q- tank mishap and questions

[bbauer]

a few questions about a quarantine tank
1. Should you put substarte "ie crushed coral" into the q-tank?

2. If you start the tank with water from the original tank, how soon should you do water changes, also does the tank have to be recycled?


I just set up my first quarantine tank since i learned my lesson about introducing new fish into my tank without quarantining them. I set up a 10 gal, with a new standard hang on the back filter, small heater, top and light. I added about 1 inch of new from bag crushed coral to the tank , a small piece of live rock from my big tank and plastic rock thing for the fish to hide in. The water i origianlly used to start it was from my main tank. The day after i set it up i bought a new angel and put it in the tank thinking everything was all good. The fish looked just fine for a few days. so when i did a water change on my main tank I changed about 40% of the q-tanks water as well. I used new ro salt water. tonight which is about 5 days after i put him in i noticed that he was breathing funny and acting really strange. So i did water tests and found that the nitrites were extremely high and the ammonia was also a little high, just like as if it was going through a cycle again. Why is it doing this, i thought that by using water from my old tank it wouldnt have to cycle again. I know im wrong i would like somebody to point out what I did and how to fix it. Thanks

 

[mmkeeper]

When you setup a qt you want to go bare bottom. You will have to cycle the tank. And you do water changes and use amquel according to ammonia, nitrite, nitrate tests. You also need to stay on top of your ph levels.

 

[shallowreef]

Substrate is a no no. If you use copper it will stay in the substrate unless you acid wash it which is a pain in the ass!!!

 

[ronj]

get rid of the crushed coral in there....the live rock,you can go ahead and leave in there, but don't put it back i your display tank...the majority of the nitrifying bacteria are not going to be in the water, they will be on the surfaces and rock in your tank..if the rock was out of your display tank, it should have some on it already....you may have to do small daily water changes(15-20%) to keep the ammonia and nitrites in check...it should balance out pretty quickly since the rock is in there....after everything is in check, you could start doing weekly or biweekly water changes ..i would use freshly mixed salt water, instead of the water from your main tank..make sure you let it mix for at least 24-48hrs

 

[Slickdonkey]

Putting live rock in a QT is unnecessary. It will also no longer be "live" as soon as you start either hypo or copper treatment.

Just keep a small sponge or hang-on filter running in your main sump and transfer it to the QT when needed. Also you don't need to use water from the main tank. This won't do anything to "cycle" your quarantine tank. You need physical biological filtration media, not water.

I agree, no substrate in the QT.

 

[ronj]

Putting live rock in a QT is unnecessary. It will also no longer be "live" as soon as you start either hypo or copper treatment.

the liverock is unnecessary, but since the fish is already in the tank, you must leave it for now, unless you have a biowheel or other media that has been in your display for some time that you could replace it with..removing it will leave you with no nitrifying bacteria in the tank!!

 

[burning2nd]

im thinking of seting of a 10 gal tank, as a QT,

but i was gonna go a little diffrently, i was gonna get a couple small peaces of LR, give it lighting, heat, movement. and transfer the hob filter from my sump (after being there for a long time) and almost starting up a small nano tank,

transfering a shell with coraline on it, and let it cycle and becomeing another small tank, for qting people b4 hiting my tank

 

[Brenden]

You do not want LR or sand etc in a QT tank. If you ever have to add meds they will absorb it.

 

[ronj]

i added a few pieces of rubble rock to mine when i set it up..i already had the fish, so i had to get some nitrifiying bacteria in there quickly!! i plan on throwing the rock away when i am done!