Quarantine Tank Question

[rowlf914]

Hello all...

I am not new to the tropical fish hobby, but only in the past year have I gotten serious about the hobby. I currently have a 29 gallon freshwater setup, and as a serious hobbyist have decided to set up a quarantine tank. My quarantine tank is a 10 gallon with an appropriate filter system, heater, and LED lighting, and is currently in the process of cycling. My question is....in order to keep the tank cycled should I keep fish in it at all times or leave it empty? I have several snails in the tank at the moment, and will be adding a male betta tomorrow. My 29 gallon tank is completely cycled, so unless someone gets sick I don't anticipate needing to use the quarantine, but I'd like to have it properly cycled so that if I do need to use it I won't cause more problems for a sick fish. Any thoughts or advice?

 

[Caliban07]

Hello all...

I am not new to the tropical fish hobby, but only in the past year have I gotten serious about the hobby. I currently have a 29 gallon freshwater setup, and as a serious hobbyist have decided to set up a quarantine tank. My quarantine tank is a 10 gallon with an appropriate filter system, heater, and LED lighting, and is currently in the process of cycling. My question is....in order to keep the tank cycled should I keep fish in it at all times or leave it empty? I have several snails in the tank at the moment, and will be adding a male betta tomorrow. My 29 gallon tank is completely cycled, so unless someone gets sick I don't anticipate needing to use the quarantine, but I'd like to have it properly cycled so that if I do need to use it I won't cause more problems for a sick fish. Any thoughts or advice?

Just run an extra sponge in your 29 gallon filter then if you buy new fish or a fish gets sick just siphon some display water in to the quarantine, chuck the sponge in and plug the heater in.

For most hobbyists, there's no point in leaving a QT running. Waste of electricity.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[jessipanda]

Just run an extra sponge in your 29 gallon filter then if you buy new fish or a fish gets sick just siphon some display water in to the quarantine, chuck the sponge in and plug the heater in.

For most hobbyists, there's no point in leaving a QT running. Waste of electricity.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

+1 this is what I do, and my lfs recommends.

 

[Mebbid]

Agreed.

However, if you want to keep a tank continuously running and cycled, you could just add up to a few ppm of pure ammonia to it a couple times a week and do a 100% water change one a month or so.