quarantine tank

[tripleup05]

Well its gettin near time for me to get some more fish, and since i had the problem with ich i've decided to QT my fish before putting them in my main tank. I dont want to go through this mess again. I've obtained a 15 gallon with a Whisper 30 filter and a heater, which i've heard is sufficient for a QT tank. My question is do they have to cycle like the show tank before adding fish? Basically, I just need to know what I need to do to it to get it ready to hold fish for 2 weeks or so. Thanks!

[Randall_James]

I have a sponge I keep in the back of my tank. The problem is not the "cycle" but how the tank deals with the fish waste (ammonia) The bacteria in the sponge converts it.

When I use the tank I move the sponge (has a tube in it where a power head sits) to the qt tank, fill the tank and it is ready for fish. I monitor that tank a lot closer as the nitrates go up really fast and so I need to do daily water changes.

I also add "cycle" to the tank initially to give the thing a boost.

[tripleup05]

Hey thats a pretty good idea. The only thing though is i've heard that keeping a mechanical filter in a reef tank can actually hurt because the solids trapped in the filter break down over time, so you have to clean it every week. Seems to me that it would destroy the bacteria by cleaning it though. I take it you've never had a problem just leaving it like it is in your tank and not cleaning?

[MichaelD]

I think Randell_james means is he just has a sponge floating in the back of his tank. He's not putting it direct flow and using it for mechanical filtration, he's just give the bacteria a place to culture. For my quarantine tank I use a 10 gallon with a mini pengiun filter and some pvc pipes. When I have no fish in there I keep my Gorilla crab in there.

[Randall_James]

If I know I am not adding anything for a time I do take it out. From what I can tell it only takes about a week for the thing to populate with bacteria. I rinse the thing out with fresh water just to keep it from stinking to bad.

[Randall_James]

Sorry did not see Michaels reply, yes it just floats around in the back during "population" phase

[tripleup05]

oh ok. gotcha

[lossman]

I'd like to hitchike on this thread as we will be setting up a quarantine tank soon. Once you put your fish/plant/coral/whatever in the quarantine tank, I'm assuming you need to do water changes etc. Is there anything special I need to watch out for (other than sick fish and water params)? I had planned to just go to Walmart or someplace like that and purchase an inexpensive all inclusive setup, probably 10 or 20 gal. Will this be adequate?

Thanks

Sally

[Randall_James]

My qt tank is only a 10 gallon
I bought a bare tank $9.00
and the rest I had laying around.

power head
Sponge
Heater
Lid for tank <-- cost more than tank to buy, so make one
Old desk lamp for light (no algae either)

I check water daily and do no less than 10% daily water change.

I feed the fish and give them 5 minutes to eat, I then vacuum the floor of the tank to remove junk. (Turn off powerhead first)
I then add my makeup water.

Dedicated dump bucket <-- I have never used the same buckets for filling and draining my tanks. You qt tank will very likely have meds in it some day and the last thing you need is some leeching out of the water into your drain bucket that you also use for filling your tanks.

[mike89t]

Originally posted by lossman
I'd like to hitchike on this thread as we will be setting up a quarantine tank soon. Once you put your fish/plant/coral/whatever in the quarantine tank, I'm assuming you need to do water changes etc. Is there anything special I need to watch out for (other than sick fish and water params)? I had planned to just go to Walmart or someplace like that and purchase an inexpensive all inclusive setup, probably 10 or 20 gal. Will this be adequate?

Thanks

Sally

Here is a great article on Quarantine Tanks:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.htm

Your QT can be a cheap setup consisting of a 10-20g tank, Light, heater and sponge filter. You need to make sure you cycle your QT tank or use an estabolish Sponge Filter. Also, you need to regularly do water changes because you most likely don't have another means of removing Nitrate and disolved organics.

[Randall_James]

As a point of interest, how is a new tank going to cycle? Unless some biomatter is added there is nothing to create any ammonia that in turn feeds the beneficial bacteria. You really need a seasoned sponge with live bacteria. If this sponge is established then all it needs is fed. It is fed by organic material induced by either live fish or other added matter to tank.

Am I wrong on this train of thought?? Just seems that a bare tank left to cycle is going to set an awful long time.......

[leebca]

You have choices on how to 'kick off' your sponge. . .

1) Add food. The food decays and creates ammonia; or
2) Add ammonia (and ammonium chloride if you can get it).

The ammonia is ammonia water, without additives, scents, etc.

That's how you can feed the bacteria until they are ready to handle fish waste.

:)

[tripleup05]

thanks everybody. and thanks mike89 for that link. its a really good one. I think what I will do is go get a sponge filter and let it set in my display tank up until i'm ready for the fish, and then use the display water to fill up the QT. and I think i'll be set. well ofcourse some PVC or the like.