Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

[fairladyZ]

went and check on him again, as i walk into the room i can see he moves, i think he comes out of the corner just a couple inches and when he sees me he darts back, he is breathing fast but doesn't seem erratic or real deep, he's looking around and what not.

Should i just do a WC just as a precation? I would rather throw him in my DT then take the risk of loosing the little guy!

 

[Dr. Reef]

I would do water change and regarding moving to Dt, u might, be taking a chance introducing maybe parasites. That would be ur call. I cant professionally say to go for it. I hope u understand.
We dont know for sure if hes sick or not if there is ammonia problem for sure or not and also if hes carrying any disease or not.
Try 25% to 50% water change if u can get that much ready. Then go from there.

 

[fairladyZ]

oh ya i understand and know it's a risk but would rather risk it then have him die. I'll do a water change right now and keep an eye on it.

So i'm still knew to this but if my bacteria isn't strong enough to hold up against 1 little fish, should i look into upgraging the HOB filter? maybe buy another or a bigger 1 and put it on with the one that is already running so it can establish itself aswell? would that help and build a bigger colony of bacteria? What about some sand from my DT to help with the filtration? Just don't want to have to worry everytime i add a little fish.

 

[Dr. Reef]

U can upgrade HOB or just add more media in the system. U can always place bio media in media socks and place in high flow areas.
Did u over feed yesterday or today?

Note: u can try some sand in a bowl about 2" deep from ur dt that will help.

 

[fairladyZ]

i put in some seaweed with him yesterday hoping he would eat lastnight, now thinking about it maybe it was a bad idea.

Just did 25% water change, waited about 10 minutes and checked levels, Ammonia again hard to tell but it looked pretty much completely yellow Definitely down a little bit, Nitrite is 0 aswell.

So whether i upgrade HOB or put in bio media i got to leave the HOB filter and everything in there running correct?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Yes dont remove anything at this time just add on. Time to replace woukd be in between fish so if tank goes into mini cycle at least u dont have suffering fish.

 

[fairladyZ]

alright sounds good.. thanks again for all the help!

 

[Dr. Reef]

alright sounds good.. thanks again for all the help!

No problem, i am just GUESSING its probably very small amount of ammonia that might stress fish a bit but i am more leaning towards fish just being in a new tank taking its time to adjust but we can rule ammonia out as it was there and after water change it went down.
so keep an eye on ammonia dont put any more than fish can eat in the tank. try garlic in the food.
of u feed mysis or brine or pellets just try putting just 1 single food item (jsut 1 mysis shrimp or 1 brine or 1 pellet) mixed in garlic to see if it will eat. no need to put 1/2 a cube of food to find out hes not eating and causing ammonia.
keep me posted.

 

[fairladyZ]

alright will do thanks again.

Was thinking about going and getting some algae wafers from the LFS, would it be ok to just put one in their or should i break it up and just a tiny bit in there?

 

[Dr. Reef]

u can try that but very small amounts so it doesnt contribute to decomposition/ammonia.

 

[hogfanreefer]

its nice to know u have 2 tanks, most people dont even have 1 qt. i have a 2 tank qt setup as well.... anyways
i usually dont do any water changes in between fish.(fishless qt) i generally do couple of 50% water changes before getting fish in.
then while fish are in the qt i never do water change unless its an emergency with ammonia or something. i try to last the qt term out on the same water fish started in.
nitrates are not an issue for fish unless they reach 90 and up.
so unless u have any parameter issues try to last the same water out.
i hope i understood ur question properly and answered accordingly.
good luck and safe reefing.

That's exactly what I was asking! Thanks. As a newb I'm somewhat paranoid about water quality. You guys would laugh if you knew how many test kits I've used since Feb!

 

[Dr. Reef]

That's exactly what I was asking! Thanks. As a newb I'm somewhat paranoid about water quality. You guys would laugh if you knew how many test kits I've used since Feb!

Lol been there 18 yrs ago when I started. Used to check parameters every so many hours. After u get to know ur tank and have a good feel on ur parameters it will all ease up to just a few tests once a week.
I have not tested my parameters in over a month now.
But anyways its best to log everything every time u test or make changes. Keep a daily log and u will see a pattern and get to understand ur tank better.

 

[Dr. Reef]

ok Guys happy to report the progress. i did few things i have never done before to test out my what been asked over and over.
i went into 2 QT tanks with hyposalinity 10 days ago. then i added prazipro 2nd day. ran it for full strength. week later i added formalin ms and ran it for full strength and added another dose second time.
All this with no water change no ammonia spikes no trouble. All fish are doing great. eating like pigs and show no signs of any parasites.
here are few updated pics.

Note: i did get balterial bloom (milky water) with use of prazipro but that is expected as my previous experience tells me. But nothing to worry about will disappear over time.

 

[Dr. Reef]

 

[Dr. Reef]

 

[Dr. Reef]

 

[Christoph]

What can I do if I don't have time to let my qt cycle? Just spotted ich on my atlantic blue and want to get it out quick. I will set up a qt tank tomorrow if possible. Maybe ask my guy at lfs for some of his water? He has separate tanks for his fish. No tank to tank transfer occurs. His fish always appear healthy.

 

[scuzy]

What I did was use bio spira to help with the bacterial process. I dose according to the bottle and I never had a cycle.

 

[Christoph]

Is that safe to use?

 

[Dr. Reef]

I would definitely start a qt quick. No need for getting lfs water. Water will not help with cycle. Products like bio spira and dr tims bacteria starters can help but I wouldn't count on it solely. Have a lot of water ready and do water changes frequently. Check for ammonia daily and do water change. Run hypo or cupramine during the treatment.