What to do when adding new fish

[peppermint]

Hey everyone
Dunno if there's already a thread on this.
I was wondering how you quarantine a newly bought fish?
I have a 5 gallon aquarium ready to be cycled and I was thinking about doing a 2 in 1...putting the new fish in it for quarantine and getting the cycle started at the same time. I'll put old cycled water from my 20 gallon and some ornaments in it to help the cycle.

How long do I quarantine the fish? Can I keep the water once the quarantine is over? I was planning to transfer baby guppies in it once the new fish is out.
Thanks.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Ok do that and then leave the fish in there untill you think they are ready to go in the big tank. Yes you might want to change the watrer then you can put guppie fry in there

 

[mgamer20o0]

for my qt what i do is keep a filter on the bigger tank. when you need to qt a new fish move the filter over. this will help to cycle the tank right away. i also do daily water changes for the first week. 2-4 weeks is normal for qt the longer the better. there isnt much reason to move the old water over. in a qt its best to keep it bb so its easy to clean.

 

[peppermint]

Ok, 2-4 weeks in the qt got it.
If I change the water after quarantine is over, do I have to cycle it again with new water before transferring the baby guppies in the qt/5 gallon tank or will just keeping the filter in be ok?

 

[HN1]

Forget about transferring or saving water. Water holds pollutants. It doesn't hold any substantial amount of good bacteria. Transfer filter media, substrate, and decor items for that.

 

[peppermint]

Hehehe wish i had known that part about not transferring water. I think I might have killed some prior fry within a 24 h period with bad water :/

How long should I leave the decorations and filter in before putting fish in it?

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Are you wanting to keep the qt tank up and running? My suggestion and what I do is like mgamer said, just keep a small hob filter funning on your main tank and when you need to QT a fish do as mfdrookie does and pull it out a couple days before you get the new fish fill it with water and put that smaller hob filter on the tank. If you do this then substrate etc is not necessary.

 

[cabezon]

any filter running without fish in the tank needs an ammonia source.

the only reason to use old tank water is to have the parameters a little closer. Probably not neccesary in a FW tank.

 

[peppermint]

I put a second filter in my 20 gallon today. The plan is to transfer it to the 5 gallon one. I don't think I'll be using it as QT anymore, I'll just put the fry in it.

So here is the order of things I should do:
Leave new filter in 20 gallon to get some good & happy bacteria in the media.
Add new & clean water in 5 gallon aquarium.
Transfer the filter to the 5 gallon and leave for how many days?
Transfer fry in 5 gallon