Guide to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT).

[sensei]

Great information, I have a question for you
I will setup a permanent QT, I plan to use cycled water from my DT to fill it. do you need to feed the tank to keep the bacteria alive when you do not have any fish in it?
how long can the QT be without any fish or feeding and still be in optimal conditions to recieve new fish?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Great information, I have a question for you
I will setup a permanent QT, I plan to use cycled water from my DT to fill it. do you need to feed the tank to keep the bacteria alive when you do not have any fish in it?
how long can the QT be without any fish or feeding and still be in optimal conditions to recieve new fish?

hi, i am sorry to tell you there is no such thing as cycled water. if you took water from you established tank and filled your QT with it and place fish in that QT most likely that tank will not be able to support life. Bacteria lives in rock or media not in water.
I would start either with cycling the tank or by introducing media that has been established.
Yes you do need to feed the bacteria in a tank that has no fish in it. feeding a [inch once or twice a week will do the job. If you feed the tank once a week with a pinch of fish food and maintain all other parameters like pH, temp salinity etc tank should be good for ever to place fish in.

 

[sensei]

Thanks for you answer,
I guess I should also add 1 or two rocks from my established tank?
How do I know how much rock to add to the 50Gal QT?

How do I know when is the QT ready to quarentine fish after I add water and rock from the display tank?

 

[Spar]

Thanks for you answer,
I guess I should also add 1 or two rocks from my established tank?
How do I know how much rock to add to the 50Gal QT?

How do I know when is the QT ready to quarentine fish after I add water and rock from the display tank?

you could get away with as little as 20lbs of live rock in your QT. you will likely never have (...or at least not want...) a high bioload in there anyway. really you will likely have enough surface area in the tank from other items, such as the glass, pumps, hiding places, to cover your normal bioload even if you had no rock at all.

if you are adding already well-cycled/seeded live rock from an existing DT, then your QT will instantly be ready for you. just keep an eye on ammonia for a little bit afterwards just in case, but I am sure you won't experience a spike unless you cram too many fish in there at once or overfeed. if you do see ammonia showing up, just dose some Prime or AmQuel or equivalent to keep it in check and/or do water changes.

 

[sensei]

20lbs of rock in the QT may be problematic, since fish could hide in that quantity of rock, , also I do not want to be getting my hand in medicated water, maybe it is better and easier to put Marine pure block in the overflow after the water passes through the filter sock?

1.- in this case I would have to cycle the QT even if I use water from my established DT??
should I introduce 1 rock from my established display tank as seed?
2.- how do I know how many fish can I add at the same time to the QT?
3.- when the QT does not have any fish bnumair said I just only need to feed the tank a pinch of fish food once or twice a week ( this is a very small load) , then how will the tank adapt when I add 5 fish and feed the tank much more every day??
I would hate to see the fish dying in the QT because of a mini-cycle happening
4.-will the medications used to treat the fish kill bacteria in the bio media?

thanks a lot for your help clearing all this matter

 

[Dr. Reef]

Sensei,
if you read through my forum, you will find i never recommend placing any rocks in a QT tank that will be turned into a hospital tank at some point. there are many reasons for it one being medication becomes impossible to dose in right quantity.
saying that i recommend using ceramic media as it does not absorb medication.
now to your questions:

1. again water from DT will do nothing except for maybe bringing more DT problems to your QT. i would take a sock fill it with the ceramic media and place it behind your rocks in DT. let it rest there for 2-3 weeks and then bring it out and place it in the QT and fill it up with freshly made saltwater (mixed and aged 24 hrs). Add Seachem Stability and you are good to go. (instant cycled tank)

2 &3. These 2 are related. If you follow advice given on answer 1. you could safely add upto 5-6 small fish or 3-4 med or 2 large fish. Keep stability around in case 24 hrs later you see a small amount of ammonia.
Here is a trick i do if i know a large amount of fish are on the way. About a week before arrival i place 2-3 deli shrimp from frozen section of walmart into the qt spiking the ammonia levels really high. leave the shrimp in for 2 days or less and then pull them. (using a sock is good idea). then next few days let the ammonia come down to 0.
This trick boosts the amount of bacteria. Remember bacteria and ammonia go hand in hand as they only live in same proportion as ammonia being produced. This will assure you there is enough bacteria there for a large quantity of fish load.
Regarding a fishless tank you do the same when ready to place an order.

4. Copper will kill about 25% of the bacteria. it will also be absorbed into rocks and making dosage impossible. Thus use ceramic media only. When ready to dose copper, gradually increase the food given to fish over few days to increase ammonia production with in return will increase bacteria population. Also use stability for boosting bacteria.

Good luck and safe reefing.

 

[atraperegrinus]

Okay so I have an Aquaclear 30, 10 gallon. i put my spare heater in, aswell as an ammonia badge and thermometer, and some pvc.

I'm going to use the sponge and the biomax ceramic, ill leave out the carbon, or should I run all 3 if im not using meds? I assume all 3 with no meds are ok? just remove carbon if i have to add any medications?

Also, i have bio-spira but not seachem stability, both accomplish the same goal correct? Or should I swap to the seachem stability?

and last question, do i need to run the filter 24/7 on this, or can i set it just to run 2-3 times a day for a little bit with a timer ( while its fishless, obviously. ) I could always add a cheap $10 airstone to supplement if need be? whats the best advice for that?

anyone? I'm ready to fill it up now just need to make sure im okay to go here with what i got. thanks!

 

[mrpergo]

Bnumair in this statement :1. again water from DT will do nothing except for maybe bringing more DT problems to your QT. i would take a sock fill it with the ceramic media and place it behind your rocks in DT. let it rest there for 2-3 weeks and then bring it out and place it in the QT and fill it up with freshly made saltwater (mixed and aged 24 h

are you using a filter sock or just a media bag ?
I'm setting up another QT because my last one I turned into a 20 gal Nano.......lol

 

[sensei]

bnumair,
you are really a Dr in reef matters, your advices make a lot of sense, and the tricks are excellent thanks for sharing with us

I will follow your advice, I will fill a sock with ceramic media and keep in the DT 3 weeks before moving it to the QT and add freshly prepared salt water to the QT with stabilizer.
now my question is:
1.- I guess the bigger the QT the better?? as it will need more time between water changes if the fish load is low, and at the same time it would be flexible to resist a higher fish load, lets say 7 medium size fish.

I will have my QT custom made, I was thinking of 50Gal, but now maybe 85Gal. what do you think?

anything special I should consider in the design if this new QT?

Thanks again

 

[mfaso24]

Do not add live rock to the QT tank. Main reason is if you need to medicate, you can/may kill off organisms living on and in the rock causing a mini cycle.

 

[Dr. Reef]

anyone? I'm ready to fill it up now just need to make sure im okay to go here with what i got. thanks!

Originally Posted by atraperegrinus View Post
Okay so I have an Aquaclear 30, 10 gallon. i put my spare heater in, aswell as an ammonia badge and thermometer, and some pvc.

I'm going to use the sponge and the biomax ceramic, ill leave out the carbon, or should I run all 3 if im not using meds? I assume all 3 with no meds are ok? just remove carbon if i have to add any medications?
i would leave the carbon out till you really need it.

Also, i have bio-spira but not seachem stability, both accomplish the same goal correct? Or should I swap to the seachem stability?
same thing no difference.

and last question, do i need to run the filter 24/7 on this, or can i set it just to run 2-3 times a day for a little bit with a timer ( while its fishless, obviously. ) I could always add a cheap $10 airstone to supplement if need be? whats the best advice for that?
filter runs 24/7.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Bnumair in this statement :1. again water from DT will do nothing except for maybe bringing more DT problems to your QT. i would take a sock fill it with the ceramic media and place it behind your rocks in DT. let it rest there for 2-3 weeks and then bring it out and place it in the QT and fill it up with freshly made saltwater (mixed and aged 24 h

are you using a filter sock or just a media bag ?
I'm setting up another QT because my last one I turned into a 20 gal Nano.......lol

its a media sock.

 

[mrpergo]

if I fill a media bag with ceramic and put it in my sump would do the same ?
I was also thinking of putting a Poly Pad under my return pump in my sump and then cutting it to put in the hob filter for the qt. any thoughts on if the poly will hold bacteria to carry over ?

 

[atraperegrinus]

Originally Posted by bnumair
i would leave the carbon out till you really need it.

same thing no difference.

filter runs 24/7.

Thanks!

speaking of though, does the ceramic media need to be in the filter? or can i get one of the bigger pieces like the pure marine stuff and put it right in the tank?

being a 10g I don't think i'd need much. Or is this along the same premise as live rock? no good for QT? stick to the smaller replaceable stuff and dose stability?

 

[Dr. Reef]

Thanks!

speaking of though, does the ceramic media need to be in the filter? or can i get one of the bigger pieces like the pure marine stuff and put it right in the tank?
its best to place small rings or small ceramic pebbles in filter , if space is limited then place in tank in a high flow area.

being a 10g I don't think i'd need much. Or is this along the same premise as live rock? no good for QT? stick to the smaller replaceable stuff and dose stability?
25 g per 1 gal so u need 250g

 

[atraperegrinus]

thanks, i believe my AQ30 came with 250g of the small ceramic so i have it inside the filter. its all up and running now! thanks

 

[sensei]

The QT that I will be setting is 85 gal, with the 25g per galon rule, I would need 2125g of ceramic media. it seems like a lot.

If I put 2125g of ceramic media in my DT for 3 weeks and let it poblate with bacteria, them I believe that my DT would get used to having that quantity of media with more bacteria and when I take it out of the DT to introduce it to the QT would that create a problem for me in the DT? I ask because I sudenlly would be taking of of the DT a lot of bacteria with the ceramic media

or you wold consider less quantity of ceramic media in an 85 gal QT?

where can I find ceramic rings?

thanks for you answer

 

[Dr. Reef]

The QT that I will be setting is 85 gal, with the 25g per galon rule, I would need 2125g of ceramic media. it seems like a lot.

If I put 2125g of ceramic media in my DT for 3 weeks and let it poblate with bacteria, them I believe that my DT would get used to having that quantity of media with more bacteria and when I take it out of the DT to introduce it to the QT would that create a problem for me in the DT? I ask because I sudenlly would be taking of of the DT a lot of bacteria with the ceramic media

or you wold consider less quantity of ceramic media in an 85 gal QT?

where can I find ceramic rings?

thanks for you answer

very good question....
first off 1500g for your system will work. (thats what i have in my 80g)
if you place 1500g of media in DT and move it out after few weeks you dt will not be harmed in any way as there is enough bacteria residing in DT's live rocks and sand not to hurt anything. use the trick i mentioned earlier. feed a but extra while the media is in DT so extra ammonia will cause bacteria to multiple and populate on more surface area.
ceramic rings are available on many websites. (i got mine off ebay)

 

[mrpergo]

bnumair I have a 20 gal nano that use to be my QT. I am setting up another 20 gal for QT now. I'm using a Penguin 350 HOB with the nano and I have both media compartments filled with Seachem Matrix. I have a new 350 that I thought I would swap out with the one I've been using on the nano because the matrix in that one has good bacteria or just fill the new one with new matrix and add Bio Spiro and let it cycle

 

[Dr. Reef]

bnumair I have a 20 gal nano that use to be my QT. I am setting up another 20 gal for QT now. I'm using a Penguin 350 HOB with the nano and I have both media compartments filled with Seachem Matrix. I have a new 350 that I thought I would swap out with the one I've been using on the nano because the matrix in that one has good bacteria or just fill the new one with new matrix and add Bio Spiro and let it cycle

if the nano has no live animals in it then you can take media out from 1 compartment of the established HOB and place it in the new HOB. this will most likely give your new QT an instant cycle while the established nano may or may not see a mini cycle lasting a few days.

if there is light livestock in nano then you can still swap half of the media but either use prime/ammolock/amquel etc if ammonia shows up or use stability right after swap to boost bacteria.

if there is med to heavy livestock in nano then only take at most 25% of the media and swap with new. definitely use stability or ammonia reducer products in case. this may not give instant cycle to new QT but will cut the cycle time short by a long shot, using stability will also help.