First fish in QT

[kmdrysdale]

Just got our first fish tonight! It's really exciting to be on the path to having something actually swim in our DT! Lol We got a yellow tail blue damsel. Yeah...I know...they can become a bit of a nuisance later but both my wife and I really like the fish. :) QT is a 20 gallon tank, but only have about 12 gallons of water in it. Less water to change for the next little bit. Using an AC50 for filtration with a sponge from the DT so hopefully have enough bacteria for it to act as a biological filter or we will be tired of water changes pretty quickly. The damsel is looking lazy right now. Kinda hanging out at the bottom of the tank. Hopefully he will still be swimming in the morning as we may have rushed the acclimation a little bit from seeing this reaction. I've read that some fish do that when not acclimated good enough. I will learn from this and acclimate much slower in the future. :) Super excited though...

[kurt_n]

I was happy to see the title of this thread! Nice to see folks taking the time to quarantine things. Absolutely the best way to keep a healthy display tank!

[briankmarsh1980]

Just watch ammonia
having an air stone will help and a bottle of prime just incase.

[kmdrysdale]

I have an air stone in already, and have prime. I have kinda assumed that if ammonia is getting out of control I can do a really big water change and use a bit of prime to help drop it some more? Is ammonia the main thing to test for?

[alexander_ktn]

Ammonia is definitely the most toxic. Nitrites and nitrates are not much of a problem for marine fish in the amounts you can expect to get in such a QT.

I would also measure pH or alkalinity (they are directly correlated, so if alkalinity is fine, pH should also be fine) and temperature. Those values are among the most important imho.

[EllieSuz]

Here's something you might like to try. When I quarantine, I take discard a gallon of water from the QT everyday and replace it with a gallon of water from the display tank. Of course, then the display gets a gallon of new saltwater. By the time your quarantine is over, the water in each tank will be identical and you won't have to acclimate your fish when you move it.

[spieszak]

Mark a line on your tank at the water level. Not having a tank "full" (since it gives an obvious target) can make figuring out how much to top off hard, and your salinity may fall victim to that.

[kmdrysdale]

I put a line on this morning once I "topped up" to get salinity solid at 1.025. Thanks for the reminder. :)

[kmdrysdale]

Thanks for the idea EllieSuz! That should work perfectly. I will start doing that a couple weeks before the end of my quarantine time.

[kurt_n]

...I have kinda assumed that if ammonia is getting out of control I can do a really big water change and use a bit of prime to help drop it some more? Is ammonia the main thing to test for?

One thing to be aware of is that while Prime will bind the ammonia into a non-toxic form, you will still see ammonia registering on your test kit. Many folks see ammonia in their test results, add Prime, and then can't figure out why their ammonia levels didn't drop to zero.

For that reason, I really like to try and control excess ammonia in a QT by doing water changes. Using display tank water as EllieSuz mentioned is a perfect way of doing it. Both tanks benefit!

[saltwater2999]

I was happy to see the title of this thread! Nice to see folks taking the time to quarantine things. Absolutely the best way to keep a healthy display tank!

I completely agree with you on this. It is absolutely the safest and best way to have the best display tank. I learned the hard way when I started the hobby. big mistake.

[hogfanreefer]

I put my first two fish in QT on Sunday (a 1.5" Royal Gramma and a 2" firefish). They ate well within 3 hours of being introduced...I was pumped. Did my first water change since they went in today. I was worried it would stress them but they were taking turns playing in the current as I poured the new water in!

Hope the next 6 weeks or so goes as smoothly as so far. Good luck Mr. Drysdale!

[kmdrysdale]

How often do people feed their fish in quarantine? I know a lot of people feed every other day, but so you feed more often while in quarantine?

[EllieSuz]

I use quarantine to try different foods and "train" a new fish to eat whatever I feed the display tank. I had a Copperband that I fed six or eight times a day as well as a Mandarin that I fed hourly when I could. This is the only chance that fish will ever have to eat without the competition of his tank mates.

[kmdrysdale]

Thanks. He's a really active fish so it felt odd not to give him food. :) Having fun feeding him again now. Eating better this time too.

[EllieSuz]

Just remember to keep an eye on ammonia, since overfeeding can contribute to that also.

[kmdrysdale]

Yep...thanks. So far he eats almost everything we put in right away. We've seen a tiny (0.25) increase in ammonia today and will be doing a partial water change today. Is there an acceptable amount of ammonia allowed in a QT?