fish lighting/my soulution to a bio-filter

[George771177]

Iam setting up a quarintine 31 gal tub. Iam using all water from my display tank. Iam going to use a new filter system and take the old filter out of the display tank. I am then going to add the fish and leave them in their for a day with just some pvc pipe to hide in. After it has ran for a day then comes the hard part. Iam then going to cut the filtration screens away from the carbon filled filters. After the screens are cut away iam going to rubber band both of them around a sponge. Taking the carbon away from the filter so i can add copper. Iam going to add copper about a quarter of what is suggested slowly acclimating to the fish until it is at the recommended dose. In the mean time iam going to do dailly water changes. Hopefully nothing spikes to bad, but i think the filters may have enough of a bio load in them to help me avoid any detrimental levels of. I was also thinking about putting a cup of sand with a screen over it in the tank before i start the copper to help with establishing the bio load. Before i ut the copper in i will take the cup of sand out since the copper will the live sand. Okay i know its long but this is my quic fix quarintine tank to fight my ich break out.................Do Fish Need Light (i have a flourescent tube light but do i really need it?)

 

[George771177]

this is my first try at this set up............ Not telling you that its effective or works ths is an experiment to rid my fish tank of ich while treating my fish and keeping them alive

 

[burning2nd]

good luck post us pics and results.

fish dont need light... they just light it.

and if your tank doesnt have enough load to handle there waste.... they will be dead in a day 2 so....

so keep an eye on your NH4 at least that way you could do water changes or something to prolong

 

[Woodstock]

I am confused as to the filtration you're going to use.... make sure you use a sponge/bioballs/etc from a CYCLED tank that has a similar (or higher) bioload than what the QT will need. If there is not an adequate amount of nitrifying bacteria, the ammonia will spike and kill the fish.
If you're going to use a new filter/media, make sure you CYCLE the QT first for 4-6 weeks using a cocktail shrimp.

 

[George771177]

for the filtration iam going to use a penguine 300 bio wheel. Iam going to add a cup of live sand from my main tank for a week. iam going to add 1 live rock for a week. The filtration is going to be helped with the filter pads form my main aquarium. iam then going to add one damsel for a week. I need my quarintine to be bare bottom. Iam just worried that i may not be providing a large enough bio load and my tank will cycle when i pu the two clown, diamond goby, and mandarine in the tank. I have to leave them in it for 6 weeks to get rid of the ich from my main tank. I will to 20-30% water changes. MOnitor amonia levels with amonia strips. Is this going to be possible for me to keep these fish alive for six weeks. is no substraight going to allow a bio load to establish to keep the fish in my quarintine tub? I have read all sorts of articles and it feels like iam just running into a wall and that setting up the quarintine is going to be use less. Just want to treat with copper for 3 weeks and keep them out of my tank..................Please please please throw me your suggestions on the situtation. Your opinions of how to do this or how to prevent the big mess up. Sorry i havent included all the deatils of the tank but i have been writting on this all week so if it is someone who is up on my problem i would love your opinions.........Thanks George

 

[mps9506]

Do not treat the mandarin goby with cooper! These guys should only be treated with hyposalinity. There mucus coating typically protects them from parasites very well, but they are very very sensitive to cooper, formalin, and any metal based meds.

 

[lcstorc]

Why are you going to put a damsel in the qt for a week? If you are using it for the cycle then use a piece of shrimp from the grocery store instead. It does the same thing without subjecting a fish to the stress and amonia. Also a day is not nearly long enough. The qt is going to cycle unless you have an established bio-filter in there. You will need at minimum large daily water changes to keep the amonia down. When my qt was first set up I was doing 2 50% water changes a day and the amonia was still high.
Also you need to keep the fish in the qt for 6-8 weeks for the ich to go through it's life cycle. Otherwise you will just be putting them back in the tank to be re-infected. You may not see the signs for an extended period but it will be there and will appear when the fish are stressed.

 

[Dentoid]

:chair:

 

[George771177]

Can a bare bottom tank establish enough bacteria to keep fish in it? adding a bio-wheel filtration system, an air raider, and a sponge with established bacteria from my main tank. Will it cycle and hold fish?

 

[mps9506]

two clown, diamond goby, and mandarine in the tank

If that is all that is going into the QT, yes you will have enough biofiltration even with a barebottom tank. However like ever one else mentioned, make sure you fully cycle it first with some raw shrimp or something. You need to have it setup a few weeks before putting the fish in there.

Do not treat the mandarin goby with cooper

This is important however!

 

[George771177]

thanks i will cycle it iam going to use the filtration pads form my min tank. Place a sponge in my main tanks filter. Let the tub tank run for 2 weeks with cup of sand and do water changes while checking for ammonia levels. after that is established iam going to add the fish. thanks