5 Gallon Tank

[Starka]

Hey all,

I've had my 5 gal for about two years, about two months ago I took out my guppies and put them in a ten gal. I had dried out the 5 and used it as a joke on my grandpa for christmas.
I have it back and I am wanting to use it as a QT. I bought some larger filters for my 15 and 10, the 10 filter is now in my 5, the filter is made for a 20gal.
I have also put some live plants, heater, and deco from my other tanks in there as well. Is there anything else I could do to help the tank along?
I am guessing that it has to do a recycle, I wish I didn't dry it out. I hope it doesn't take another month for this to cycle.:'(
Thanks!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

So you are wanting it to stay cycled for when you need it? You can dose it with ammonia every day or two to keep it cycled or you can run the filter on your larger tank to keep it cycled. Since it has dried out it will need cycling again.

 

[Starka]

So you are wanting it to stay cycled for when you need it? You can dose it with ammonia every day or two to keep it cycled or you can run the filter on your larger tank to keep it cycled. Since it has dried out it will need cycling again.

Will putting in ammonia in the tank ruin the plants?
Well, I was hoping to put my confused gender male betta in there once my other tanks are stocked. How much ammonia do I put in there?

 

[Scouser]

Will putting in ammonia in the tank ruin the plants?
Well, I was hoping to put my confused gender male betta in there once my other tanks are stocked. How much ammonia do I put in there?

You can find calculators via google that give you a mm volume of ammo to add when you input tank size.

Plants shouldn't be harmed as far as I know

 

[Mumma.of.two]

If your wanting to keep a fish in there, I'd just get some seeded media from another one of your tanks, put it in the filter and add him straight in. You will need to watch the parameters for a couple of weeks to make sure their are no spikes and do water changes as needed.
If your going to keep a fish and plants in there it kind of defeats the purpose of a QT IMO. What are you going to do when you need the tank for a sick fish? What about if you need to use strong medication that could kill your BB and/or plants?

 

[Starka]

If your wanting to keep a fish in there, I'd just get some seeded media from another one of your tanks, put it in the filter and add him straight in. You will need to watch the parameters for a couple of weeks to make sure their are no spikes and do water changes as needed.
If your going to keep a fish and plants in there it kind of defeats the purpose of a QT IMO. What are you going to do when you need the tank for a sick fish? What about if you need to use strong medication that could kill your BB and/or plants?

I put the plants and gravel in to help with the cycling. Once that is done they are going back to their respected tanks. As for the fish I don't plan on putting it in until well after my stocking of my other tanks, if ever, I'm still up in the air with that.