InvaderJim
Coral Junkie
Your not suppose to put the rocks from the main tank in the QT. There should be no rocks in there. You use water from your display tank. You maintain water quality by doing water changes.
Question about Ich
- Thread starter InvaderJim
- Start date
Some people keep filter material in their sumps, like a sponge, to grow enough bacteria to allow that to be the bio filter in an emergency QT. In a situation like yours yes ammonia will be a problem. You can use Seachem's Prime to help. But you still need to be prepared to do lots of water changes. Put some filter material in the QT anyway so after a couple weeks of water changes you will have some beneficial bacteria to help.
The reason not to put rocks in QT is usually for Cu treatments. The rock will absorb the Cu and become useless. The ich attachment to the rock is not a real big concern if you run the hypo long enough to break the life cycle. But hypo may also kill much of the beneficial meiofauna living in the rock. Mingo is right in that bare substrate will make it harder for the ich to attach. When you do your water changes to control NH3/4 siphon the bottom to get any recently released trophonts.
If you do hypo also be prepared to do top offs twice daily to keep your salinity from rising. Also watch your PH. It can really swing in hypo.
The reason not to put rocks in QT is usually for Cu treatments. The rock will absorb the Cu and become useless. The ich attachment to the rock is not a real big concern if you run the hypo long enough to break the life cycle. But hypo may also kill much of the beneficial meiofauna living in the rock. Mingo is right in that bare substrate will make it harder for the ich to attach. When you do your water changes to control NH3/4 siphon the bottom to get any recently released trophonts.
If you do hypo also be prepared to do top offs twice daily to keep your salinity from rising. Also watch your PH. It can really swing in hypo.
InvaderJim
Coral Junkie
Ok, I setup my QT with 80% of water from my display tank. Is it safe to just put the fish right in? Or should I take a sponge from my sump and let it sit in the the tank for a few days?
If you had a sponge already in your sump put in right in the QT with the fish. You will probably still have to watch your NH3 as a single sponge may not be able to handle the waste from several fish. Seachem's Prime does a great job helping the fish get through those first few days. And be prepared for WC every day.
Just to be clear by a sponge I mean like one you would use in a HOB filter. Not a living sponge. I use Aquaclear HOB filters. You can put sponge, carbon and ceramic pieces to help cultivate the bio filter. It will only take a couple weeks to get the cultures built up. The ley is keeping the NH3 below .1 for those 2 weeks. I put the bags of ceramic pieces in the sump too. Can't have too much bio filter building up just in case.
Just to be clear by a sponge I mean like one you would use in a HOB filter. Not a living sponge. I use Aquaclear HOB filters. You can put sponge, carbon and ceramic pieces to help cultivate the bio filter. It will only take a couple weeks to get the cultures built up. The ley is keeping the NH3 below .1 for those 2 weeks. I put the bags of ceramic pieces in the sump too. Can't have too much bio filter building up just in case.
InvaderJim
Coral Junkie
Yea I use a Aquaclear as well. I have a spare sponge in my sump and I was just going to stick it in the HOB filter. So should I throw a bag of ceramic in there too? Test the water often, and keep WC water ready.
InvaderJim
Coral Junkie
Anyone?
InvaderJim
Coral Junkie
I put some PVC in there and a little rock thing for my tang to hide behind. I'll find my spare bag of ceramic rings. I've got a 10g of saltwater mixing as we speak. I'll keep an eye on the pH. Thanks
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