Shopping for clowns at lfs - not sure if qt is ready

[jscarlata]

So i was looking at the stock of clowns at one of my lfs's today and I saw a nice pair of black perculas. They were among 4 or 5 others, and it seemed as though they were pairing...they were doing the little dance move; the littler one was shaking and the bigger one was chasing him, it was cool. Mde me think that if they were in the lfs and pairing, then they must be healthy stock...am I delusional? Lol...
Unfortunately my display tank is only two weeks into the cycle, although it's progressing nicely I know its nowhere near ready. I have my 10g QT tank setup with fresh made salt water (esv). I had some filter pads and ceramic media in my sump during the whole cycle during which I added some microbe lift and biospira...so i was hoping the pads and bio rings were good to go in the qt. In the qt I have a fluval U2 and a powerhead that has a cylinder attached with a foam pad surrounding a cage filled w ammo carb. In theory, am i setup enough to attempt QT of a pair of clowns?

 

[cgauer5]

Unfortunately my display tank is only two weeks into the cycle, although it's progressing nicely I know its nowhere near ready. ?

I think that you may have answered your own question already. In order for the sponges to work in your QT tank you must have them in an established, already cycled and running, system. From the info you provided I don't think that your quarantine system is ready. That being said you also mentioned that you used BioSpira which normally expedites the cycling process from 3-4 weeks down to less than a week. Have you been tracking your nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia levels during the past two weeks? Also, if you are just setting up the tank and finishing the cycling process I don't really see a benefit to quarantining the first inhabitants of the tank. Normally a QT tank is setup in order to keep new acquisitions from carrying a disease into your established system as well as to ease the stress that can be associated with being transplanted into a new tank plus the extra stress new tank mates can provide. I think that your best bet would be to allow the display tank to finish cycling and then add the clowns. After that you can allow bacterial growth in the sponges to take place so you can setup the QT tank, then it will be ready further down the line for new additions. Remember not to add too many fish quickly to a system, drastic quick changes in bio load can harm your system even if you QT all the fish first. Best of luck and just be patient, it is one of the hardest things to do when setting up a tank, but it is worth it in the end.

 

[jscarlata]

Thanks for replying. I have been monitoring everything for the last two weeks, I'm using my ac-jr and a laptop to keep track w the aqua notes database. I used a raw shrimp forth first week or so to get the ammonia going, I removed the shrimp after the ammonia was over 1ppm. For the last three days Ammonia is at zero, last night the nitrites are on the way to zero but not there yet an nitrates are up around 15. I added some fish food 2 nights ago to see if the ammonia spikes and it hasn't yet, although not all the food dissolved yet. I appreciate the advice re qt. Wish I didn't mix the water last night! Oh well it's only 10 gallons. tank was seeded w 20lbs live sand and 9-10 lbs of live rock, re rest is 40 lbs base rock and 40lb base sand from marcorocks.

 

[MelloW33]

Ask the LFS to hold the two clowns you want for another 2 weeks.

 

[jscarlata]

That's an idea...
So should I keep "feeding" the tank an ammonia source for the next 2 weeks or should I let it be and let the nitrite go to zero, do a water change and move forward w fish and a cuc

 

[MelloW33]

I would stop the feeding. Maybe toss in some pellet or something but I wouldn't use another shrimp.

 

[JamesJR]

When I got my last fish addition I set up my quarantine two days in advance and everything was fine. To me, it is kind of counter productive to worry about waiting for a tank to cycle if you are going to be adding antibiotics or anything else that will kill the nitirifying bacteria anyway. I use an ammonia moniter from seachem (still use ammonia test kit daily but the moniter gives me peace of mind) and daily partial water changes (5-10% at the most). If you are very careful about not overfeeding you shouldn't have too many problems. If I am in a hurry and don't have any seawater made up I use a little prime as a quickfix until I can do a water change later in the day.
Once I go off of my antibiotic/copper regimin and switch to praziquantel I do a series of several 10-20% water changes and run a carbon reactor for a day or two. Last time I had a slight ammonia spike I added about 0.5 ml of BA microbacter and a little prime and I never had another ammonia spike for the last month the fish was in aquarantine.

 

[MelloW33]

When I got my last fish addition I set up my quarantine two days in advance and everything was fine. To me, it is kind of counter productive to worry about waiting for a tank to cycle if you are going to be adding antibiotics or anything else that will kill the nitirifying bacteria anyway. I use an ammonia moniter from seachem (still use ammonia test kit daily but the moniter gives me peace of mind) and daily partial water changes (5-10% at the most). If you are very careful about not overfeeding you shouldn't have too many problems. If I am in a hurry and don't have any seawater made up I use a little prime as a quickfix until I can do a water change later in the day.
Once I go off of my antibiotic/copper regimin and switch to praziquantel I do a series of several 10-20% water changes and run a carbon reactor for a day or two. Last time I had a slight ammonia spike I added about 0.5 ml of BA microbacter and a little prime and I never had another ammonia spike for the last month the fish was in aquarantine.

The OP said his DT is only 2 weeks into the cycle. So there isn't really a point in setting up a QT right away and having to do daily water changes for weeks while the DT finishes cycling. It would be easier for him to just have the LFS hold that pair.

 

[jscarlata]

so you are doing all that stuff in your QT tank right? do you just blanket treat each fish with the antibiotics and stuff, or only if they look sick?

i think i see what you are saying,
to not worry about having nitrifying/de-nitrifyuing bacteria in the QT tank because all of the medcines you use to trreat the fish kill the bacteria.
and to keep the water clean do water changes daily...

Im going to wait it out, i was never planning to rush the cycle etc, i want to succeed with this tank, i dont think i really want the black percs, i've always wanted the true's...i just thought "wow, these fish are pairing in the store, they must be healthy"...i figure you dont see that too often...i guess, thats a good thing to look for when shopping for clowns

I guess i'll share the wealth, if anyone is interested in these fish, the store is the new Pets Warehouse that took over for Aquarium Adventure in Carle Place NY...surprisingly their stock of marine fish look pretty good for the most part, and their livestock prices are much fairer than AA was. Even nice live rock for 5.99/lb i thought was pretty good.
the fish are in the back of the store, the tank holding them was to the right side of the back wall.

 

[JamesJR]

The OP said his DT is only 2 weeks into the cycle.

Ummm I know. I was just offering suggestions for QT.