Old DT water for QT?

[ecomdesign]

I just did mt water change on my DT and later today I will be doing a water change on my QT. Can the old water from my DT water change be used in the QT or should I use new water? On one hand I'm thinking it could benifit from it, but on the other hand I'm thinking it might not.

What do you think?

 

[acrouse]

Could you answer a few questions first please.

How big is your QT tank and how big is your main display? How many gallons are you planning on changing out of each one? How often do you do water changes in both?

thanks jolene

 

[otrlynn]

I would say, in general, yes, as long as you do regular water changes on the DT. You want the water going into the QT to be of good quality--if you have a mixed reef, presumably it is good. A tiny amount of nitrate would not be a problem, but you want all other parameters in line. I think many people do water changes from the DT to the QT--including me.

 

[otrlynn]

You know, I should also have noted that in my previous response, I assumed that you are not dealing with issues like ich in the DT. Obviously if you removed fish from the DT to treat for ich, you are leaving the DT fishless so that the ich in the DT will die. You would not use that water.

 

[ecomdesign]

My Dt is 90 gallons plus my sump. My Qt is 30 gallons. I do 10 gallon water changes on my DT every other weekend. I was thinking about doing a 5 gallon water change on my QT every weekend to help keep ammonia levels down. I just dont know if using 5 gallons of the Dt water this weekend and keeping the other 5 gallons in a sealed 5 gallon bucket untill next weekend would be ok?

The DT doesn't have ich. I have fish in the QT because I just bought them and I'm keeping them in QT as precaution.

 

[t kish]

Being a newbie I am not sure I should answer this but from what I have read it is a good idea to use the water from the DT for the simple reason that it will help the new fish adjust to the water in the DT so when it comes time to tranfer from QT to DT there is little shock or stress on the fish.

T Kish

 

[JEFFR259]

+1 kish.....that's the premise I follow for using DT water to fill my QT. Also if I'm going to be getting a new fish that's headed to the QT, I'll take out 50-70% of my QT water a day or two before I get the fish and fill it with DT water. Maybe this isn't the best way to do it, but it hasn't let me down in a year!

 

[acrouse]

Yes it is a good idea to use some DT water in your QT which helps to acclimate your fish to the DT. (assuming DT is disease free).

However, I think you may need to do a 10gallon QT change weekly. You mentioned you have "fish in the QT" not just "a fish" and nitrates can build up fast. I do a 50% weekly water change on my 10gallon QT(from my DT)-to keep water parameters at their best.

One way to tell on water change, is to test QT before the change. Change the quantity of water you want -then retest.

If nitrates did not significantly improve, then you know 1 of 2 things. 1.You need to do larger water change. 2. Your DT may not have good water parameters and is not sufficient to bring down nitrates so you may need to mix some new water with DT water for a QT water change.

I would not recommend storing 5 gallons in a bucket for the next weekend, unless you are going to have a pump in that bucket to circulate the water or else it will become stagnet. Also if you are going to have a pump-make sure you bring that water up to the same temperature your QT is at before adding it.


good luck
jolene

 

[otrlynn]

Here's another thought. I don't know how may fish you have in the QT, or whether the QT is cycled. However, usually QTs do not have live rock, or have only a little, so keeping ammonia in check can be challenging. It most likely will be necessary to do water changes more frequently than once a week. Keep testing for ammonia--you may find that you need to do water changes every other day. I'd keep that extra 5 gallons in a bucket with a small powerhead or airstone and a small heater, so that it is ready for your next water change whenever you need it. Just check the s.g. before you use it--it will be rising slightly due to evaporation. and +1 for t kish--your fish will essentially be acclimated to the display by the time you put them in.

 

[t kish]

I am close to purchasing my first fish for my QT and this is how I plan to run the tank.

I installed a HOB filter in my sump last week and will leave it there until probably Friday.

Friday night I will do a ten gallon water change in my DT adding fresh mixed water that I mixed today.

The old water will be transferred to the QT and at that time I will also install the HOB filter from the sump as well , it should be seeded by then.
There should be no cycle if everything goes well

On Saturday if the water test is good I plan to get my first fish .

Then as others suggested I will monitor the QT water very closely and change water as needed.

Not sure if it's the best way to do it but hope it helps.

T Kish

 

[ecomdesign]

I too have read that its good to use DT water to setup the QT, but I was not sure if it was ok to use the DT water moving forward when doing water changes on the QT. I'll use it today.

So far the tank has been setup for 1 week. I've only done 2 small water changes about (2 gallons each) with newly mixed saltwater. So far I've only had trace amount of ammonia, but after a few hours they have disapeared.

I set the tank up using SeaChem Stability (Its supposed to prevent tanks from "new tank syndrome") along with some filter floss from my sump that I put in my HOB filter. I was skeptical about using the Stability, but so far I think its doing its job. I dont have any live rock in the QT.

As for fish, I have a very small blue tang (1 1/2") and a coral beauty.


t kish: what you plan do to is perfect. I wish I could have done it that way but I only had 24 hours to set it up. Thats why I ended up using filter floss in my HOB and SeaChem Stability.