Setting up a quarantine tank

[tchndie]

I just set up a quarantine tank and was wondering how long should it run before using it? It's only a 24 gallon with heater, power head and a fluval 204. Do i need anything else? There is no sand or anything in it. Just going to put some pieces of pvc pipe in it for some hiding places. I am also going to use some of the water from my DT so it will have some established water in it. Any info would be appreciated!!

 

[Bretts05jeep]

im not sure but i think you will need some live rock or sand for bio

 

[Jstdv8]

Actually you don't want any sand or LR in a QT. Your bio for a QT all comes from the filter. did you keep the media from your fluval in your DT or have it connected to your DT for a week or so? This will eliminate any cycle you might have. If you didn't or can't then you need to let the QT cycle jsut like any other tank (usually about 4 weeks) before adding fish.
Adding water from your DT does nothing, there is no such thing as established water, only established substrate and LR and filtering. Established refers to the mechanical and biological filtration becoming "alive" with denitrifying bacteria.
You could use 100% freshly made saltwater (aged 24 hours in a tote) and you would get the same results. Your fluval in this case is what is going to need to be "established" or you will have to cycle the tank first if it is not.
The reason being is nearly ALL of the denitrifying bacteria lives ON something or IN something, like your filter media, live rock or substrate, very very little is actually in the water, and those that are are only in the water to move to a new spot. This is why water from the DT is not neccesary. However if you want to use water from your DT that's fine too, gives you another reason to do a water change on the DT

 

[tchndie]

Could I take some live rock out of my DT tank and put it in the QT for a week or so. Wouldn't the help with bio growth in QT tank then take the rock out? Or my e I will just hook it up to DT for a week this might be easier?

 

[crvz]

Could I take some live rock out of my DT tank and put it in the QT for a week or so. Wouldn't the help with bio growth in QT tank then take the rock out? Or my e I will just hook it up to DT for a week this might be easier?

Either way would work. I would leave a piece of rock from the display in the QT as long as is credible; even after you put some fish in the QT as long as you're not using medication. If you do decide to do something preemptive to treat the fish, then you can pull the rock out.

 

[thegrun]

Hooking it up to the DT would be quickest, but temporarily adding a piece of live rock will help. You can actually gamble and leave live rock in a QT, but if there is a problem with the fish and you have to medicate, the live rock will need to be removed (your QT then becomes a treatment/hospital tank) and the live rock cannot be placed back into the main tank without the risk of transferring disease. I used to keep a QT with a sand bed and live rock. Whenever I actually did need to medicate, I would transfer the fish into another treatment tank. The QT tank with live rock would then need to sit without fish for 6 weeks to allow the problem parisites to die off.

 

[khennig]

I was under the impression putting live rock in a QT was a bad idea. If an infected fish is placed in a QT for observation and found to have a disease or parasite, that organism could transfer to the live rock. Removing the live rock and placing it in the DT before starting the process of treating the QT would transfer the offending organism to the DT.

I know this to be 100% true for QTíng corals.

 

[rayn]

You don't want rock or sand if medicating. If you set of a QT for observation your fine, as long as you move the fish to a HT for medication. Not everyone has multiple tanks like that or want to.