Setting up a permanent QT.. Need help and info..

[micielo719]

I posted this in a different forum so not sure if it should be posted here for quicker attention?? Hey guys, I just set up my permanent 10g QT tank yesterday. Salt is at 1.026 and running a HOB w/bio wheel. Temp at 80*. So now my questions, I just purchased some fresh shrimp from the local grocery and was wondering if I should cut up the shrimp (how many?) and place in a stocking to hold it together while it breaks down or let it float?? I also purchased some flake food to "Ghost feed".

1) How long do I let the shrimp sit in tank for?

2) Do I add in another shrimp at a specific time?

3) When do I begin to "Ghost feed" flake food?

4) How often do I feed the flake food and approx how much? (pinch? etc.)

5) When do I test for ammonia and then how far after my first test do I check again and then after that?

Sorry for all the new questions as I am setting up this QT tank prior to setting up my DT so I can be ready with fish, etc. when it comes time.

Thank you very much in advance for the info and help.

 

[micielo719]

Hoping to hear before I go to work in the am...

 

[pyithar]

do you already have a tank running? if so, you could put a new filter pad in the sump and "seed" it with the beneficial bacteria from the running system for a couple of weeks or so. then you could use that filter pad in your quarantine tank's filter.

 

[micielo719]

Unfortunately I dont.... My DT won't be up and running for a month. So trying to set up QT now so I have everything ready.

 

[pyithar]

to answer your questions: you don't need to cut the shrimps. you could let it float or place it in a stocking. the main purpose of adding raw shrimp into the tank is to get ammonia which is the food source for the bacteria.

1. leave the shrimp in the tank for a couple of days or a week and test. when you get ammonia reading about 2 ppm, you could take the shrimp out.

2. you don't need to add more shrimps if there's already 2 ppm ammonia in the tank

3. when the ammonia test shows zero, you could ghost feed the flakes and see if the bacteria could handle it

4. since it's only a 10G tank and you don't have any livestock in the tank to eat the food, a pinch every other day should be ok i'd think.

5. you should test the ammonia every few days (or at least once a week) to see how the cycle is going.

 

[micielo719]

Thank you very much for chiming in!! I greatly appreciate it.

 

[oldbones]

You should only need one shrimp, unless they are super tiny. Mine hit 2ppm in less than 24 hours with half a wild caught prawn (raw).

 

[Sk8r]

Bear in mind, too, that a qt should not have sand or rock, and that if a parasite turns up, nothing in that tank can be allowed to contact another fish for 72 days unless it has been completely wiped down with bleach and Prime, which destroys any bacteria. [Prime neutralizes the bleach.]

In other words, a second tank for new fish to live in is nice, but if it has sand or rock, that sand or rock can house a parasite to infect the next fish. This is why permanent qt's are kind of problematic. If you medicate them you kill the bacteria. If you sterilize them you kill the bacteria. If you keep sponges in your main tank you may, over time, create a nitrate problem. This is why I prefer a completely new setup qt, at need, with an uncycled filter. Recent information has also suggested that your unlidded qt not sit in any proximity to your dt or sump---apparently spray from one tank can carry ich to the other. The other solution is to lid your qt and be careful with hands and nets.

 

[micielo719]

My QT is bare bones.. NO sand, NO rock, just a heater, filter & thermometer with some PVC pipe. So you're saying if I medicate for ich then all the bacteria is gone?? Or if I medicate with other medications?? Such as copper, etc. My QT is sitting in a completely separate room and actually has a lid that the tank came with. I will be extremely careful with hands and nets as to not pick up any water. I will be observing my fish when I end up getting them for at least a good 2-2-1/2 months.. As I am in the process of getting my stand finished and I will not have the DT set up until then anyway. Thank you again for all your info and help!

 

[micielo719]

Also forgot to ask.. What is the best test kit to check for ammonia?? I ordered an Ammonia Badge which should be here within the next couple of days. Should I run out and purchase an Ammonia test kit before hand or waiting for the next 2 days ok?? If anything I would have to go to either Petsmart or Petco to pick up an ammonia test kit. So if that's ok please let me know or should i wait for the badge to arrive? Thanks

 

[ericarenee]

Not sure if this helps you or not but my Qt tank is a 29 gal bow front.(just had it around) its Drilled with a over flow on one side.I have it Connected to my Sump so water from my Tank circulates thru it all the time. The tank is on the other side of the sump room with plumbing ran around the wall and union Ball valves so i can totally disconnect it from both ends and let the pipe go dry while the QT Tank is being used to house something. Inside the tank i have a few pieces of live rock from the sump of my System. So its Ready to go without using any extra power for pumps heaters and so on. When in use i toss a heater and wave pump in there. when the fish go into the display i Add about 1/3 cup of bleach to the water and leave it be overnight . then i will Drain it let it dry for a day then reconnect it to Display sump and switch out the Pieces of rock to other rock that has been seeded...
Just a Idea of how you can do a Full time runnning QT to have ready when you need it with no rush. But requires a sump room or sitting awful close to your display with sump.
I agree with everythingabove except the no live rock . I have had great luck with qt fish with a few pieces of live rock in the qt tank. IF you need to drop salinity for ich. the parasites will die with or without.... and Can attach to pvc and even the silicone on the tank...

 

[Sk8r]

Copper kills everything. It is a toxic substance in excess, and we use a dose that kills invertebrates (including bacteria) just a little faster than it kills fish---which is why I don't like to use it if there are other choices. Tank transfer, in which you trade uncycled tanks and toss the medium, is pretty good for ich. [we have a sticky on how-to.] There are also flukes, lymphocystis, brook, and various other things that have to be treated differently, which is another reason not to medicate until you're sure what you're dealing with. Lymphocystis is viral, and we don't have a treatment. Prazi pro works on flukes, and a formalin dip on brook---but you have to be precise, and there are instructions we can point you to --- I think we have them in the Fish Disease section.

Tricks and tips: bleach kills everything. Including fish. However, Prime kills bleach. So you can sterilize, then soak it in water with Prime and have it come up clear of chlorine bleach. THat's your best recourse with ammonia, too. Suggest you look up the product and see what it can do. Amquel is another. Good tools when trying to sterilize and deal with ammonia.

The ammonia badge is good, but for a quick test on a basic situation I use just plain old nitrate-ammonia test strips---dip and color match for a super-quick answer. If any shows--it needs fixing. If you want a precise answer of how much, I use Salifert tests for most everything.

 

[ericarenee]

Copper kills everything. It is a toxic substance in excess,


i Agree when the Cure is often worse then the Parasite or issue avoid at all cost if there is any other way around it. And Copper will linger forever. You copper poison a fish and not realize it then put in your Display you could wipe out everything..

 

[Marchillo]

Be aware when you use prime it binds the toxic ammonia but will still show up on most test kits. The ammonia badge is supposed to only show free ammonia which is the toxic stuff. I bought the SeaChem ammonia test which distinguished the two but it's basically the same as the in tank badges.

I'd run 3 different tests - Red Sea, API, and SeaChem which all showed a result of 0.25 total ammonia which the free ammonia test showed up zero.

Very tricky in my opinion. When I wasn't sure I did a 30% wc.

Fish have been doing great after two weeks and I just started TTM. Really not as bad as I thought.

 

[micielo719]

Thanks again for all the info.. I have a badge that should arrive in 2 days so I'll put it in the tank and watch it. I'll also purchase some inexpensive strip test just to have on hand. I'm basically just patiently waiting now for the QT Tank to cycle which I know will be weeks but at least it's started. I just wanted to make sure I catch the ammonia spike and then do the other tests before I decide to purchase my first fish a couple weeks after tank cycles. Question again.. (I'm full of them,LOL) is it better to purchase frags and corals first and let them get established or go fish first? Thanks

 

[Marchillo]

i forget besides the 3 tests I ran I also did the strips. Those are great for this particular purpose.

 

[micielo719]

Ok, quick update and thoughts.. Started my QT tank 6/14 placed a shrimp in but wasn't able to get my ammonia badge till 6/19 and it's reading normal at .05 PPM. I have put in a few pieces of flake food a couple days ago and I haven't noticed any chance in ammonia. Around when should I see a spike in ammonia?? The shrimp is almost all gone. Am I doing what needs to be done. Thanks

 

[micielo719]

Here are the results so far. Not sure which Ammonia test I should be going by. The API Ammonia test kit is a brand new kit I just picked up and showing between 1-2 PPM VS the Ammonia badge which is also new showing .05PPM. The Nitrite looks between 0-5 PPM. The Nitrite is at 0. The tank has been up 10 days so far. Thoughts.

 

[micielo719]

Ammonia badge

 

[micielo719]

Nitrate