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View Full Version : How long for QT media to be ready?

Liquid Hobby
11/20/2006, 10:03 PM
I've got a small HOB filter for my 10G QT and I put the media in my sump. How long until it's ready for use?
Liquid Hobby
11/20/2006, 10:06 PM
1 day?
1 week?
kevin25
11/20/2006, 10:10 PM
What kind of media are we talking about? Not suer what exactly your asking
cilyjr
11/20/2006, 10:18 PM
do you need your qt up in a real hurry? maybe a couple pieces of lr in it but you could kill off any hitchikers if you are going to dose the tank with copper. as far as the media in your main sump, figure this some of the free floating bacteria needs to land in the "media," colonize, and get growing there! its going to take a little while. could take a week could take a year (not really) but it isnt an exact ammount of time. just needs some quality exposure to the beneficial bacteria.
moze229
11/21/2006, 12:28 AM
In this situation, it should be ready immediately. You are not going for a long-term system here, only a QT. You will be doing enough water changes to take care of any build-up of parameters, and the tank will never "cycle". At least this has been my experience.

I've always used a small tank, power filter with cotton floss, whatever meds you need, and water changes like a mofo. Once the treatment is complete, you can add carbon with the water changes before moving the specimen back to the main tank.

Matt
a4twenty
11/21/2006, 06:28 AM
keep the LR out of your QT. i keep a sponge filter in my sump so i can have a QT up and running in minutes. just placing the media in the sump it will take quite a while to build up bacteria. can you run the HOB filter on your tank or sump? this would speed up the time considerably.

if you need it up fast, run the filter on the tank as long as you can and do lots of water changes ( on the QT ) till your filter can catch up.
Steven Pro
11/21/2006, 06:35 AM
It is best to let the filter run for one month to ensure that it is fully cycled and ready to accomodate your quarantined animals. But, if you need the quarantine setup sooner than that, I would see if you can find some of Marineland's Bio-Spira. It is the only quick cycling, bacteria product that I have found to be helpful.
Blown 346
11/21/2006, 06:56 AM
What i did with my QT setup was this.

I did a waterchange on my main tank and used that water to fill the QT. Even though most of your bacteria live in and on the LR and the sand, I still had enough in the water column to not cycle.
I still used a sponge to help build bacteria up.
Liquid Hobby
11/21/2006, 11:33 AM
Great responses, thanks everyone!

I'll throw the HOB onto the sump and fire it up (if I can get it to fit...).

There's no huge rush as this is a QT for new fish inbound to the display. I'd like to get it rolling ASAP as it'll be another 2-4 weeks for fish to go through the QT to make it into the display...