Air Driven Sponge Filter

[lmracing8l]

Hi,

I bought a air driven sponge filter for my QT tank 2 weeks ago and put it in the main tank. How long do I need to keep it in there to get good bacteria so I can set up the QT tank? Is it the magical numbers of 4-6 weeks?

 

[szwab]

The longer the better but a couple of weeks should be ok. as with everything keep an eye on your water params. and keep up with the water changes in the QT. Especially if what you are qting is a messy eater or large in size

 

[drummereef]

I'd say at least a couple of weeks in the main tank and you'll be likely fine. Just test frequently for ammonia.

 

[DetectiveTofu]

I have an air driven sponge filter in my QT tank as well. I kept it in my main tank for two weeks to get some bacteria on it, and I haven't had any problems; but also depends on what kind of fish you're housing in the QT tank

 

[lmracing8l]

ok, 2 weeks it is. FYI I am going to get 2 ocellaris (sp) clownfish. Thanks for the info!

 

[Randall_James]

Sure is nice to see you using a qt tank....

DO keep an eye on the ammonia after about the second day or so all the same.

Seachem makes an ammonia alert badge that hangs inside the tank that works pretty nicely as a full time monitor...

 

[lmracing8l]

I would never not use a QT tank. I had purchased some chromis and had them in my QT tank and they had something, I am not sure to this day what it was, every day I lost one fish. If I would have put them in my DT it would have wiped it out!!! Although I do not leave the QT up. I tear it down. In fact after the chromis incident I tore it down, wipe it down and bleached everything except for the hang on filters I was using. That's why I decided to go with a air driver sponge filter instead.

 

[Toddrtrex]

One thing you may want to consider is getting another one -- so you have a back up. The reason for my thinking is that if you have to medicate your QT tank, you wouldn't want to put that sponge filter back into your main tank to keep the bacteria alive after QT.
This way you can rotate the two, and clean the one that had the medicine on it.

(( note I am thinking out loud -- I am a bad person, and don't QT. ))

 

[Young Frankenstein]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10233474#post10233474 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Toddrtrex
One thing you may want to consider is getting another one -- so you have a back up. The reason for my thinking is that if you have to medicate your QT tank, you wouldn't want to put that sponge filter back into your main tank to keep the bacteria alive after QT.
This way you can rotate the two, and clean the one that had the medicine on it.

(( note I am thinking out loud -- I am a bad person, and don't QT. ))

you would not want anything that's exposed to copper back in the tank if you have corals anyway.