Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

[Kona26]

quick question....should the SG in a qt be closer to 1.020 -- or stay at 1.026. In my case I am not doing TT. just observ and treat if needed. My qt has been up for almost 4 months. Some people have suggested that I run it at 1.020. Just want to get another opinion...thanks

 

[Spar]

quick question....should the SG in a qt be closer to 1.020 -- or stay at 1.026. In my case I am not doing TT. just observ and treat if needed. My qt has been up for almost 4 months. Some people have suggested that I run it at 1.020. Just want to get another opinion...thanks

IMO, keep it at the same level as your DT. However, lower salinity has some benefits for fish; ammonia less toxic, easier on their body (doesnt have to filter salt as much), etc. And it is cheaper of course, a little anyway.

 

[Dr. Reef]

i agree with Spar. if you do keep lower salinity in QT be sure to bring it up and match DT about a week ahead of time before transfer. Also dropping salinity is easier on fish but raisins is not so take your time and increase slow and over many days.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Ok so waited acouple of days and still nothing. Did a 8 gallon water change yesterday and tested this morning and nothing. Nitrites still showing high. Should i take a piece of liverock from my DTand put it in my QT along with the ceramic media? I will be using my QT for new livestock for observation and treating with prazipro

i wouldnt use any LR in qt for any reason, it will bring in more trouble to qt than good in long run. Is the kit working properly? can you have the water tested by some other source?

 

[Ryanrttu]

So when my tank parameters are all good in a week or two, I want to add 3 fish at once to my 20g QT. they are going to be super small so I figure it will be aight, my question is can I add them at once or do I need to space it out a little bit?

 

[Dr. Reef]

3 small fish will be OK to add at once. Check for ammonia 24 hrs after introduction. If ammonia is registered use prime or do water change. But I think you will be fine.

 

[Ryanrttu]

Thanks, Ill tell you its been nice starting this QT before the main tank because ive gotten some solid practice on how to do it from start to finish. Just one more advantage to doing a QT!

 

[Dr. Reef]

Thanks, Ill tell you its been nice starting this QT before the main tank because ive gotten some solid practice on how to do it from start to finish. Just one more advantage to doing a QT!

yes that is so true, i am glad
Happy to be at your service.

 

[Ryanrttu]

Do you run any kind of powerheads with yours?

 

[mblackburn]

I am getting ready to set up a 29g biocube. I wanted to get a small QT tank but see you mentioned 10-20g. Would I be ok with a 3-5g tank? I won't have very big fish/corals going into my cube. I also don't have a ton of space.

Would that be OK or should 10g be the minimum?

Lastly, I'll get a HOB filter, remove the media and put floss in it's place. then I'll get a separate bag of something like matrix for the media (no carbon) and toss in the filter?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Do you run any kind of powerheads with yours?

yes i have a small powerhead (1200gph) to keep debris from settling on the bottom as well as giving flow to fish that need room to swim.

 

[Dr. Reef]

I am getting ready to set up a 29g biocube. I wanted to get a small QT tank but see you mentioned 10-20g. Would I be ok with a 3-5g tank? I won't have very big fish/corals going into my cube. I also don't have a ton of space.

Would that be OK or should 10g be the minimum?

Lastly, I'll get a HOB filter, remove the media and put floss in it's place. then I'll get a separate bag of something like matrix for the media (no carbon) and toss in the filter?

3-5 gal tank is too small. i highly recommend 10 gal if space is a problem.
small tanks will run into many issues and may cause more headache than its worth.
On the HOB, you can fill it up with ceramic media no need for filter cartridges or anything else. just media in a media sock will do the job.
Let the tank cycle normally and it will ready to house fish.
You can seed the media by placing it in a well established tank few weeks ahead of time.
Good luck and safe reefing.

 

[Zer0.]

The QT tank came out decent looking. So far the only pet in it is our dead shrimp in a pantyhose leg tho

Got some small pvc tubes, but figured since the first inhabitants will be a pair of occ. clowns I'd just see if they would host up with the silicone nems for a hide out.

 

[Zer0.]

Do you run any kind of powerheads with yours?

yes i have a small powerhead (1200gph) to keep debris from settling on the bottom as well as giving flow to fish that need room to swim.

I went with 2 koralia evo 850s. One pointed up agitating the surface and one pointed down keeping stuff from settiling on bottom (and giving the fake anenomes some nice motion )

 

[Ryanrttu]

White milky color is generally related to bacterial bloom and will go away on its own. Give it few more days.

My tank still has that white cloudiness to is. I Put some activated carbon in the HOB filter last Thursday, have had a powerhead in there as well. I have yet to do a water change yet, should I do that? Are there any chemicals I could buy that might clear it up? it's been about 10 days with the tank having this white cloudiness to it.

 

[Kona26]

My tank still has that white cloudiness to is. I Put some activated carbon in the HOB filter last Thursday, have had a powerhead in there as well. I have yet to do a water change yet, should I do that? Are there any chemicals I could buy that might clear it up? it's been about 10 days with the tank having this white cloudiness to it.

my QT has has been cloudy for about a month...I have 2 hob with carbon...it is just now starting to clear up...still cloudy though. Mine got cloudy when I put in a couple fish and add pap. Not sure if its related though. (just put the carbon back in to try and clear up the tank.)

 

[Dr. Reef]

Prazipro is known to caused cloudiness that runs for days. but i think Ryan is still in cycling stage and nothing been added to tank except deli shrimp. I would suggest u can use carbon but i do not see any harm in letting the tank settle on its own. even if you were to add fish to it, it wont hurt anything except for visibility and id'ing parasites. there is no chemical that i am aware of to clear up the milkyness which is generally caused by bacterial bloom.

 

[Ryanrttu]

Prazipro is known to caused cloudiness that runs for days. but i think Ryan is still in cycling stage and nothing been added to tank except deli shrimp. I would suggest u can use carbon but i do not see any harm in letting the tank settle on its own. even if you were to add fish to it, it wont hurt anything except for visibility and id'ing parasites. there is no chemical that i am aware of to clear up the milkyness which is generally caused by bacterial bloom.

Right, I have not used any chemicals in this tank yet and its been up and running for 15 days now with carbon in it for about 5 days. My parameters are good now so was going to do my first water change this evening.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Right, I have not used any chemicals in this tank yet and its been up and running for 15 days now with carbon in it for about 5 days. My parameters are good now so was going to do my first water change this evening.

Water change might help, other than that just let it run its coarse.

 

[Ryanrttu]

So just did all the test, came out good.

PH 8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0
Salinity 1.025

My water is still cloudy although prolly about half as cloudy as it was since I did a 50% water change last weekend. So can I buy fish Friday for delivery Saturday? Any other test I should do? I did use two different test kits and both came up the same.