QT Tank Cycle Crash??

[dlwn88]

Hey everyone,

Right after moving my two fish from my 20g to the newly cycled 40g (about two weeks ago now) I began to turn a 10g into a QT tank. I took the filter that was used for the 20g and moved it right to the 10g QT tank. I recently addws a small Cardinalfish in, so trying to do things right, I acclimated it to the QT tank first. Everything was great and the levels were good for the first several days. I began to check the levels not as often because I figured the beneficial bacteria in the filter media would handle the load of one fish.

Well I guess not. I feel like an idiot because I know better, I should have checked the levels more often, I mainly have been focused on making sure my 40g continued to stay in good shape. Today the fish is dead in the QT. Checked the levels....Ammonia is 0, Nitrite at 5ppm possibly higher, and Nitrate at 30ppm! I thought this was suppose to be an effective method of cycling a QT tank. Ugh.

Any suggestions? Right now it's still running...should I just let it cycle? How do you guys setup a QT tank with a strong bio filter? Without a cycle I'd be doing a lot of frequent water changes, and in a 10g I'm sure it will shift the levels around more then a fish would like. I figured this would be the same thing as sponge from a cycled tank into a QT tank.

Thanks. It sucks to learn things the hard way....

 

[Gti_Leo]

i'd put some Live rock i nthe tank or live sand, or get a filter with a biowheel or bio balls

 

[Krypt]

I used some junk LR in my QT and it works fine. I just wouldn't move any of that rock back into my DT. You could also use some cheap base rock and throw a few chunks in to give the colony a bigger home.

 

[dlwn88]

Yeah the tank just had the filter and two PVC pieces in it. I have roughly a 4 lb piece of live rock. Next time I need the QT tank would this be enough to handle a small salt water fish? Would moving that from my display tank automatically cycle the QT or should I still be doing water changes every few days to keep levels down

 

[Krypt]

Honestly, your best bet would be to just put that LR chunk in the QT and toss in an uncooked shrimp and cycle it up. Moving the rock back and forth may not give you the bacterial colony your looking for. If you properly prepare it, then you know without a doubt that your QT is safe for your tank buddies.