i do not recommend anything less than 20 due to stability issues but if space is limited 10 gal is the least i would go with. 2.5 is not a good choice at all.
Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).
- Thread starter Dr. Reef
- Start date
i do not recommend anything less than 20 due to stability issues but if space is limited 10 gal is the least i would go with. 2.5 is not a good choice at all.
joshyross70
New member
so i just finished cycling and will get my first fish from a lfs that qt's their fish already. i still will qt but im confused pn how to setup even though ive done my research. im setting up a temperary 10 gallon tank. so i should get 5 gallons from my display and 5 gallon new mixed water. im buying a filter from petsmart. so is their anything else i need? should i medicate with copper? since my lfs already qt's
lotzofgibberish
New member
No, never medicate preemptively. Only medicate if you see a specific problem that you are trying to treat. It will save you money and the save the fish from stress.
excellent advice... i always recommend observation with prazipro treatment for all fish. then its observation for next 4-6 weeks. while i do recommend treating all tangs for ich as they are known carriers but this rule ONLY applies to tangs and nothing else.
question about filter on quarantine tank
question about filter on quarantine tank
I have a 20 gal for my QT that has been cycling 6 weeks.
ammonia 0 , nitrite either 2.0 or 4.0 hard to tell, and Nitrate is maybe 5 or 10ppm. These readings have been the same for about a week. I had 120g of bio pellets and a sponge in an Aqua20. I've added 500g Fluval Biomax in a media sock. I've decided to add some Seachem Matrix, so I hooked up my Penguin 330 that I used on my 55gal and plan to fill both back areas with Matrix. Seachem say's that's fine but I still need to use some kind of filtration. Should I use the regular carbon filter cartridges plus use the Matrix in the back ? I'm confused on how I'm to filtrate this Quarantine tank. I plan on keeping it up and running 24/7 do I would like to know the proper way to filter it.
The DT has LR and sump and skimmer I pretty much understand that but the QT has nothing but ceramic rings.
Please Advise
question about filter on quarantine tank
I have a 20 gal for my QT that has been cycling 6 weeks.
ammonia 0 , nitrite either 2.0 or 4.0 hard to tell, and Nitrate is maybe 5 or 10ppm. These readings have been the same for about a week. I had 120g of bio pellets and a sponge in an Aqua20. I've added 500g Fluval Biomax in a media sock. I've decided to add some Seachem Matrix, so I hooked up my Penguin 330 that I used on my 55gal and plan to fill both back areas with Matrix. Seachem say's that's fine but I still need to use some kind of filtration. Should I use the regular carbon filter cartridges plus use the Matrix in the back ? I'm confused on how I'm to filtrate this Quarantine tank. I plan on keeping it up and running 24/7 do I would like to know the proper way to filter it.
The DT has LR and sump and skimmer I pretty much understand that but the QT has nothing but ceramic rings.
Please Advise
hey bnumair,
So i have a ?/concern i was hoping you could help me with. I've had my QT tank setup for probably atleast 3-4 months. Originally after it cycled i put in a lawnmower blenny and had him in QT for 4 weeks. No medication was used and everything went great. After i took him out and put him in DT i did 100% water change and left it up and running. Never fed the tank or anything. i moved the tank and broke it all down put kept the same water and left the filter panel and bio-wheel (marineland HOB) in the water that i took out, moved it and set it back up. I've had it set back up in the new house for about 2 months and it's been running but again haven't put anything in it or fed it.
Well i've been wanting a white tail bristletooth and since they are so hard to find one popped and i impulse bought one. It will be here saturday. Just wanted to check with you if you think the QT will be ok with it being setup for so long on the same filter panel and bio-wheel? I've ghost fed the tank twice in the last week and readings come back ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates about 5ppm. There is still some algae that has grown in there on the glass and some on the PVC pipes. So everything seems fine just want to make sure before i put in the tang.
If you think it's not ok do you have any suggestions on what i can do?
THanks again
So i have a ?/concern i was hoping you could help me with. I've had my QT tank setup for probably atleast 3-4 months. Originally after it cycled i put in a lawnmower blenny and had him in QT for 4 weeks. No medication was used and everything went great. After i took him out and put him in DT i did 100% water change and left it up and running. Never fed the tank or anything. i moved the tank and broke it all down put kept the same water and left the filter panel and bio-wheel (marineland HOB) in the water that i took out, moved it and set it back up. I've had it set back up in the new house for about 2 months and it's been running but again haven't put anything in it or fed it.
Well i've been wanting a white tail bristletooth and since they are so hard to find one popped and i impulse bought one. It will be here saturday. Just wanted to check with you if you think the QT will be ok with it being setup for so long on the same filter panel and bio-wheel? I've ghost fed the tank twice in the last week and readings come back ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates about 5ppm. There is still some algae that has grown in there on the glass and some on the PVC pipes. So everything seems fine just want to make sure before i put in the tang.
If you think it's not ok do you have any suggestions on what i can do?
THanks again
in short if you ghost fed the tank and ammonia came back 0 after 24 hrs and nitrates are up then there is bacterial activity there and u should be fine with a small load like 1 fish. just to be on the safe side i would double feed today and check for ammonia and if still 0 ur definitely good to go.
Good Luck and Safe Reefing.
sahicharles
New member
Sorry to ask this question if someone already asked the same question before; could I use skimmer for the qt tank or have to be filter? Thanks.
Hi
i think you have enough surface area for bacteria to grown on. the sponge and the media sock itself along with rings will act as the filter and trap most bigger and medium size debris. i always let QT run this way through the course with fish in it. once there is no fish in QT then i take the HOB off and rinse the media sack and sponge in the qt water and clean away all the debris and buildup then do a 100% water change in qt.
Good Luck
Thanks for the help, I did as you said and fed once when i got home, and then again a couple hours later, a decent amount of food. I waited about an hour and then checked for ammonia. the API kit did come back showing some slight green. maybe about .25 and nitrates again at about 5ppm.
So not sure if that is OK or if the tank won't be able to handle the new fish? I did purchase a new filter cartridge today that i was going to throw into my sump and leave there. Not sure if it's any use at this point though as i won't be built up enough by tomorrow morning. Any words of advise?
skimmer alone will not work as filter. skimmer will remove organics from water but will not harbor bacteria. if you wanna do something like skimmer and fill it up with media and not basically use the skimmer as a skimmer and more like ahang on back filter or more like a canister filter then it might work depending on flow and media and surface area for bacteria versus the bio-load.
sahicharles
New member
Thank you for answering my question, now I know what other equipments need to get for qt.
Ok so i checked again this morning and it's still showing up with a little bit of ammonia, 0 nitrites and maybe 5ppm nitrates. water has a slight cloudyness to it just like it did lastnight. I also took a test from my DT and use it as comparison hoping that just the API was reading high.
Left is QT and right is DT
what should i do from here?
This means that qt is not ready yet for a load. I would ghost feed every 3rd day and check for ammonia to be absolutely 0. Then it's ready. If you already have got the fish then either perform 25 to 50 % water change daily till ammonia goes 0 or use products like am quell prime ammo lock to keep ammonia under check. But downside of using such products is false ammonia reading on tests.
Note: siphon the food out after 24 hrs of every ghost feeding.
Note: siphon the food out after 24 hrs of every ghost feeding.
ok i did get the fish this morning and it's currently in the tank. I did do a 25% water change before the fish got here and did another side by side with my DT and they were almost identical. I do have prime on hand and was going to run out and get a ammonia alert just to put into the tank to have as a second helper.
I probably won't feed tonight and feed the fish tomorrow, just little amounts, would putting a nori sheet in there also raise ammonia just like any food? What caused the tank to not be ready? is it cause i didn't feed the tank for so long or have anything in it that the bacteria died off? It did have algae in it all this time and still does so i always just figured the bacteria was still fine in it. Would buying beneficial bacteria and putting it in the tank help at all? or a piece of LR from my DT sump help? i don't plan on doing meds for atleast the first week and i have never ran meds in the tank before.
I probably won't feed tonight and feed the fish tomorrow, just little amounts, would putting a nori sheet in there also raise ammonia just like any food? What caused the tank to not be ready? is it cause i didn't feed the tank for so long or have anything in it that the bacteria died off? It did have algae in it all this time and still does so i always just figured the bacteria was still fine in it. Would buying beneficial bacteria and putting it in the tank help at all? or a piece of LR from my DT sump help? i don't plan on doing meds for atleast the first week and i have never ran meds in the tank before.
all organic food will break down into toxic form one way or the other some releasing more some less. You guessed it right. setting up the tank and then not feeding it will cause it to run out of cycle. Bacteria only grows and remain in number in same exact ratio as source of ammonia. so if there is no ammonia there is no bacteria.
Algae is due to many reason. algae grows on organics in water/salt, light and waste debris etc which it will continue to do so if those fueling factors are there. Bacteria on the other hand only need ammonia to live on and with none there it wont survive.
I personally dont have much faith in bacteria in bottle but people have reported many happy stories about them. to my knowledge the bacteria we need cannot survive the bottling/manufacturing/shelf process and temps thus these bacteria in bottle must be some other strands that may or may not help.
Introducing a source of bacteria will help but i wouldnt use LR, instead maybe a filter or sponge form an established source.
Water changes and ammonia reducing agents will be the best bet. Also this wont last very long. maybe 1-3 days and your tank will increase the bacteria colony to compensate for extra bio-load. i would stick to water change and chemical. just my 2 cents.
Good Luck and Safe Reefing.
Algae is due to many reason. algae grows on organics in water/salt, light and waste debris etc which it will continue to do so if those fueling factors are there. Bacteria on the other hand only need ammonia to live on and with none there it wont survive.
I personally dont have much faith in bacteria in bottle but people have reported many happy stories about them. to my knowledge the bacteria we need cannot survive the bottling/manufacturing/shelf process and temps thus these bacteria in bottle must be some other strands that may or may not help.
Introducing a source of bacteria will help but i wouldnt use LR, instead maybe a filter or sponge form an established source.
Water changes and ammonia reducing agents will be the best bet. Also this wont last very long. maybe 1-3 days and your tank will increase the bacteria colony to compensate for extra bio-load. i would stick to water change and chemical. just my 2 cents.
Good Luck and Safe Reefing.
Thanks again for all your help!!!!
I tested ammonia again tonight before bed and it was showing at about the picture i posted above, so i put a little bit of prime in before bed and tested it again about 20 minutes later and it matched my DT. I'll check it again tomorrow morning and if it has any i'll do another 25% water change.
I tested ammonia again tonight before bed and it was showing at about the picture i posted above, so i put a little bit of prime in before bed and tested it again about 20 minutes later and it matched my DT. I'll check it again tomorrow morning and if it has any i'll do another 25% water change.
