12 Fish to much for 29g QT?

[rhendrix12]

I have set up a 29 gallon QT in order to treat some fish with the white spot of death (ICH), and let my DT go fallow for 8 weeks.

My concern is... 12 Fish + 29 gallon + 8 weeks = Death of fish? I know another QT is probably best, but I simply do not have the resources for a DT and 2 QT.

These 12 fish are: 3 clowns (medium), 3 Chromis (small), Leopard wrasse, Red Head wrasse, Blue hippo tang (which of course is the one with ich), ONE SPOT Fox face Lo, Mandarine, and Goby.

If 29 gallon is to small for all these fish of that long of time, what would be an appropriate size??

 

[stechs02]

Leopard Wrasse/Mandarine will struggle the most if they are not eating frozen/pellet food. Blue tang would be cramped and 3 clowns in a 29 would probably destroy each other. I would go get some cheap brute containers and separate the fish. I would sell the Leopard and Mandarine if you are going to house them in a QT for 8 weeks and they are not eating processed food. JMO.

 

[rhendrix12]

Leopard Wrasse/Mandarine will struggle the most if they are not eating frozen/pellet food. Blue tang would be cramped and 3 clowns in a 29 would probably destroy each other. I would go get some cheap brute containers and separate the fish. I would sell the Leopard and Mandarine if you are going to house them in a QT for 8 weeks and they are not eating processed food. JMO.

I found a cheap 60 gallon tank for sell... you think that would be able to house them all? I forgot to mention the tang is small-medium size. And the 2 wrasses are small to mediums well.

 

[snorvich]

I doubt it. The copepod eaters will not do well for sure. But there are other problems as well.

 

[rhendrix12]

I doubt it. The copepod eaters will not do well for sure. But there are other problems as well.

What do you mean "there are other problems as well"? What size tank would I need then?

 

[Fragman4]

He meant your other problems are the ich that you are treating. At this point you don't have many options so go with the 60g QT. Do you have anything to seed the new QT with? Your going to overload your QT system with 12 fish at once especially if its not cycled yet.

 

[rhendrix12]

He meant your other problems are the ich that you are treating. At this point you don't have many options so go with the 60g QT. Do you have anything to seed the new QT with? Your going to overload your QT system with 12 fish at once especially if its not cycled yet.

I heard you do not need to cycle a QT as long as you do daily water changes...

And where do most people house their fish when they do this?

 

[Fragman4]

I heard you do not need to cycle a QT as long as you do daily water changes...

And where do most people house their fish when they do this?

I use a hang on the back filter on my QT so I keep a sponge in my DT fuge until I need it. When I get a new fish I add the sponge to the filter and use tank water.

Not cycling your QT is a huge risk. Your levels might get to the point where you can't keep up with water changes due to the high amount of fish. You could always try Dr Toms or some other type of bio active agent to get things going. Keep prime readily avail as well to keep the ammonia toxicity down.

 

[rhendrix12]

I use a hang on the back filter on my QT so I keep a sponge in my DT fuge until I need it. When I get a new fish I add the sponge to the filter and use tank water.

Not cycling your QT is a huge risk. Your levels might get to the point where you can't keep up with water changes due to the high amount of fish. You could always try Dr Toms or some other type of bio active agent to get things going. Keep prime readily avail as well to keep the ammonia toxicity down.

I will be dosing carbon in my QT, so it will kill any beneficial bacteria anyways right? But I really do not want to debate the cycled/not cycled QT argument. I have heard both sides.... I just need to figure out what size tank I need for my fish.

I have a 60g available to put my fish in, I just was looking for some kind of affirmation if this size is OK. If not, please tell me what size tank I would need.

 

[ThRoewer]

If only the tang is showing symptoms I would take him out and see what happens. If all the other fish stay clear for a few weeks then you might get rid of the tang and stay clear of new additions.
If you have to or decide to treat all I would partition the QT with eggcrate or mesh into sections to separate the fish that might cause fights or need special attention with food.

 

[3FordFamily]

In short, absolutely 12 fish in a 29 gallon will stress and kill them more than any parasite, IMO. I had 12 fish in a 55 gallon QT and the stress killed off a few of them. It will require almost daily water changes to keep perams in check, assuming they don't stress and die.

I personally wouldn't QT because a hippo showed ich. All of my systems have ich, and only my new additions show signs. The exception is my hippo tang. When I have moved tanks (moved her from a 54 to a 125 as she grew) she has gotten very bad ich. She was down for 2-5 days and then survives spot free until I have to move her again. She is now in a 180. She had the same thing happen to her when I bought her. She is tough as nails but does occasionally get affected by ich. The other inhabitants are nearly completely immune and I lose none of my existing fish when adding new, non QT'd fish. I am not condoning the process, just sharing my successes with it. Any fish that are very ill are captured and placed in a hospital tank with cupramine. As they pull through, they also build an immunity that will serve them well back in the display tank. I fatten them up prior to release and it generally works. Also, my experience with my hippo tang is probably abnormal. Some of my tangs show stress and ich for a few days when something goes badly out of whack (rare) but all come through fine. None as severe as the poor hippo. Maybe 2-6 spots on each. The hippo looks like death. The way she hides It's nearly impossible to remove her and treat her. I also know, that she doesn't need it.

This process works for me, mostly because when I did QT (even far fewer than 12 fish) it seemed to just stress them living with PVC pipe and water. Angels do not do well with copper, and I have far fewer losses this way.

I will also add that I skim nearly double what is necessary per water volume, have refugiums in all three tanks, and maintain 0-10 PPM nitrates always. This likely helps, as well as my VERY varied (and frequent and small 2-4x per day) food offerings.