BrendanH
Aquarium Advice Activist
Hi All,
I want to set up a QT and keep it running continuously. I have read the article on setting one up and I plan to follow those intructions. However, since it will be running continuously and will be in a prominent place in my home I want it to look good and remain stable. The suggestions in the article say that a substrate is not necessary. Purely for aesthetic reasons I would like to include a substrate and I was wondering if that would be a problem ? My main tank has live sand as a substrate - should I take the same approach for the QT ? Can I just use gravel instead ? As far as I can tell, the purpose of running the sponge filter in the main tank for a week is to populate it with bacteria to maintain the nitrogen cycle - is that correct ? What will happen if there are no fish in the tank for a prolonged period ? Should I keep one fish in the tank on a permanent basis to keep the cycle going ? If so, will that be dangerous for that fish since periodically I may need to put in a sick fish and treat it. Is there any particular species that can deal with that situation without risking its health ?
Thanks in advance for your advice and putting up with what may well be very dumb questions
BrendanH
I want to set up a QT and keep it running continuously. I have read the article on setting one up and I plan to follow those intructions. However, since it will be running continuously and will be in a prominent place in my home I want it to look good and remain stable. The suggestions in the article say that a substrate is not necessary. Purely for aesthetic reasons I would like to include a substrate and I was wondering if that would be a problem ? My main tank has live sand as a substrate - should I take the same approach for the QT ? Can I just use gravel instead ? As far as I can tell, the purpose of running the sponge filter in the main tank for a week is to populate it with bacteria to maintain the nitrogen cycle - is that correct ? What will happen if there are no fish in the tank for a prolonged period ? Should I keep one fish in the tank on a permanent basis to keep the cycle going ? If so, will that be dangerous for that fish since periodically I may need to put in a sick fish and treat it. Is there any particular species that can deal with that situation without risking its health ?
Thanks in advance for your advice and putting up with what may well be very dumb questions
BrendanH