quarantine tank.......

[richie822]

just set up a 10 gallon quarantine tank on friday, 2 days ago. I am using a small aqua clear power filter with no carbon, a small airstone pump, and a heater. in order to speed up the cycle, i bought the off the shelf nitrifying beneficial bacteria and on friday i put some kent marine micro vert food and a pinch of flake food in order to introduce ammonia. I tested the water today, and ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are all at zero. Could it be possible the the tank cycled in 2 days? or maybe there wasnt enuogh ammonia introduction and the cycle hasnt even started? just wodnering if it was safe to start quarantining....also i was wondering if it wuold be ok to quarantine a dwark angel like a flame angel or a coral beauty in a 10 gallon? seems to me that it qwuold be ok b/c i deffinetly see at my local fish store them holding angel fish in less than 10 gallons of water. Wuold this be safe for 4 weeks in quarantine? what about a small juvenile tang in a 10 gallon quarantine? any feedback wuold be greatly appreciated...

 

[mmkeeper]

You can qt them in that size tank, be ready to do lots of water changes. If you are going to use hyposlainty you will have to keep an eye your ph . Test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates several times aday till it is cycled. Keep an eye on your ph/alk/ca levels too. Make sure to have something to cover the tank with to keep the critters from jumping out.

 

[richie822]

thnaks for your input....cuold it be that my tank is cyced already only after 2 days? or maybe there hasnt even been an ammonia spike to start the cycle? im a little confused about that b/c i want to buy a fish soon and start quaranting him so i can put somehting in the main display tank.

 

[mmkeeper]

you might not of had enough waste to start the bacteria. How ever you can cycle pretty quick in a fish only qt. Remember fish are not sensitive as corals and introverts.

 

[steve-s]

Please reconsider a 10 gal even for a small Regal tang. At minimum you would need a 20 gal long for most fish except ones that remain small. A 10 would also be a bad idea for the angels. Large tanks mean larger QT will be need for the eventual fish you may end up getting. If your display tank is small, your QT would represent that size alternatively. Then again, so would the fish.

As for the "off the shelf" bio-starters, don't bother. They won't work in SW unless formulated for SW and even then most still don't work. The only one that has ever shown any promise is Marine Birospira.
http://www.marineland.com/science/nspira.asp

In general, a new tank will take about 2-3 days before ammonia will register and another 7-10 days afterwards for it to subside. A tank is considered cycled once ammonia and nitrite are undetectable. Although nitrite is not a concern in SW.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php

A tank would be considered mature/maturing once nitrate reduces on it's own without the need for intervention by the hobbyist.

For a QT, zero ammonia is best and nitrates as low as you can manage with regular water changes. You will never reach zero nitrate in a tank without anoxic/anaerobic areas for bacteria. Although they can create their own environments, there simply would be enough of this bacteria to make a difference.

 

[Brenden]

I agree with Steve. I would go a step farther and say even the bio-spira is a waste. I have tried it 3 different times and it appeared to do nothing. The best way to "speed cycle" a QT is to have a seeded piece of filter material etc to place in your QT prior to adding the fish. This is not a requirement but products like amquel etc will help minimize the toxic NH3