Cycle QT/hospital tank?

[want2findnemo]

I'm reading this thread and don't mean to hijack it but i dont wanna start a new thread when its the exact same question Erok is asking...

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

Putting the filter in your main tank overnight just wasn't long enough to get an effective biological filter.

So when you set up a QT you have to cycle it as if it is a small DT?

Sometimes my fish have to stay in QT longer than I expected. I took a clear plastic water bottle, drilled holes in the upper top for overflow close to the lid, put a 75 gph power head at the bottom with some hard stones to keep it down and a sponge where the water flows in and filled it with a hand full of small bio balls.

Instant wet dry and filter for a 10 gallon tank. It's fully cycled so I can do just monthly water changes if I need to. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, and I change the water when nitrates get to about 15 ppm. But that takes about 2 months to reach that level.

When I'm done, I can empty the tank and take out my water bottle and just keep it filled so the bacteria stays wet. When I need it again, fill a tank, drop the water bottle in, plug it in and instant cycled tank ready to go provided the bacteria did not die off in the bottle.

I couldn't keep up with the daily water changes so this is second best for me.

So if someone is doing a QT and they can have it running 24/7, they should cycle it right?

Cuz im gonna buy a HOT powerfilter to a 10g like Erok7620, (i dont have my DT up yet but wanna set up a QT before i put anything in my DT)

If someone has to cycle, i know LR has the bacteria in it already but where does the bacteria on a powerfilter come from and how do i start the cycle? with a cocktail shrimp?


Thanks in advanced...

[melosu58]

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

[want2findnemo]

Thanks melosu, will do more reading on "inorganic aquarium cycling"

Planning to get this:

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/StoreCata...yType=0&offset=

it has a biowheel.

Just gotta figure out how to start the cycle.


Thanks agian

[Kurt_Nelson]

Originally Posted by want2findnemo

Just gotta figure out how to start the cycle.

Same way you cycle a display tank... preferably with a raw shrimp, but with a 10g, a good pinch of fish food should do also.

The other option is to put the biowheel setup on a cycled tank for a week or so. At that point, you should have a fair amount of bacteria on the biowheel. You might see a mini cycle when you switch it over to a QT and add a fish, but it will only be a day or so while the bacteria play catch up.

[want2findnemo]

So when I buy the power filter with the biowheel, it already has the bacteria that breaks ammonia down in it?

Cuz i dont have my DT cycled yet, im gonna do the fish food thing. Im just confused at where the bacteria comes from?

With a LR setup the LR has the bacteria...

[roka64]

When you buy the wheel it will not contain the beneficial bacteria. It will need to be cycled.
The bacteria comes from the decomposing organic material. You'll have an ammonia spike, then a nitrItes spike, with the ammonia declining and then a nitrAte spike, whith a decline in your nitrAtes. Once you have 0 ammonia/nitrIte readings and nitrAtes present, your tank is cycled.

[cmor1701d]

The biowheel is a wet/dry type filter. It will be home to nitrifying bacteria once there is a source of ammonia introduced into the tank. Initially , as Scott stated, you need to cycle the QT just as you would a DT. You can use a good pinch of fish food or a raw cocktail shrimp. I keep the biowheel from my QT filter in the sump of my DT so when I need my QT tank I have a ready source of bacteria and an almost instant cycle. I still do daily pwc's on the QT for the first few days to a week to insure that the biofilter has time to grow a large enough population to sustain the livestock in QT.

[want2findnemo]

Thanks so much guys. I should get it started right away then... since I have to wait a few weeks for the thing to cycle.

I still do daily pwc's on the QT for the first few days to a week to insure that the biofilter has time to grow a large enough population to sustain the livestock in QT.

How would I know if there is enough population of bacteria because my first fish I plan to put in my tank are a bunch of green chromis (like 6)

My QT is only 10g. Would I have to do different QT sessions? Or can I put them all in at once?

[Kurt_Nelson]

Originally Posted by want2findnemo

How would I know if there is enough population of bacteria because my first fish I plan to put in my tank are a bunch of green chromis (like 6)

My QT is only 10g. Would I have to do different QT sessions? Or can I put them all in at once?

When I was stocking my main tank, I quarantined 3 chromis in a CYCLED 10g tank, with a Penguin 100 biowheel, that had been up and running 4-5 months. I still got an ammonia spike (between 0.25-0.5ppm), but no detectable nitrites. I ended up doing daily 20-30% water changes. Even after putting a cup of sand from my main tank into a media bag, I still didn't get over the hump (no detectable ammonia) for two weeks.

By my experience, I would guess that 6 chromis in a 10g would be too much (assuming you quarantine a full 4 weeks) and you'd have to do daily water changes all during the quarantine period to keep your water parameters at least tolerable. I'd probably break them up into 2 batches of 3 fish each.

[want2findnemo]

Ok,

So i will cycle the QT until i get 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and some nitrates. I will do this by adding some flaked food or a uncooked cocktail shrimp.

After the cycle I will do 20-30% water changes daily for a week to ensure that the bacteria grow in the power filter.

then i will add 3 chromis and do tests daily and based on that, pwc 20-30%.

After 4 weeks i will do the whole thing agian to my other 3 chromis.

Right?