new quarantine tank

[prettyvacant]

i have some questions on how to set up this tank...

- how often will i have to clean this tank? im sure i would after medicating, but what about when i just put my new fish in there for like 2 weeks when i first buy them?
- i think i read somewhere that you should fill the QT with water from an established tank...is this true?
- and when i clean this tank, will i take out all of the water or 50% or 20%....
- at what temperature should i keep it at? 80?

thanx

 

[TankGirl]

This is my procedure for using a Q-tank - others do things differently.

I keep an empty 10-gal tank with a heater and a light hood (optional) in a closet or wherever. I also keep 2 sponge filters running on my larger tanks, hidden behind decorations or plants, so they are continually seeded with bacteria. They do need to be squeezed out periodically to keep them functional.

When I am ready to set up for quarrantine I fill the 10gal with water plus dechlor and turn on the heater. Keep the Q-tank at the temperature you will be keeping the fish in later when they go into whatever tank you have in mind for them.

Once it is up to temp and obviously not leaking or otherwise having problems I am ready for fish and filters. I put the sponge filter(s) in at the same time as the new fish go in. Usually I will also put in some java fern or java moss, or a plastic plant or something to provide cover. The sponge filters will contain loads of bacteria but you still have to watch for a cycle. I also generally will treat the tank for a week with Melafix and Pimafix to guard against any kind of infection that might be ready to take hold after the stress of shipping. During that week I will do small water changes daily before I dose. After the week I quit with the Melafix and just leave the tank alone, as by then there is no problems with ammonia or nitrite. I try my best to leave them in there for 4 weeks but usually I can only hold out for 3.

Once quarrantine is over I empty the tank and either replace the sponges on the sponge filters or rinse them well and zap them in the microwave (thanks, BrianNY ). I then put the sponge filters back onto the big tank(s) for re-seeding. I rinse the Q-tank out with very weak bleach solution, wipe down the heater with same, and store the tank for next time.

HTH

 

[Kasakato]

How long do you put them in the mivrowave? What is the "weak bleach solution"?

 

[TankGirl]

I put them in the microwave for 15 or 20 seconds or so.

Weak bleach solution for me would be about 1 tablespoon in a gallon of water.

 

[prettyvacant]

ahh you have to do all that? lol i read on some sites that all you have to do is add water and add dechlorinator and a fake plant, and there you go.

 

[TankGirl]

You certainly can do that (assuming you have a heater and a filter), and do daily water changes to protect the fish from the inevitable cycle. With sponge filters already running and seeded, you don't have to worry so much about the cycle. To me, new fish are stressed and the pre-seeded sponge filters save me the trouble of daily large water changes for weeks.

 

[prettyvacant]

i see. well since i bought a 10 gal kit, it came with a hang on back filter.... so will i need to buy a sponge filter now?

 

[TankGirl]

No, you could actually run the HOB on another tank, maybe the 29 if your sig is up to date. If not, just do daily water changes until the fish are out of quarrantine.

Or, what some people do is leave their quarrantine tank up and running all the time with a bunch of snails or something in there to keep it cycled. You might prefer that if your HOB won't fit on another tank, to avoid having to cycle the q-tank with new fish.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I leave my QT tank up and running all the time with ghost shrimp and a snail or two just because I dont want to bother with set up and tare down all the time.

But I know some people dont have the room for this.

Either way is good.