Quarantene tank cycling - what to do with fish?

[SaltyTemple]

Alright - the main tank is great. I've been really careful with the levels. Now here's the issue. I had four fish arrive today to go in the QT - a replacement blue tang, two yellowhead jawfish, and a neon gobie. I'm floating the bags and decided to check the ammonia "just to be safe" but it's up in the .25ppm - I did a 1/3 water change and put a lb. of cured LR from the main tank in there to try to help it out just now (dang it, should have started it that way) and 1/3 cup of sand. I'm hoping that it'll help fix the cycling issue. SO what should I do? I feel like the fish will have a better chance at survival by putting them in the main tank as opposed to risking Nitrite damage (since I know that's next) Is there a way (by adding say another couple of pounds of cured LR) to halt the cycle process and make the QT safe for it's duty?

 

[Elmo18]

Hi Shauna. Do you have a sponge filter of some sort? What I usually do is take a HOB filter, like an Aquaclear, Tetra, etc, etc. I would age and colonize the sponge filter in an established tank, like your main tank for about 2 weeks. Then place it in the QT tank and let it go for a couple days before adding potential new/sick fish. This will get the bacteria colony going in the new QT tank. Another thing is to place some sort of hiding places. I suggest getting the black ABS fittings (L-bows, 45 deg L-bows, etc) that will sink and is dark colored. White PVC fittings will work, too, but I find that fish don't get as spooked as much with black ABS than the white PVC.

A lot of people after taking fish out of QT will either keep it running or empty it. I prefer to empty it, and start again when I know fish are coming. One reason is, I don't have to worry about maintaining it, and two, if you do dose with medicine, you will want to get that out before QT'ing other fish anyway.

May i ask what you are going to QT? I have a pair of GSM's in QT right now, that will be moved out tomorrow. They've been there for about a month now. They are finally eating well and looking great.

-
Ilham

 

[SaltyTemple]

Gar! If I had time that would have made perfect sense! I have a blue tang, 2 yellowhead jawfish and a neon goby which need to be put somewhere now - Any thoughts?

 

[wave98]

You've got to give us a little more info. on your Q tank Shauna. Volume, flow, filtration, etc. Just the same, throw on whatever HOT or Canister filtration with mechanical media and charcoal.

This will keep you in good shape eventually, but right away, throw in some Ammolock, and then some Seachem Stability or the like to start your bacteria. You need 5 or 10 pounds to do anything with live rock, and how about 6 to 8 cups of your "sand".

OOps, how big is this "Q tank"?

And so, tell us more, many are happy to help you here!

Wave98

 

[Krish]

Wave98 tooks the words right out of my mouth...Ammolock and stability. Another thing you may even try is lowering the salinity a bit as I've heard that @ about 1.020 or so is less stressful on the fish when transferring them(i would check on that first though because I may have heard wrong). If there is a LFS close by, I know when I got my stingrays a few yrs ago, they put some stuff in the bag that is supposed to help with stress in shipping etc. Maybe they can give you some of that same stuff to add to your QT. It is alot stronger than stress coat. More info would be good though.
Hope I made some sense. Oh, also, I don't know about your main tank setup, but what about an in-tank refugium or nursery that you can hang on the main tank (like a netted one) just until you get the QT straight?

 

[SaltyTemple]

Thanks guys! It's a 10 gallon with a hang on marineland trickle/heater. I've got the hiding pipe and 1lb of LR. I will head down to the LFS and pick up some ammolock and seachem stability. Thanks for the help - I'll check back in about 30 minutes.

 

[Krish]

Peace...Good luck!

 

[SaltyTemple]

well I picked up some of that stuff and I've aclimated the fish - everything seems okay for the time being. Thanks for the advice guys. Such a silly newby mistake eh?

 

[Krish]

No, it's not a newby..It happens to everyone. Anything can happen. Atleast you learned something today which may help someone else out tomorrow.

 

[SaltyTemple]

Good News - things are leveling out! I lost one of the jawfish - I think because he was insane though... When we got him he kept jumping in his bag like he really wanted to bite our noses. We tried dark and quite aclimation but he still didn't calm down. Anyhow - I ended up finding him stuck under that 1lb of LR that I threw in there. I think he tried to burrow - didn't notice the container of a few inches of sand I put in there I guess.

But the good news is that everyone else is doing really well. The other jawfish is eating, the neon goby is doing great, as is the yellow watchman goby. The blue tang has a bit of ich, but I know that is typical for that species. I'm trying to let the cleaner take it on before dosing. I just don't like chemicals...

 

[wave98]

Jawfish need a lot of substrate. They will dig it up, rearrange it, and make a burrow. That is what they do, no stopping it. If you do not give a jaw fish a good supply of substrate and various small rocks and rubble, it will not be happy, and will hide or jump out of the tank. This is it's reaction to the stress of not being able to build an appropriate burrow.

It could also be that you had two males, and only one is allowed. I'm not up as much on that though. Jawfish will jump out of the tank also, even with a good burrow, if fast moving eaters, like damsels etc. are "darting about"! Keep on a tight lid!

So give some help to the one that you have left in the main tank. Good luck, Jawfish are one of my favorites.

Happy reef keeping! > Wave98

 

[Krish]

Sorry to hear about your jaw fish and the ich on your tang, but it's glad to hear everything else worked out for you. Think about it this way, things are going a lot better for you right now than for me. :doubt:

 

[SaltyTemple]

sorry to hear that things aren't going well Krish - you had the power outage right? Good luck with getting everything set back up...

 

[Krish]

Thanks. I just ordered 3 aqua lifters from Premium Aquatics this morning and I should have them in my hand tomorrow. It was only $50.00 next day air. Once I get them i can get my CPR going again and finally (keep your fingers crossed) get some fish.