Water for setting up a Q-tank

[yankit3@hotmail]

Dear Experts. I've got a year+ in this hobby. Recently encountered disasters in quarantine the new arrivals. A juvenile blue-o got killed with reason unknow in last DEC; a coral beauty died of ICH in March and a ganggai cardinal (cyanide I suspect) onlt stayed for 2 days during the Q-period.
Seek advices all over the world. Some said the culprit was the water (from the dispaly tank) and others said it was the fish itself. May I be led as to the proper procedures in setting up a Q-tank? My intended moves are:-
(a) Run a HOB filter in my display tank for 3 weeks; (b) prepare a 10-g tank; (c) mix new salt water days in advance; (d) transfer some bio-ring + a small piece of live rock from the main tank to the Q-tank to kick up the biological system (cycle); (e) let the Q-tank run fishless for a week but adding some food daily to cycle the tank;(f) after a week, get the fish bag float in the Q-tank; (g) acclimate the fish by dripping the water from the Q-tank for 1 hour+(h) cover the tank with black paper with hiding place in the tank to provide sense of safety for the fish. (i) don't use the display tank water? (j) change 10/20 % water daily.

Please do correct me as I don't to commit the same mistake again. Thanks.

Best Regards,

Jimmy WONG
from Hong Kong

 

[steve-s]

If you have the 10 gal tank now, I would set it up while the HOB filter is seeding on the display. Add the flake food as well to get some bacteria started. After a few weeks of the HOB seeding on the display, you'll have a much healthier, stronger biofilter for the QT. It will make a huge difference to the success of QT'ing new arrivals and cut down on the need for frequent water changes.

Do not add rock or substrate to the QT, it will interfere with treatments that might be used. Only inert material like plastics, PVC or the like. No CaCO3 based items. Covering the back and sides of the tank is fine but leave the top open save for some type of grating to prevent jumping, aeration is important.

When acclimating fish, no need to drip. Simpley float the bag for 10-15 min unopened. After that time passes, open the bag and test ph and salinity. Manipulate the QT water to match that of the transport bag adjusting salinity and/or pH up/down as needed and then drain the water from the bag and release the fish. Long acclimation times are not neccessary as long as the three most important factors (temp/pH/salinity) are matched.

One important thing to remember is once some item is used for the QT it remains a QT only product. Equipment must never be shared between QT and the main tank. Nets, pumps, powerheads and so on.

Cheers
Steve

 

[yankit3@hotmail]

Thanks, Steve. Could I get a more definite advice, and that is : "don't use the display tank water to set up the Q-tank".

Best Regards,

Jimmy

 

[james734]

I think it all depends.. I don't leave my QT/Hosip tank setup all the time.. So when I do need it I take some water out of the main tank, then do partial water changes later with new fresh SW (matching temp, etc.). This works good if you setting more of a Hosip. tank and will be moving fish over. They're already acclimated to the water out of the main.

If you doing strictly a QT and starting fresh and going to let it cycle etc. Then you can start with fresh SW. IMO.


It works for me, but than again my idea might be flawed a little. Not sure how important where the water comes from as long as your QT'ing. I've had to learn the hard way along with most others by dealing with issues in the main tank. Not fun.....

 

[jsmkmavity]

do you test your qt for ammonia before puting fish in it and after as well?

 

[james734]

PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates. I test all to make sure everything is stable and correct prior and during at least daily sometimes twice daily. Not so much after since I tear it back down..

 

[steve-s]

I think it all depends.. I don't leave my QT/Hosip tank setup all the time.. So when I do need it I take some water out of the main tank, then do partial water changes later with new fresh SW (matching temp, etc.). This works good if you setting more of a Hosip. tank and will be moving fish over. They're already acclimated to the water out of the main.

Nothing wrong with that at all. If a tank is needed "on the fly", this is the easiest way to get it done if transfering existing fish or when premade SW is not at hand.

Jimmy,

Just be sure once the QT tank is set up, you use only new SW for water changes and such. If the main was infected you will keep reintroducting. Given water quality in a QT is often harder to maintain when not cycled first, adding DOC from another tanks water can make it that much harder. When the tank is first set up though, it won't make much difference.

Cheers
Steve

 

[NotherFrickingL]

I think most fish perish in QT due to ammonia spikes.

As the tanks are normally small, the levels of ammonia build quickly initially.

I run an ammonia badge in my qt tanks and without fail, day 2 brings an ammonia spike that ends up requiring large water changes. This is not to much an issue as I use my display tank for the water source (Display > Quarantine > Drain) About day 4 the bacteria seem to finally catch up and things settle down. Day 2 and 3 however find me replacing 100% of the water in the tank with two 50% changes a day. The ammonia badges are slow to react however (4 hours) so you do need to test with a regular test.
All my QT problems went away after figuring this out ($200 worth of fish btw) and my tanks are ICH free and happy.