Help With a Hospital / QT Tank System

[FinFollowerEd]

I'm setting up a QT / Hospital tank to house my Purple Tang and Guinea Fowl Puffer who have been infected with Ich.

Since they are going to be in the tank for about two months I wanted something relatively large. I found a 65 gallon TruVu Aquasystem tank on craigslist and am planning on buying it. The tank comes with a built in wet/dry or power / foam filter kind of thing. Does this sound like sufficient filtration for a QT system? Is beneficial bacteria killed with copper? I'm planning on running copper to kill the ich.

also, I put a sponge filter in my sump about a week ago to collect some bacteria and help jump start a cycle of this new tank. So if I put that sponge in the new tank and add water from the display should I be able to move my fish without dealing with a huge ammonia spike? Kinda confused about some of this stuff, and help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[microlady]

If ich is in the display, then you can't seed from there. Yes, copper can kill good bacteria and I never use the stuff. I recommend TTM method first and then placing them in the new quarantine. Read about TTM in the stickies.

 

[FinFollowerEd]

If ich is in the display, then you can't seed from there. Yes, copper can kill good bacteria and I never use the stuff. I recommend TTM method first and then placing them in the new quarantine. Read about TTM in the stickies.

I don't understand how putting two relatively big fish into a tank that isn't cycled is a good idea. If I use the sponge to seed the new tank and treat with copper shouldn't the copper kill the ich that could be living in the sponge? The TTM seems too stressful for both the fish and for me. I want to use copper.

 

[ClownReef®]

QT tanks are supposed to be sterile. You don't need sponges or seeding anything. You need fresh salt water, a heater, an air pump, and air stone (or a HOB filter with no carbon) an ammonia alarm badge, some cut PVC pieces for the fish to hide) and a thermometer.

Dont use copper. Do TTM.

QT tanks will collect ammonia FAST because there is no beneficial bacteria (like in your cycled tank) to keep up with it, so you will be keeping the ammonia down by doing water changes.

Do TTM, don't use copper. Trust me.

 

[FinFollowerEd]

QT tanks are supposed to be sterile. You don't need sponges or seeding anything. You need fresh salt water, a heater, an air pump, and air stone (or a HOB filter with no carbon) an ammonia alarm badge, some cut PVC pieces for the fish to hide) and a thermometer.

Dont use copper. Do TTM.

QT tanks will collect ammonia FAST because there is no beneficial bacteria (like in your cycled tank) to keep up with it, so you will be keeping the ammonia down by doing water changes.

Do TTM, don't use copper. Trust me.

Thanks for the reply, and I understand this is one way to to a QT. My idea was to have a more permanent QT, that's why I got the 60 gallon tank. Can't I just run it like an old school FO tank would have been run, minus all the Rock and sand. If the fish are going to be in there for over 2 months I don't want to worry about an amonia spike killing them at any moment. So why not build up the nitrifying bateria and run the copper to kill the ich? Then once my tank has been fallow for 72 days I can add them back to the DT and add a new fish to my large Qt and repeat the process until my tank is stocked? Seems like this would be a low stress way to fix my problem, assuming the copper works properly.

 

[ClownReef®]

Im running a QT tank right now with 5 fish, sterile, for a month. When i see a small spike in ammonia I syphon waste and do a 20% water change. The fish are fat, happy, and healthy.

Ill never use copper to treat anything.

Once the fish go back to my reef, ill keep the QT tank as sterile as it is right now. Any fish I purchase will be there for a month and I will treat with Prazi Pro. If the fish gets ich, I will do TTM because it works flawlessly with zero chemicals. Copper is a wild guess. You have to build it up and much more a pain in the butt than TTM.

I don't know the impact copper has in nitrifying bacteria so Im not going to give my opinion. A clean, sterile QT tank works perfectly. Dont jam pack a 10 gallon QT tank with 15 fish because it's a bomb waiting to explode. 2-3 small fish carry a smaller bio load and they can be there happily for whatever the QT period is.