QT tank capacity. And Fish selection.

[AcroSteve]

I have a 65 gallon tank that is 36x18x24. I am going to set this up as my QT tank and was wondering about the "capacity".

I have only ran small 10-15 gal QT tanks in the past. So this will be my 1st big one. Can anybody recomend an adequate sponge or other type of filter? Or, could I just run a conventional back filter(which I already have) and forego the sponge.

I am hoping I can safely get the fish I want to add to the tank in the QT all at one time.

The fish I am looking to add are a Watchman Gobie, Banggai Cardinal and at least 6 and hopefully 10 Anthias of some sort. Personally, I do not see this mix of fish in a QT as a problem, but I am not sure of the total numbers in the 65gal at the same time.

Skimmer and primary circulation will be a pretty big single beckett with an Iwaki MD-55. I hope to discharge the skimmer directly into the tank. I also have 15watt UV.

Is this doable? Or will I need to QT the Anthias seperately?

Any other suggestions on some nice, colorfull, active, pretty hardy, easy to feed, and fairly commonly available anthias other than the Bartlett's, or Lyretail(which is my present choice)?

How about the Bimaculatus anthias, Red-Belted, or Hawaiian?

Newly hatched, live brine can be provided if need be. But I am not able to grow them out.

Here is my curent fish list.
Purple Tang
Hippo Tang
Black Perc and a false Perc
Coral Beauty
Banggai Cardinal
Mandarin Goby
One Green Chromis
Lawnmower Blennie
And a smallish watchman gobie that will live nowhere but in the sump. Constantly over the overflow, so I gave up.

 

[AcroSteve]

Oh, what about the possibility of a Flasher or Fairy Wrasse in the mix too?

Such as a Scott's Fairy Wrasse.

 

[yoboyjdizz]

You could use just a powerfilter that u already have.. thats what i run in my qt with a few maxijets for watermovement. Aslo u might have a problem addding all those fish at once in a 65qt. I would do the anthias sperate and test often and keep up on your water changes!

 

[marrone]

That is a lot of fish to add to one QT. You may want to get 2-3 rubbermaid 22gal tubs and use them as QT. All you need is a Power head, filter or air pump for water movement and water breakage.

 

[AcroSteve]

What about a skimmer?

I only have room for the one 65 gal QT tank. So, It may have to be in stages.

 

[stykthyn]

definitely do it in stages. I personally dont use a skimmer during QT. I have never had a bio loadlarge enough to produce skimmate during a qt. I prefer to do small water changes everyother day . I guess it is up to you though.

 

[AcroSteve]

I figure as long as I am not medicating the tank, a skimmer would only help keep the water quality up. Including the O2 levels and create flow that the anthias need.

Definitely no skimmer if I have to medicate, but mostly, I hope the QT just to be 4-6 weeks of observation.

I too, have never really done more than 2 or 3 fish in a QT, and that was in a 20 gal tank. I figure with a 65 gal tank and 10+ fish, I might as well do it right for the sake of the fish.

 

[marrone]

I would seperate the Hippo from the other fish or get the Hippo last as the chances of it coming down with some thing is probably greater than the other fish. It could give some thing to the other fish in the QT.

Since you do have a good load of fish I would try to either break up the QT into group, instead of all at once, or have more than one QT going. All you really need is some thing to move the water around so I would skip the skimmer.

 

[AcroSteve]

I think you are a little confused. My current fish list above are fish already in my tank.

The most I would be considering for the 65gal QT would be 13 fish;
10 anthias
watchman gobie
banggai cardinal
scot's fair wrasse

 

[jda]

I just got a cheap powerfilter out of the fish closet and put a piece of base rock in my 40G.

I change water out of the reef into the QT to keep the nutirent level down.

BTW - I don't necessarially treat the fish in QT unless they need it. Most of the time, just isolation and getting them used to captivity and eating is more than good enough.

I also don't QT if they fish needs a full-blown reef for success - they just go right into the reef.

 

[bigdee65]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7169335#post7169335 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AcroSteve
I think you are a little confused. My current fish list above are fish already in my tank.

The most I would be considering for the 65gal QT would be 13 fish;
10 anthias
watchman gobie
banggai cardinal
scot's fair wrasse

I QTed 6 anthias in a 29g tank with no problem, I would think 10 in a 65 would be fine. I also think you could add the watchman gobie with the Anthias but I would leave out the Banggai and fairy wrasse. My reasoning being that the banggai's can be skittish and unless you get a captive bread fish they have a poor success rate (IME lately). Also the fairy wrasse is known to be a jumper and has a similar body type to that of the Anthias so with 10 of those guys swimming around the tank the wrasse might flip out at first.

That is JMO, but I feel its better to keep the QT less crowded as it will make it easier in the long run.

 

[AcroSteve]

Well, I have had 10 Lyretails in QT now for nearly two weeks. Along with a Labout's and a Carpenter's Wrasse.

I am seeing a little aggression from the Carpenter's towards the Anthias. I have decided to get the wrasse out. I hope I am not jumping the gun, but I want to lower the stress level on the smaller fish. The Labout's will defend his territory, but will not pursue the Anthias across the tank like the Carpenter's will.


Here is a pic of the QT setup from last week. All the fish where still hanging out in the same area.

Now, the Anthais have been relegated to the upper left hand corner. Right behind my little hang on skimmer :lol: