Finally Setup the QT tank...

[Fishalicious]

Its about time, too! I've been putting it off for over a month and finally tonight after work I pushed myself to do it. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's alot of fun setting everything up and all, but I'm usually really tired when I get home after a long shift.

So yeah its a 10 gallon All Glass kit. (Sold under the name Aqua Culture..It was a Wal-Mart buy) I was actually pretty impressed with the quality of the filter (Regent aka Marineland) and the quality of the heater (all glass).

Rinsed the tank, rinsed the gravel, filled the tank, let it run for a while then about 10 minutes ago I seeded it with my main tanks gravel. I didn't have a mesh bag handy but I'm sure a ziplock bag with alot of little holes in it will do the trick. I also put in a piece of lava rock from the main tank considering it has millions of tiny holes and there must be a huge colony of bacteria in there!

After seeding it, I put in 10 drops of pure clear ammonia bought from my LGS (Local Grocery Store) and tested it with my AP test kit. Tested at about 1ppm... I added 20 more drops (to achieve 5ppm).

I've read that the quicker way (instead of adding a few drops a day) is to first add enough ammonia to achieve 5ppm, then add that same amount every day until the nitrite spikes and then cut down on the ammonia gradually. Seems pretty logical to me. Anyone else ever do it this way? I'm hoping for a 2 week MAX cycle.

Let me know what ya'll think!!

Dan

 

[Guest]

Hey, are you sure you need to cycle a hospital tank? I do large water changes when treating my fish & then sterelize the tank when the fish is out. So cycling for me isn't needed.

 

[Mofo2713]

It appears he bought a new tank from wal-mart so you need to cycle it for the very first time...

 

[TankGirl]

I don't cycle a Q-tank at all. When I need it, I fill it with water (no gravel - just another thing to clean later) and take a sponge filter I have running in another tank and put that in the Q-tank. Turn on the heater and quarrantine the fish.

I'm with fsh and I do large water changes daily when I am treating with meds. For simple quarrantine the sponge filter carries over a tremendous amount of bacteria on it so I'm good to go.

Congrats on quarrantining your fish! Took me ony one crash and burn of a tank from new fish to learn my lesson.

 

[grimlock3000]

I am with TG on this one. There is no need to cycle a QT tank. If you plan to keep the tank cycled indefinitely, that is just going to be a hassle for you. It will require as much upkeep as a regular tank with fish in it.

Just leave the tank in a clean spot (like inside a new trash bag). When you need it, set it up, fill it with treated water, set the heater, and add a biofiltering source from an established tank. The most easy way to collect biobugs is to run an extra filter on an established tank. Then, when you want to QT fish, just move the filter. Run the tank barebottom with a few plants and stuff for fish to hide. The filter from your established tank should be plenty for the new fish in QT.

 

[Fishalicious]

Well it's not mainly going to be a hospital tank. It will mostly be for new acquisitions. It IS good to QT all new fish for at least 2-3 weeks, right? To prevent introducing possible diseases from the LFS? Well wouldnt a cycle start with some fish in there if the tank weren't already cycled? ..I don't want to be doing water changes every day for 3 weeks! Then again when I get new fish...

I know the basics for a QT tank but it was simply my choice to add gravel and to have an actual filter on there. It would be in my room and a tank with no gravel is just plain old boring looking to me. Cleaning the gravel really isnt a big deal to me either considering I can clean it at the same time as my main tank and the tanks are right next to each other. As for keeping it cycled, it costs 99 cents for a half gallon of pure clear ammonia, and I'd only need a few drops a day to keep it cycled and a simple water change the day before introduction of the fish(es). You do the math.

I wouldnt be able to run the QT tanks filter on my main tank because I'm already running an AC500 and an Emperor 400 on there and there simply wouldnt be any room and I certainly wouldnt want some unsightly pad with carbon maturing in my tank. I dont own an air pump and dont feeling like buying one just to run a sponge filter.

I guess everyone just has their own methods. Even if I am supposedly making it harder on myself, it's not a big deal to me to simply clean my QT tank once a week.

Dan

 

[TankGirl]

Okay - that sounds perfectly reasonable, to cycle this tank as a quarrantine and run it like a "show" tank for the time the fish are in there. Some people get some big honkin' snails to go in there to keep the biocolony going, or a betta (that they can transfer to a 3-gal Eclipse or something while the new fish are in the q-tank) so what you propose is fine.

You can toss some food in there every day or add ammonia to keep the biofilter going if you have no inhabitants.

 

[Fishalicious]

Quick question though....

When medicating, I know carbon makes the medication useless and the filter pads for this specific type of filter come pre packed with carbon...

What should I do in this case? I was thinking maybe cut the plastic and take all of the carbon out. Sounds logical to me...

Then pop in a new one when done medicating..

lemme know!!

-Dan

 

[TankGirl]

That's what I do when I am using a filter that takes cartridges (another reason I use a sponge filter with a Q-tank). I just cut an opening in there and shake out the carbon, it takes a bit of work to do, but the filter floss lasts quite a while.

Tip: It is WAY easier to remove the carbon from a new, dry filter cartridge than from a used, wet one.

 

[krap101]

Tip: It is WAY easier to remove the carbon from a new, dry filter cartridge than from a used, wet one.

Amen! lol.

i got an idea about 3 months ago but didnt think much about it. what about putting like ammo chips or like ammo lock in the quarentine tank? besides the vost of it

 

[TankGirl]

That is probably one of the most useful applications for ammo chips or Ammolock, Danny, since cycling is not the primary concern. Great suggestion!