QT and Live Rock

[RTV]

Setting up my QT- should I put Live Rock in it? What if I may need to treat with copper for parasites.... will this hurt the LR?

 

[Brenden]

Do not put LR in the QT. Use a piece of filter etc. to seed the tank. If you treat the tank with copper etc the LR will absorb it and will not be usable again.

 

[RTV]

exactly what i needed to know- when you say use filter to seed...can you expound on that for a novice?

 

[Brenden]

Put a piece of filter material in the main tank for a few days to allow bacteria to colonize on it. Move it to the QT to start the culture.

 

[RTV]

ok- cool. I'm using a biowheel powerfilter in the QT- I floated the wheel in the main tank for a few days. Now, setting up the qt- I took water from the main along with some fresh RO to drop the salinaty a bit. will this be good? then, when I move the fish (2 clowns that seem to have ich) I should go through the normal acclimation before dropping them in. Then 6-8 weeks with main tank fallow before returning them to their home...right?Hopefully the hypo treatement will be just what they need. The filter is for a 60 gallon tank and is in a 10g...I figured this would create enough current so that a powerhead is not needed- am I thinking ok on that?

Once I get them clear of the ich I'd like to add a diamond goby to the qt so they will all be ready for the main when its safe but, I need substrate for the goby- should I add it now or wait until the clowns are more healthy?

 

[tecwzrd]

Just floating the bio-wheel or filter floss in the tank for a couple of days isn’t going to build up enough bacteria for your fish to survive in the qt tank and will lead to dangerous levels of nh3/no2. The reason is that the nitrifying bacteria attach to filter media/substrate over time and not much is present in the water so by just floating it for a couple of days little of the needed bacteria are going to latch on. If you have it circulating on an already cycled tank then it would colonize within a week or two. I would move the qt filter to the main for a week and then move back to the qt tank.

I keep two spinning on my main at all times so if I need to use the qt tank I can just transfer one over for “instant” bio-filtration. If you have filter media in the main that has been there for 4+ weeks then that would have the bacteria needed also can could just be added to the qt filter to help seed the bio-wheel.

Whatever you do make sure to watch your nh3/no2 levels closely and perform pwc if any is detected. Fish quickly acclimate to lower sg changes but when finished slowly increase the sg to 0.001-0.002 points per day to avoid osmotic shock.

Are you using a refractometer while doing the hypo? I wouldn’t trust a swing arm or floating hydrometer for accuracy performing a hypo-treatment. If you don’t have a refractometer I would consider another alternative like copper. If you do use any medications then never place the wheel back on the main to avoid contamination and just replace if you ever plan to do so.

Also do you know how ich was introduced to your tank in the first place? Since you are going fishless in the main make sure to keep the nitrifying bacteria alive also by feeding a small amount of flake every other day to avoid having to re-cycle the main again.