How do you maintain a QT tank????

[spoonman]

OK, I am going to be a dumb newbie. I have 2 large tanks and a lot of fish. I am realizing (wayyyyy late) that I need to have a QT tank. I assume that I should get a 10 or 20 gallon tank (maybe a Walmart special). My questions are:

1. Do I do a fishless cycle and leave the tank with water and no fish? If so how do I keep the water in the correct parameters?
2. Do I put substrate and filters...etc in the tank like a normal tank?
3. When I QT a fish and he recovers, then I tear the QT tank down and recycle and start all over?
4. Does it need to have a normal light or should it have no light?
5. Sorry for all the questions, but everyone says you should have a QT tank, but I haven't seen alot of details on how to keep one.

Thanks in advance for your help. If the thread needs to be moved or you can just link me to one that is already going that would be great too!

 

[meegosh]

I use a small 1.5g hex aquarium as my QT for now. I run an extra sponge filter in my 10g all the time just so that it is seeded. When I buy new fish, I'll set up the 1.5g, fill with water from whichever tank they are going in (10g or 30g) and then hook the sponge filter up. I then add a heater and some Java Moss for them to hide in. I usually do a bare bottom QT tank as it makes it easier to clean.

 

[meegosh]

Forgot to add, when I'm done with the QT process; the tank and heater go in the closet, and the filter goes back into the 10g.

 

[jsoong]

2nd what Meegosh said. The easiest way to get a QT going is to seed the QT's filter in your main tank. If you have room, you can stuff the filter pad of the QT into the main tank's filter. After a month or two, it is ready for use. I keep 2 or 3 filter sponges in my sump for the same reason.

If you have no room for an extra filter pad, another option is to use the same type of filter for the QT as your main. If you get a filter with 2 or 3 cartridges, you can just pull one of the cartridges form the main & swap it for one in the QT.

It is far easier to maintain the QT's biofilter in the main tank than to seperately cycle/maintain a filter in the QT. When not in use, the QT's fish stuff goes into dry storage. <I tend to get stuff for the QT that is also usable for the main tank ... ie oversized for the QT. So if anything breaks in the maintank, I have spares.>

One more thing, after using the QT, I will put the filter pad back in the display if there is no disease. If there is any disease, I bleach the filter pad & reseed the pad from scratch.

 

[mgamer20o0]

1. Do I do a fishless cycle and leave the tank with water and no fish? If so how do I keep the water in the correct parameters?

you can but thats a lot of work.

2. Do I put substrate and filters...etc in the tank like a normal tank?

no substrate but filters yes

3. When I QT a fish and he recovers, then I tear the QT tank down and recycle and start all over?

you can but its a lot of time and effort.

4. Does it need to have a normal light or should it have no light?

should have light so you can see the fish to examine it. dont need it on at all times.

5. Sorry for all the questions, but everyone says you should have a QT tank, but I haven't seen alot of details on how to keep one.

different people keep it different ways....

i keep my tanks empty dried out.... i have extra filters on my tanks to move over in case you need to set one up. often in qt there are a lot of wcs going on. if the fish dies i make sure to bleach everything. if the fish is fine i dry it out then move the filter back on the other tank.

 

[spoonman]

Awesome! Thanks for the info guys. I am going to scour craigslist for a used 10G. and get one going. I have a large and small hob on my 84 gallon, I will just get another of the small hob for the qt and run an additional media in the one on the 84G to use as seed. I have seen 10G tanks on CL for 10 or 15 bucks. Small price to pay to save a fish! Did I mention this site is awesome?

 

[mgamer20o0]

if you can go for a 20 gallon. it will give you more options in qt if you have the room.

 

[spoonman]

Will look for a 20. Makes more sense anyway since my fish will eventually be 4-6 inches. Price wont be any different anyway. Thanks

 

[mgamer20o0]

well the bigger the tank more room to qt fish like you said if you have a big fish in that small tank it would be a little hard. also the larger the tank the more stable as in temp wise it is.

 

[spoonman]

Well, after looking on Craigslist for about an hour I found a 20G with a light for $30. When I got there he had another 10G that he said he would throw in for another $10. So here is what I got for $40. The 20G has a light and the 10G has a light, cover, gravel and hob filter. So, I think I will use the 20G for the QT and set up the 10G with a few tetras in one of my daughters rooms or something, or maybe my desk at work.

 

[mgamer20o0]

nice score. what kind of hood did it come with?

 

[spoonman]

The 20G says ALL-GLASS 30" and is just the light, not a hood. The 10G is a regent hood/light all in one with a aqua-tech hob filter.

 

[mom2reds]

For a Qt tank what I find is easy for me is to keep a little extra filter media in my cantister filter and when I need a qt I just trans fer the media over and then when I am do I throw out the old media dry out the tank.

Nice find on craigslist

 

[meegosh]

Very nice pick up! I love craigslist.. I search it every so often for some larger tanks. Was about to bite the bullet on a 120g but it had tiny crack at the top that they failed to mention in their ad. Be careful and try to inspect as much as you can before you hand them your money.

 

[kyarilee]

Thanks for the info on QT tanks. Last year when my pond fish (bream) got sick, everyone said set up a QT tank. I did a 30 gallon rubbermaid tub outside with a very very small fountain that had a one inch little sponge. (not seeded) My ammonia levels were off the roof and I think that is what eventually killed my fish besides the fungal infection they got despite the water changes I did. You know the medication says do a water change after 4 days of tx but when your ammonia levels spike I didn't know what to do. Should you change the water a lot /daily to get the ammonia levels down or keep the medicine inthe tub? Couldn't find any info on the net. This helps a lot. Thanks

 

[meegosh]

I always figured that high ammonia levels would kill a fish quicker than some type of infection would. May not be the case in some instances but that is the way I look at it.