Just a brief overview of what's going on before I ask my question...
We currently have our dwarf gourami in a quarantine tank because he developed a mysterious internal lump on one side of his body. His scales aren't "pineconed" and he's swimming and eating normally. There are no blood streaks or anything abnormal looking on his body aside from that big ol' lump. Haven't seen anything weird being pooped out. And he had it for several weeks without effecting any of the other fish in the main tank. So, whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be contagious. Found some info on a gourami who had a similar lump that was cured using Maracyn 2, so we thought we'd give that a try. He is currently in our quarantine tank, while we medicate him. We "quick cycled" the QT by moving a sponge filter out of our main tank. Supposedly, Maracyn doesn't kill the friendly bacteria that live in the filter but I don't know. Water parameters in the QT have been fine for the five days he's been in there. His lump is slightly smaller but not gone. We're giving him a few more days on the abx and then moving him back into the main tank to live out the remainder of his life....whatever that may be.
Anyway. Here's my question.... Once we're finished with his meds, we're planning on acquiring some new fish. They will be quarantined in that same tank. Obviously, we're going to give it a thorough cleaning first, but I'm wondering whether that sponge filter is still usable. Do we dare use it to cycle the QT for the new fish? Or should we toss it? I ordered another sponge and it will be here next week. If I set that up in the main tank, how long before it is colonized with enough of the good bacteria to cycle our QT? A week? A month?
Any ideas? Thanks!
We currently have our dwarf gourami in a quarantine tank because he developed a mysterious internal lump on one side of his body. His scales aren't "pineconed" and he's swimming and eating normally. There are no blood streaks or anything abnormal looking on his body aside from that big ol' lump. Haven't seen anything weird being pooped out. And he had it for several weeks without effecting any of the other fish in the main tank. So, whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be contagious. Found some info on a gourami who had a similar lump that was cured using Maracyn 2, so we thought we'd give that a try. He is currently in our quarantine tank, while we medicate him. We "quick cycled" the QT by moving a sponge filter out of our main tank. Supposedly, Maracyn doesn't kill the friendly bacteria that live in the filter but I don't know. Water parameters in the QT have been fine for the five days he's been in there. His lump is slightly smaller but not gone. We're giving him a few more days on the abx and then moving him back into the main tank to live out the remainder of his life....whatever that may be.
Anyway. Here's my question.... Once we're finished with his meds, we're planning on acquiring some new fish. They will be quarantined in that same tank. Obviously, we're going to give it a thorough cleaning first, but I'm wondering whether that sponge filter is still usable. Do we dare use it to cycle the QT for the new fish? Or should we toss it? I ordered another sponge and it will be here next week. If I set that up in the main tank, how long before it is colonized with enough of the good bacteria to cycle our QT? A week? A month?
Any ideas? Thanks!
