Permanent tank for quarantine

[Zacktosterone]

Came back from vacation to a disaster how do I use a filter sock as a bacteria source for a hospital tank to instantly cycle it

 

[Nick_Northern]

A filter sock won't provide enough bacteria to cycle a qt, there is not enough surface area for bacteria and also presumably you wash them fairly regularly which will kill everything. the best thing you can do is see if your lfs has any seeded filter sponges on hand that they keep in their system. Mine do and sell them for emergencys such as yours, you can then add them into an internal filter. failing that you could also add a bottled bacteria product but be aware you will always get some ammonia buildup with these (others may disagree but I have used several brands to 'instantly cycle' qt tanks and despite their claims have registered ammonia with all of them). Get yourself an ammonia alert badge and test ammonia and pH in the hospital tank daily, also make sure you have enough water on hand for multiple water changes should you need to reduce ammonia, you can use ammonia detoxifiers such as prime or amquel but not if you are using any medication. what is the actual problem, disease??

Sent from my F5121 using Tapatalk

 

[Zacktosterone]

A filter sock won't provide enough bacteria to cycle a qt, there is not enough surface area for bacteria and also presumably you wash them fairly regularly which will kill everything. the best thing you can do is see if your lfs has any seeded filter sponges on hand that they keep in their system. Mine do and sell them for emergencys such as yours, you can then add them into an internal filter. failing that you could also add a bottled bacteria product but be aware you will always get some ammonia buildup with these (others may disagree but I have used several brands to 'instantly cycle' qt tanks and despite their claims have registered ammonia with all of them). Get yourself an ammonia alert badge and test ammonia and pH in the hospital tank daily, also make sure you have enough water on hand for multiple water changes should you need to reduce ammonia, you can use ammonia detoxifiers such as prime or amquel but not if you are using any medication. what is the actual problem, disease??

Sent from my F5121 using Tapatalk

This filter sock was left in a tank for 2 months. Not my filter sock. The 4 fish I have left need to be quarantined. Even though my foxface is eating he is covered in ich. My other fish are spotless but they need to be removed. I need the cycles quarantine because they are going to have to be in there for 9 weeks. Contrary to what people believe... Copper works best. So I'm not going to risk 9 weeks with hyposalinity

 

[Nick_Northern]

Okay, you still won't be able to instantly cycle a tank with it though. I would look at either getting a seeded sponge or be prepared to do daily water changes, which is obviously a bit of pain when dosing meds. Whatever route you choose just be sure to do daily ammonia tests and keep an eye on the pH.

 

[m0nkie]

if the foxface is eating and the only one with symptom, maybe take it out for a quick bath to get rid of the ich temporarily? (formalin or freshwater).

you can use Dr. Tim bacteria and cycle a tank within 1 week. Fish can go in on day 1 as long as you buy enough bacteria, but that requires a little ammonia monitoring

filter sock may contain some bacteria, but it might be loaded with detritus too..

 

[Zacktosterone]

if the foxface is eating and the only one with symptom, maybe take it out for a quick bath to get rid of the ich temporarily? (formalin or freshwater).

you can use Dr. Tim bacteria and cycle a tank within 1 week. Fish can go in on day 1 as long as you buy enough bacteria, but that requires a little ammonia monitoring

filter sock may contain some bacteria, but it might be loaded with detritus too..

I need to irradicate the parasite from the tank

 

[JustinM]

It won't hurt to use the filter socks but if you can find some other source as well, that would definitely help. Also there are a few bacteria products like biospira.

I would grab a seachem ammonia alert if you're going to be using cupramine. The other kits will give you false readings when using ionic copper.

Just be prepared to be doing water changes when you notice the color go from yellow to even a slight green. Fortunately, cupramine doesn't affect biological filtration much.

Good choice in wanting to eradicate ich rather than manage it. A lot of people seem to think ich isn't a big deal, but it is. I just went though it and went 76 days fallow. It was well worth it in my opinion. Just bummed out flame wrasse didn't make it, that wasn't ich related though.

 

[m0nkie]

I need to irradicate the parasite from the tank

I understand. I'm just saying that filter sock might not handle the bioload. + it will have detritus on it, so ammonia might build up faster..

giving the fish a temporary bath will relief the symptoms for now. Give you enough time to do a quick cycle with bottled bacteria. (1 week cycle time is usually good enough).

have you tried your local forum here? borrow a small cycled ceramic block will work

 

[Zacktosterone]

I have rock that I'm more than happy to sacrifice but I'm not sure if i can use copper and this rock. I'll obviously never use the rock again but I need to know. Am I going to have troubles maintaining copper levels with this rock being in the quarantine tank?

Its cycled dry rock that has been in my sump since October of last year so it's cycled. Plus it doesn't have anything to die off either