Do I need to qt snails and a some questions about a qt tank...

[Joey P]

The first question is easy. I was thinking about tossing some snails in my tank and then it dawned on me that I should probably qt them. Looking around on the internet, opinions on qt'ing them are all over the board. Some say there aren't any snail diseases that fish can get, some say they can carry ich cysts (some say you can rinse them off in tank water).

Second, can someone talk to me about setting up a qt tank.

I have an old 10 or 15 gallon tank that needs to be cleaned. It housed crickets back when I had lizards but it's been in my garage for about 5 years and has seen better days. If I'm reading everything correctly, I can just get the cheapest filter (no carbon) and a decent, but cheap, heater of about 50 watts and maybe a small hiding space. I'm also thinking about skipping the light and the lid, at least for now.
Sound good so far?
Next, I plan to stick the media that comes with the filter in my main tank (in the filter), but how long do I need to do that for? An hour? A day? A week?
I'm sure I'll have more questions, but I'll start with these.

 

[Joey P]

bump...

 

[Coyne]

I had my QT filter media sitting in my main tank's filter for about 3 weeks. However, I dont know if this is sufficient time or not since its my first QT.

On the advice of some AA members, I skipped the light, but did place a glass top over the tank.
Also, since my QT will be getting a lot of use in the next 2-3 months, I decided to place a few albino corys in there to keep the BB fed inbetween new arrivals. This said, I have added some small gravel to the bottom.
This way I wont have to keep tearing it down and setting it back up.

Not exactly an expert's feedback to your questions, but Im hoping it will be better than nothing.

It would be nice if somebody with lots of knowledge on the QT subject could make a "How To" post and maybe have it sticky'd in the "Unhealthy Fish" section or maybe even under "Getting Started".

 

[Joey P]

There is an article on this cite about setting a QT tank, but IMO it could use some updating. For example, it doesn't mention if the QT tank needs to be cycled. It briefly touches upon it by mentioning that you can take media from an established tank and tossing it in the QT tank, but that flies in the face of cycling a new 'main' tank (in which you do the same thing, but have to cycle it with ammonia and media from an established tank).

It would also be nice to know what I'm supposed to be looking for. I know how to spot ich, but that's about it.

 

[pyithar]

ya i'd like to know that too. like how long should i cycle my new quarantine tank using the (extra) filter media from my sump. i'm buying some corals home. so if the QT cycle takes just a few minutes, i'll put my new corals in QT. corals that i'm buying are sitting on LR by the way. it means some die-off along the way, and it will result in some cycles. if the cycle's gonna take a long time, i'll just dip my new corals, rinse them and put them in my DT.

 

[reefdiver]

If you use a filter from an established tank you will have a mini cycle. You are using an filter that has BB on it so when you put it in a new tank you are basically just feeding the bacteria as to where when you cycle a new tank you have toi create that BB on the new filter.

 

[pyithar]

so it's gonna take a lot more than a few minutes i guess. i've read somewhere that some people use qt tank only when needed. they just take it out of the storage, put water from the DT, put the extra(new) filter media they had in the sump into the qt tank filter, and that's it. takes only a few minutes. but again some people say their new corals/fish die in their qt tanks as a result of the cycle. so i'm confused. what do u usually do when u've got new corals? quarantine them or put them in DT of course after dipp

 

[reefdiver]

For saltwater in general lis best too keep. Quarantine tan going. For fresh water you can use the extra filter you have in you tank. I would personally let a QT run at least 24 hrs before I put anything in there.

 

[pyithar]

ok thanks. that's really helpful. appreciate it. i'm gonna keep my QT running when i get home for future corals. but this batch of corals are going directly into my DT.