qt tank

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jester

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 29, 2003
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Chicago
what can i add to my 20g tank its my qt tank besides damsels i hate those killers I leave my qt tank running all the time
 
Personally I think a Niger Trigger (Odonus niger) is a really good choice for a QT tank. Many may say otherwise based perhaps a little on cost but you can get pretty good deals on them on-line and they are realy hardy. Not only that but they are very good eaters and will keep the cycle going in the QT tank. Plus they don't need much in terms of maint.

Another suggestion is a panther grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) - also very, very hardy.

Both of these can be bought small for your 20 gallon QT - the panther is a fast grower though. The plus side of that is that LFS are likely to take them as a trade when they get larger cuz they like to use them to cycle tanks as well. My LFS has had the same panther in/out of his store about 10 times.

Both are common cycling fish.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=257

hth

Tom
 
Add some hermits and feed them a few times per week, this will produce enough ammonia to keep the cycle going. A dedicated q-tank that has fish in it all the time, is not a q-tank. One of the benefits of a q-tank is to allow a fish to acclimate to captivity all by itself, or at the very least on a level playing field with another fish, having a fish in there all the time, your looking at aggression issues from the established fish and increased stress from the new fish.

If I were to choose something it would be a very peaceful non-predator, possibly a scooter blenny or a firefish. The two fish mentioned above are, not only unsuitable for a 20g tank, they are also unsuitable for the job you want them to do.
 
Yep - aggression is an issue - but a good balance of easy maintenance and other factors against some drawbacks is what you have to consider. You can easily mitigate some of the aggression issues.

I've run a QT tank (20 Gallons) also, back when I was stocking my 125. It ran for about a year with a Niger Trigger. He was quite happy there for the duration and very easy to care for (he was about 2 inches and did little or no growing in that year). Despite some opinions, these fish are pretty peacful. See the post above and read the comments on this fish (nearly every one indicates how peaceful it is and how well it gets along with other fish) especially if you have some place for it to hide.

Also - what I would do at times of adding a fish to the qaurtine - I would simply put in a plastic opaque divider (you can buy these pre-made or be creative), leaving the trigger on the side where his PVC hiding place was.

Got this approach from a friend who used a Panther Group for the same purpose but I must admit that fish was bought small, grew pretty fast and the friend had a 29 Gallon QT tank. He eventually traded him back to the LFS.


If you chose Kevin's advice, careful with the blennies as some are aggressive and some are venomous as well (check current literature) especially in a tank with simple landscaping. Most are moderate to difficult to keep. Don't know about the hermits or others but perhaps medication is an issue with them. I.e., What if you are required to medicate the tank?


Tom
 
Yeah the medication part is what I was wondering also. Bu tI guess you could just remove the inverts and throw 'em in your regular tank.
 
Yep,

Suppose you could do that with the trigger as well.

The other thing I'd be concerned with regarding the hermits - not sure about this - but wondering - don't they need a substrate?

Something you would want to avoid in a QT tank, as Kevin has mentioned in other QT chats.

On this I'm not sure though.

Tom
 
I'm sure they would prefer one, but there is no need. FWIW, you can simply leave food in the tank to maintain the cycle, as it breaks down it will feed your bacterial colony.
 
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