Quarantine Tank Cycling??

[jgln]

I need to set up a quarantine tank to treat a fish but I don't have one set up, never used one actually. So I plan to buy a 20g setup and use water from the main tank to fill it (a 125G). So far I have read nothing about this tank cycling and causing added stress to the already sick fish.

Can i just set it up and put the fish in and begin treatment? Fish has ich. I want to set the tank up tonight.

Thank you

 

[HumbleFish]

You'll need two things to cycle it sooner rather than later:

1. A bottle of nitrifying bacteria such as Bio-spira, Dr. Tim's, FritzZyme TurboStart 900, etc.
2. Bio-media (e.g. sponge, Seachem Matrix, Fluval Biomax) inside a HOB filter. Consider this the "housing" which the nitrifying bacteria will colonize.

I would also invest in a Seachem ammonia alert badge for active monitoring:

 

[jgln]

You'll need two things to cycle it sooner rather than later:

1. A bottle of nitrifying bacteria such as Bio-spira, Dr. Tim's, FritzZyme TurboStart 900, etc.
2. Bio-media (e.g. sponge, Seachem Matrix, Fluval Biomax) inside a HOB filter. Consider this the "housing" which the nitrifying bacteria will colonize.

I would also invest in a Seachem ammonia alert badge for active monitoring:

Ok, I'll see if my local pet shop has them. I want to try hyposalinity and they do have several refractometers for sale I intend to buy also. I added an air pump to the main tank last night and the fish seemed to really perk up but I think I need to ack fast. Thanks.

 

[on the spot]

I need to set up a quarantine tank...Fish has ich...

You can use two 5 gallon buckets with the tank transfer method. The short period of time in each bucket means no cycling. It's a bit of effort but IMO much less stressful on the fish than hypo.

HTH.

good luck however you go.

 

[hkgar]

For a QT tank, what I usually do is run an AquaClear 10 with a foam and biomass filter that I seed by putting in my display for a couple weeks (the time it takes to to TTM on ALL new fish).

 

[NuEoK]

I setup a 10 gallon QT recently, but ammonia levels are spiking even when dosing with DR. Tims. Its a NUVO 10 and i stuff the back chamber with sponges, matrix, plastic bio balls, and marinepure gems. Seems like its enough... but its not! I have been doing 50-90% water change daily for the last 2 weeks on this to keep up with ammonia levels. Finally on the 3rd week I can do every other day. Usually on a hastily setup QT its the ammonia that kills the fish not the ick. Check your ammonia levels daily and act accordingly.

 

[HumbleFish]

I setup a 10 gallon QT recently, but ammonia levels are spiking even when dosing with DR. Tims. Its a NUVO 10 and i stuff the back chamber with sponges, matrix, plastic bio balls, and marinepure gems. Seems like its enough... but its not! I have been doing 50-90% water change daily for the last 2 weeks on this to keep up with ammonia levels. Finally on the 3rd week I can do every other day. Usually on a hastily setup QT its the ammonia that kills the fish not the ick. Check your ammonia levels daily and act accordingly.

How are you testing? Any medications currently in the water?

 

[jgln]

You'll need two things to cycle it sooner rather than later:

1. A bottle of nitrifying bacteria such as Bio-spira, Dr. Tim's, FritzZyme TurboStart 900, etc.
2. Bio-media (e.g. sponge, Seachem Matrix, Fluval Biomax) inside a HOB filter. Consider this the "housing" which the nitrifying bacteria will colonize.

I would also invest in a Seachem ammonia alert badge for active monitoring:

I got all three.

 

[jgln]

So I did post about my fish in other topic but had a beginner question about setting up a Q-tank, so rather than re-typing the same story I will just cut/paste. Thanks for all you help everyone.

"¦"¦..He died sometime Sunday night/Monday morning.

I spent Friday and Saturday setting up the Q-tank for him, took some time to get the temp stable and to match the display tank. Ammonia was 0 but since I used water from the display tank the nitrates were still high but I didn't want to make sudden changes and stress him out. Because an air stone was helping in the display I also added that to the Q-tank. In the display tank he was used to a good bit of water movement so I added a small circulation pump. He had not been moved from that tank in 13 years. He was still swimming in the display tank on Sunday around noon when I was able to net him and move him to the Q-tank. He was not as stunned from the move as I thought he would be but right away he stared to swim odd, in circles, on his side and even upside down a bit. I also noticed air bubbles accumulating on his skin so I shut that off. After 2 hrs he was still not swimming normal and decided he would not last the afternoon in that tank and moved him back to the display tank where he started swimming normal again. I think the 10g was too small for him. I had to come up with a new plan, I was exhausted at this point, he still wouldn't eat. That night he died.

The other tang and 2 clowns are still looking good and eating. I read Naso tangs can live very long in large aquariums, but also read 15 years is good in captivity and I really think now it was closer to 17 years I had him from less than a 1" fish. I think I he may have lived longer had I been able to provide a larger tank. I read later that I probably should have bought a different fish.

 

[Sk8r]

Re the original question, there are 2 ways to set up qt. One is cycled, avoiding all rock, sand. Use bacteria-in-a bottle or have a filter pad already prepped with bacteria. The other is decidedly not-cycled, again with no rock or sand, but being careful to keep the filter medium scrupulously clean. A variation on that is used in tank-transfer, in which you continually change tanks and discard filter media, in order to trap free-swimming ich in the filter media. Look up TTM or tank transfer method.

In general, you will not go wrong with clean water and clean media; you will not go wrong with cycled media either---unless the fish is too large for the cycled media to handle, ie, produces more waste faster than the limited media can process. Personally, I trust clean, when it comes to keeping a fish in small confinement. The moment the filter floss stains the least smudge of brown, it's time for new media. I also trust TTM as a pretty good method of being sure ich does not get into your tank with your new purchase of fish.