Setting up my first QT

[mxmarks]

Hey everyone-

I have a Red Stripe Angel and a Yellow Tang sitting at my door as we speak! Of course the mail came TEN MINUTES after I left for work, but I have a friend bringing the box inside and getting things cozy for my return.

Anyway - I've never QT'd any fish. I know that stupid, but I just never really had the stuff ready to do it. I now have a free'd up 15 gallon BioCube, and really want to QT the Tang, because of the Ich susseptibility, and the fact he'll be in a bag until 6:30PM, ugh.

I was wondering a little bit about what this will take tonight. I have:

The BioCube, 15g. New filter.
Small heater rated for 15g tanks.
No sand at the bottom, a very small amount of gravel that I couldn't remove from its previous residents. Its been thouroughly cleaned.
Right now its half filled with RO/DI water. I was going to try to make it into a hospital tank in an emergency, but I was too late =\. I left the water in there, but it isn't mixed yet.

Do I have enough to properly QT the tang? I could grab some extra supplies on my way home from work.

Also - is it ok to QT the Red Stripe and Tang together? What would be more harmful, QTing them both together, or just QTing the Tang and putting the Red Stripe in right away?

Thanks for any help - other than just NOW starting to think about QTing, my tank is finally starting to see a decrease in Hair Algae, and is really starting to look like I always hoped it would. Thanks.

[crvz]

Well first, I'll point out that you should really make an effort to get home well before 6:30. I would have made every attempt to ensure that I was home when the package arrived, and would recommend you do the same in the future (hold for pickup works very well when you have a timeline... that way you're not waiting on the delivery, you get to go pick it up as soon as they open).

But regarding the QT, I think in this case you may be adding a lot of stress to the tang by sticking it in a 15 gallon tank for any extended amount of time (more than a day). I do not think you'll have good results with this, and while it's not the best choice (when compared to an appropriated sized quarantine), I'd recommend you put it immediately into the display.

[shuguley]

FIRST ...Since right now you only have unmixed RO/DI water in your QT... you should not mix the salt right before you add fish. The salt needs a lot of time to properly disolve and for the water to aerate. Personally I mix saltwater 24 hours before using it, one time I waited only 12 hours though. If you throw fish in fresh mixed saltwater, you could kill them.

SECOND... You said the Biocube filter is new, you mean it has never been used in an aquarium with livestock? If that is the case the filter will not have any beneficial bacteria on it and you will need to be prepared to do a lot of water changes. The ammonia will sneak up on you very FAST, probably within 24 hours of putting a fish in. Be sure you always have enough pre-mixed saltwater on hand for at least a 50% water change. Also, you should buy some Amquel+ for emeregency ammonia relief.

[atwinparadox2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13232242#post13232242 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shuguley
FIRST ...Since right now you only have unmixed RO/DI water in your QT... you should not mix the salt right before you add fish. The salt needs a lot of time to properly disolve and for the water to aerate. Personally I mix saltwater 24 hours before using it, one time I waited only 12 hours though. If you throw fish in fresh mixed saltwater, you could kill them.

SECOND... You said the Biocube filter is new, you mean it has never been used in an aquarium with livestock? If that is the case the filter will not have any beneficial bacteria on it and you will need to be prepared to do a lot of water changes. The ammonia will sneak up on you very FAST, probably within 24 hours of putting a fish in. Be sure you always have enough pre-mixed saltwater on hand for at least a 50% water change. Also, you should buy some Amquel+ for emeregency ammonia relief.

+1
Good Advice, and upgrade that quarantine tank if you want to take this approach with larger fish in the future. Like crvz said, your fish are already stressed from the shipping, you want them to be as comfortable as possible. Put them in the display and hope for the best.

[toolfan]

Agreed. Ideally the QT would be setup ready for the arrival of the fish. If I were you....I would go to Petco as they are hacing a pretty good sale on tanks atm (It's like a $1 per gallon) and buy a 30g or so. bring it home (sooner than 6:30 if humanly possible) and fill it with 80% DT water & the rest freshly mixed. do you have a filter sponge from your current setup you can transfer to the QT? If so, get it in there as well as the fish. I always keep a sponge in my sump for cases where I need to setup my QT.