Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

[lovetoclown]

Thanks for the info and link.

 

[Elimav]

Hi Elimav,
lets see, you started cycling the qt tank with shrimp but this setup had copper run through it before cycle and you put carbon in the system as well along with 100% water change..... so far so good?
i think you should be fine but to be 100% sure i would run a polyfilter which will turn blue (if i remember correctly) and if it does then there is copper in system if not then its not. If you happen to find copper in system then run cuprisorb/polyfilter till all copper is out of the system along with using carbon.
My professional guess will be to run some polyfilter along with carbon for about 2 weeks to determine if there is any copper left, probably you wont find any.
Also i wouldnt place any sand or rock in qt, just HOB filled with ceramic media in media socks and thats about it. Cupramine will kill about 20% of the bacteria but not all. cupramine is very safe form of copper.
Good Luck and Safe Reefing.

It has been 2 weeks since my ammonia level went to 2 and I removed the shrimp. My test already says the ammonia level is down to 0? Is it possible that it came down that quickly? Maybe because the Bio-wheel was already seeded?

 

[Dr. Reef]

yes if there was an introduction of bacteria from an established tank in any form chances are that a new tank will cycle fast. there is a simple test, put a regular amount to fish food in the tank and check for ammonia 24 hrs later, if there is no ammonia in tank then its cycled.
Safe Reefing

 

[mrpergo]

QT tank doesn't seem to be cycling

QT tank doesn't seem to be cycling

I have a 20 gal QT that I started cycling a month ago.
I have a heater, powerhead and a HOB filter (AquaClear 20) in the filter I have:
2 bags of these:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006JLO5K/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item
and one of these sponges http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AQK48/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

My readings are:
SG....1.022
PH.....8.2
NH3....4.0
NO2.....0
NO3.....0
Its seems like these readings have been like this for a couple of weeks.
Did I do something wrong ?
Nothing in the tank (except water.......lol )
I'm being patient but.......

 

[Dr. Reef]

Hi mrpergo,
the only thing that jumps out is too less surface are for bacteria to grow/reside. that about 60g of biomax rings. i recommend atleast 500g per 20 gal if possible more. as qt is small and treatments sometimes can kill bacteria so more the better area for them to reside in.
secondly if you put a shrimp to kick start the cycle u can take it out.
if i missed something let me know and we can troubleshoot more in detail.
Safe Reefing.

 

[mrpergo]

I have 2 bags of the bio rings so that's about 120g and one sponge. Where would I put 500g of rings ?
I still need to put in a piece of PVC for the fish, do you think that would help ?

 

[3dees]

I had the same trouble cycling my 20 gal. qt. ammonia wouldn't come down for 5 weeks. I put 1/2 lb. of live rock rubble and a few days later the ammonia was at 0 and nitrites spiked.

 

[den75]

I had the same problem and went the Bio-Spira route. Ammonia just wouldn't come down. Within four days of the bio-spira ammonia was at zero, nitrites had spiked and were at zero and nitrates increased. Cycle was done.

 

[Dr. Reef]

I have 2 bags of the bio rings so that's about 120g and one sponge. Where would I put 500g of rings ?
I still need to put in a piece of PVC for the fish, do you think that would help ?

I had the same trouble cycling my 20 gal. qt. ammonia wouldn't come down for 5 weeks. I put 1/2 lb. of live rock rubble and a few days later the ammonia was at 0 and nitrites spiked.

I had the same problem and went the Bio-Spira route. Ammonia just wouldn't come down. Within four days of the bio-spira ammonia was at zero, nitrites had spiked and were at zero and nitrates increased. Cycle was done.

A 20 is a small tank and has very little surface are for what we wanna treat it for. Thus something else has to be done. in al above cases either surface are was increase or bacteria wa introduced. live rock is a bad idea in qt for many reasons disuceed in this thread throughout. introduction of bacteria via bottle is an ify thing not because i dont have faith in it due to the medical conditions and requirements of the bacteria what we are looking to harbor cant survive in bottle at temps exposed in manufacturing but that a different debate, the biggest fear of such i have is that your surface area/filteration in in-ediquite to handle a set amount of ammonia to begin with but by introducing a bottle of bacter will bring it down giving a reefer false hope that tank is ready but you have to know the basics that bacteria can only survive at same ratio as ammonia produced so after few days most of that bacteria is dead and only some survive that is equal to amount of ammonia being produced by fish and if you were to add a few number of fish tank/filters may not be able to handle it and may cause mini spike which may last for a while causing harm to fish.
anyways thats just my observation that i have studied over time.

Best thing is to increase surface area by adding more media. if HOB cannot handle more media then place ediquite amount of media in a media sock and place it under HOB flow or infront of powerhead or best place where it gets maximum flow in the tank. this is the perfect solution for copper treatment tanks as 20% bacteria will die due to copper thus giving more room for bacteria to grow on. i always hipe up the amount of bacteria by adding more than normal amounts of food in qt thus producing more bacteria then dose of copper to balance out the death rate.
Good luck and Safe Reefing.

 

[mrpergo]

well I'm ordering a 500g bag of bio rings to add to my tank.
I also have been reading that higher temps might advance the cycle so I cranked the tank to 80 now its time to bring the 75 in from the garage after it's wet run and set it up and get it cycling.

 

[fishbreath69]

Next weekend I am most likely going to get my first salty tank :bounce3:. My qt is almost done cycling, hopefully anyway... lol amonia has been zero over a week, nitrites were off the charts and now slowly coming down, nitrates up around 20-40. The tank I'm getting is a 90g tank, 40g sump, it comes with 2 black and white clowns, mimic tang, sailfin, and a blue cleaner wrasse. They are gonna be in transport for about 12 hours I think. I'm gonna bag them individually and dose with prime. After a trip that long do I need to qt them for the reg 6 weeks or can they go into the dt as soon as its stabilized? And any tips for transporting BTA, there is a few in the tank as well.
Thanks in advance
Jody

 

[Dr. Reef]

Next weekend I am most likely going to get my first salty tank :bounce3:. My qt is almost done cycling, hopefully anyway... lol amonia has been zero over a week, nitrites were off the charts and now slowly coming down, nitrates up around 20-40. The tank I'm getting is a 90g tank, 40g sump, it comes with 2 black and white clowns, mimic tang, sailfin, and a blue cleaner wrasse. They are gonna be in transport for about 12 hours I think. I'm gonna bag them individually and dose with prime. After a trip that long do I need to qt them for the reg 6 weeks or can they go into the dt as soon as its stabilized? And any tips for transporting BTA, there is a few in the tank as well.
Thanks in advance
Jody

ok if i understand this correctly you are getting a tank new to you but is already established somewhere else, it also comes with all the inhabitants of the tank.
so if i have it right so far this is what i suggest.
we dont know if the person qt'ed his fish properly, we dont know if tank already has ich or other parasites in it, they can be hiding and may infest due to stress of transporting/transfering qt and may cause massive deaths when done moving.
For this reason i would suggest qt'ing all fish and observing them over 10 weeks while you leave the main tank fallow for 10 weeks minimum. if for any reason you see parasites/problems with fish in qt you can treat accordingly.
Good luck and Safe Reefing.

 

[fishbreath69]

:fish2:That is exactly right. Thanks for the wisdom!:fish1:

 

[Elimav]

So I've added my first fish to my QT and am starting the PraziPro. When treating for 2 weeks with PraziPro do you retreat every 5-7 days per the instructions or do you just treat once then replace the activated carbon filter? Thanks for all the good advice!

 

[Dr. Reef]

i dose first dose in qt after couple of days the fish has been in. then wait 1 week do 25-50% water change and dose again. then wait another week then 2x 50% water change. no carbon through the treatment.

 

[daweedski]

Hi Guys I need some help if you could!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21971195#post21971195

 

[fishbreath69]

ok if i understand this correctly you are getting a tank new to you but is already established somewhere else, it also comes with all the inhabitants of the tank.
so if i have it right so far this is what i suggest.
we dont know if the person qt'ed his fish properly, we dont know if tank already has ich or other parasites in it, they can be hiding and may infest due to stress of transporting/transfering qt and may cause massive deaths when done moving.
For this reason i would suggest qt'ing all fish and observing them over 10 weeks while you leave the main tank fallow for 10 weeks minimum. if for any reason you see parasites/problems with fish in qt you can treat accordingly.
Good luck and Safe Reefing.

While I fallow the tank is it ok to have the inverts and corals in there?

 

[Dr. Reef]

While I fallow the tank is it ok to have the inverts and corals in there?

yes in fallow period as long as there are no medications are being dosed in main tank and also all water parameters are maintained, you can keep corals and inverts in it safely.

 

[mrpergo]

This NEEDS to be a sticky!! I was so lost this past month setting one up because there are too many contradicting methods of QT start up.

It is a sticky........

 

[lotzofgibberish]

Hey I have a 14gallon biocube but want to set up a quarantine tank. As you can imagine, space is tight. Whats the smallest size I can put two juvenile true percula clownfish in for a month? Is 2.5g unrealistically small?