no bleach left behind (evaporates 100%)

[Curtis1551]

So it takes you two weeks to setup your QT? What would you do in an emergency in your main display? For example you move a new fish from your QT to your main display and he goes into hiding. You take down and clean the QT, then you notice the new guy is being picked on by another fish.

[Randall_James]

Well not too bad to deal with... If you just moved the fish from qt to display, the tank should still be up and running, so you are good there.

In an emergency..

Ammonia is not typically a problem until 2 or 3 days in, I then have lots of makeup water ready to go.

I move water out of the qt tank and replace with water from my display tank.

I then top of my display with the new water. This can take a lot of water for a few days (50%-100% of qt capacity every 24Hrs) to keep ammonia levels safe.

[Reeses]

If you keep one or two sponge filters in your sump return area, then you've got your biological filter ready to go. Just fill your QT tank with water from your current tank, insert seeded sponge and voila. I also tend to rely heavily on chemical media to help me keep the bad stuff in check, as well as very frequent large water changes taken from the main tank.

Try looking at this product here:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3936&N=2004+113424

edit: Randall posted right before I did, sorry for the repeat info.