QT tank

[Mr.Tan]

when assembling a QT tank for future fish purchases, do i just use a sponge filter in the HOB filter for the tank? Or should i also put carbon in it and anything else? I'm using a 10g tank and an older whisper ex30 filter i have laying around.. Also, should I just mix up some new water for it (using RO of course) and use that rather then taking DT water?...And will i do any dosing or anything to the fish or is it just a put it in there and leave it for a couple weeks, doing water changes i assume and small feedings? any help much appreciated, still a complete noob and i have been looking over some threads and things i found on google but im still unclear completely as I am getting mixed reviews/answers


(tank contents will just be the whisper HOB filter, heater, PVC pipe)

[sporto0]

yes, a sponge as far as hob filter is concerned will be fine, you won't need gac or dosing in a QT, it is best to keep it simple, no substrate, maybe a rock or pvc to make the fish more comfortable. i would fill the tank with new ro/di water, once livestock is introduced, monitor ammonia spikes & keep in check with more frequent small water changes. feeding should be normal as this is a good time to either get the fish to start eating or find out what it likes to eat in a less stressful, less competitive environment (DT) 2-4 weeks should be enough time to quarrantine a fish in order to look for disease & get them used to eating what you are feeding.

[Mr.Tan]

double post

[Mr.Tan]

Alright cool.. Yeah i didn't think i needed to run any carbon, just a sponge filter to help keep waste to a minumum (along with small water changes). I will most likely not introduce any livestock for atleast a couple weeks yet so the tank should have some time to settle. Will the tank go through a cycle at all or is that just something that happens with having LR and all the other jazz that a DT has?

Also, is there a minumum size on a QT tank? I was going to do a 10g but wasent sure if i could get away with something smaller? Im never going to have big fish since my DT is only a 29 gallon.

thanks for the help!

[sporto0]

the water will not begin to cycle until ammonia is introduced, either by livestock or a dead cocktail shrimp for example, i wouldn't worry about the cycle unless you plan on keeping fish in there on a consistent basis, bacteria will form to handle the bio load you put on it, that will fluctuate depending on what's in the tank. i use a 10 gal tank for my QT, usually most fish, even the larger breeds (adults) are typically small or juveniles when you purchase them so tank size is not as important but i would probably avoid anything smaller than a 10g, just my opinion though.

[Reverend Reefer]

if you have a sump, just stick the sponge in there somewhere so it gets seeded in anticipation of any, impulse fish buying! hehe. :)

[Mr.Tan]

the water will not begin to cycle until ammonia is introduced, either by livestock or a dead cocktail shrimp for example, i wouldn't worry about the cycle unless you plan on keeping fish in there on a consistent basis, bacteria will form to handle the bio load you put on it, that will fluctuate depending on what's in the tank. i use a 10 gal tank for my QT, usually most fish, even the larger breeds (adults) are typically small or juveniles when you purchase them so tank size is not as important but i would probably avoid anything smaller than a 10g, just my opinion though.

so i could essentially just place a dead non-cooked shrimp into the tank for a it for it to cycle at all? I mean, if it really isnt necessary i won't do so if it should be fine however i want to take the right precautions so any livestock I do purchase will not die in QT haha... i'll scoop a 10g then, don't want to go to small at petco only wants $14 for one so i can't pass on that

if you have a sump, just stick the sponge in there somewhere so it gets seeded in anticipation of any, impulse fish buying! hehe. :)

i wish i had a sump to do so! unfortunatly i don't right now..I'm going to start collecting the stuff to build one for the future. impulse buying is something i am great at, however im learning to control myself with the fish :lmao:

[lacosta28]

I wouldn't put a shrimp in your QT. I have been using my QT for the last 5 months and I always use new RO/DI water for livestock. I match the SG to what is at the LFS or where the fish are coming from. Once I validate they match I put the fish in the tank without doing any drip acclimation.

I have a 20g QT and would do 5g water changes around every 5 days. After the fish has been in there 3 weeks and everything is looking good. I then change from fresh RO/DI to water from the DT for water changes. After a few of these water changes the water in your QT should match your DT exactly and then you can proceed with the transfer of the fish.

In the 5 months I didn't lose any fish (8 fish total) and all of them are still alive and healthy today. I always made sure to clean up any left over food or waste with a net 10 minutes or so after feeding, and I can kept an amonia wheel in the tank just in case. Probably the other most important thing is to mark your water level so you can top off with fresh RO/DI daily, sometimes twice a day. Test the SG a few times a week too because one time I had a lot of salt creep on the top of the tank. That mixed with the daily top offs dropped my SG to 1.020.

[Mr.Tan]

So i don't need to keep any water constantly flowing in the QT, just before i put a fish in fill it up and match the SG to what is in the bag that i get the fish in? sounds easy enough.... Now will i need a light for the tank?


thanks for all the help! i feel dumb asking all the time haha

[Patrick Cox]

I just added 2 Percula clownfish to my 10G QT yesterday and I pulled out a small sponge and a few bio balls that were in my DT sump and placed them in a small HOB filter. I noticed this morning that the Ammonia reading was slightly higher than my DT reading but it did not reach 0.25. Probably somewhere between 0 and 0.25. So I changed out about 1 gallon of the QT water and added fresh RODI water. I am wondering if I should place a peice of LR in my DT to help with the filtration?

Thanks
pat

[lacosta28]

No you don't need water constantly in the tank. If you happen to see a fish you like ask the LFS to hold it for you. They will usually do this without a deposit or may require a small one. I just tell them I need a day or two to get my QT setup. Get the SG of their tank and setup your QT to match. Test the water in the bag when you get the fish in case anything changed.

You don't need a light in the tank if you are keeping fish in it. I put a small one on my tank and set it to turn on for 4 hours a day. This was just for my viewing pleasure. The fish don't need it.

BTW: no rock or sand in the QT. Bare bottom and some PVC elbows. I even went to wal mart and bought a small fake tree ornament from their fish section. Almost all the fish preferred this to the pvc. Probably because it is a more natural color as opposed the bright white of the pvc.

[WaterKeeper]

Hi all-

Good info here but one doesn't really need to cycle a QT. It is fine if you have one ready but in an emergency put the infected specimen in the QT and use water changes to control conditions in the tank.

[sporto0]

"No you don't need water constantly in the tank"

I don't see why you would have a QT tank & not have it fish ready, mine also doubles as a hospital tank in case a fish needs treatment or solitary confinement (felons).

[WaterKeeper]

Spot0,

You can't belive how many folks on this forum have never thought of having a cycled QT or H-tank. I think I mentioned that is some of those stickies at the top of this forum but nobody ever reads stickies.

[Lynnmw1208]

you can always use water from your DT in your QT tank. this will help seed the bacteria in the sponge in your HOB. Just remember to change the sponge frequently or else you will be harboring parasites in the sponge :thumbsup: I do run carbon in my QT just to get rid of medications after a water change. This way I can dose correctly as I can't get 100% of the water out due to it being in the basement.

[WaterKeeper]

Great tip Lynn. :thumbsup:

[Mr.Tan]

you can always use water from your DT in your QT tank. this will help seed the bacteria in the sponge in your HOB. Just remember to change the sponge frequently or else you will be harboring parasites in the sponge :thumbsup: I do run carbon in my QT just to get rid of medications after a water change. This way I can dose correctly as I can't get 100% of the water out due to it being in the basement.

so your only running the carbon in the tank AFTER you treated/dosed? thanks for the tip, i have been previously running DT water in this small crappy qt i made for the time being when my clown got ich..however it died so I want to get a real "good" qt tank set up for future fish purchases and incase one gets sick.



thanks to everyone else for all the input and help! allows me to know what to do now :crazy1:

[jeff@zina.com]

you can always use water from your DT in your QT tank.
Well, not always. One issue I run into in QT is that I run reef systems at a higher specific gravity than the LFS does, usually 1.025 for me and 1.018 (or even less) for them. I mix the QT to their salinity and use the QT time to raise it to mine. Though I usually do this with gradual replacements from a DT system.

Jeff

[Lynnmw1208]

Well, not always. One issue I run into in QT is that I run reef systems at a higher specific gravity than the LFS does, usually 1.025 for me and 1.018 (or even less) for them. I mix the QT to their salinity and use the QT time to raise it to mine. Though I usually do this with gradual replacements from a DT system.

Jeff

Very good point. I don't use my DT water myself, but the OP I think was concerned about cycling the QT tank since he doesn't have a sump to put his HOB sponge like I did, so I figure that could be an option for him. He could always put some from DT and use RO/DI for the rest. I do keep my QT tank at 1.020 since most of my LFS keep their tanks with fish in them at that SG.

[Mr.Tan]

Very good point. I don't use my DT water myself, but the OP I think was concerned about cycling the QT tank since he doesn't have a sump to put his HOB sponge like I did, so I figure that could be an option for him. He could always put some from DT and use RO/DI for the rest. I do keep my QT tank at 1.020 since most of my LFS keep their tanks with fish in them at that SG.

would running my spare HOB filter on the DT for a couple days with the sponge filter in it be an ok thing to do then? since it would essentially just seed the sponge from all the bacteria, etc from the DT ..and then just using new RO water on the QT and then putting the hob filter onto the QT after it runs and seeds the sponge off the DT (hopefully that makes sense :hmm5: )

[Lynnmw1208]

would running my spare HOB filter on the DT for a couple days with the sponge filter in it be an ok thing to do then? since it would essentially just seed the sponge from all the bacteria, etc from the DT ..and then just using new RO water on the QT and then putting the hob filter onto the QT after it runs and seeds the sponge off the DT (hopefully that makes sense :hmm5: )

That would work too! Basically the same idea as sticking the sponge in a sump :thumbsup:

[jeff@zina.com]

Keep in mind you don't need a QT to be cycled. Regular water changes will export ammonia before it becomes an issue. A QT is rarely overstocked, and you don't even need to filter it with water changes.

Jeff