I want to get a qt tank but have a few questions. I do not currently have any sick fish, but have heard it is a good idea to have one on hand in the case I do have an outbreak of ich or anything else. First of all, will a 10 gal do? most importantly how do you cycle a qt tank, or do you need to? Do you have to have a qt tank running and full of water at all times or just when you need it? what else do you have to do to set up a qt tank, and what equipment is needed?
Qt Tank?
- Thread starter Marty5
- Start date
Melanie
Well-Known Member
There are several articles on line and some books as well that REALLY go into what you need to set up the QT.
It really depends on what exactly is your primary goal with it. Mine is to isolate new fish for several weeks or more to observe them for any illness, get them acclimated to the food and water I use (I keep conditions as identical as possible in QT and DT.) Since mine is not intended to be used as a "hospital tank" I have live rock in there. If it were a hospital tank I would have gone a different route. I keep mine set up all the time and ideally I move a new fish in when I move the old fish out. Unfortunately I ran into an ich fish and now I have to leave it fallow for 2 months. I put two bait shrimp in there to keep it "cycling" while I wait.
Some people put a piece of filter floss in their DT sump and keep their QT empty. When it's time to put a fish in there, they fill it with water and the filter floss which has now accumulated beneficial bacteria.
It really depends on what exactly is your primary goal with it. Mine is to isolate new fish for several weeks or more to observe them for any illness, get them acclimated to the food and water I use (I keep conditions as identical as possible in QT and DT.) Since mine is not intended to be used as a "hospital tank" I have live rock in there. If it were a hospital tank I would have gone a different route. I keep mine set up all the time and ideally I move a new fish in when I move the old fish out. Unfortunately I ran into an ich fish and now I have to leave it fallow for 2 months. I put two bait shrimp in there to keep it "cycling" while I wait.
Some people put a piece of filter floss in their DT sump and keep their QT empty. When it's time to put a fish in there, they fill it with water and the filter floss which has now accumulated beneficial bacteria.
Hospital Tank = No rock, sand or any real "decoration". It's a barren tank with minimal items except maybe some PVC or items for hiding to reduce stress. Lighting is simplistic at the most.
Just remember that if you have a HT and you use COPPER nothing from the reef except fish can ever be placed into that tank and it can't be used to REEF again. Copper is very toxic even in minute amounts to reef critters. Other than that it's similar to a QT tank but on a plain and simple scale.
Hope this helps some.
Allen
Just remember that if you have a HT and you use COPPER nothing from the reef except fish can ever be placed into that tank and it can't be used to REEF again. Copper is very toxic even in minute amounts to reef critters. Other than that it's similar to a QT tank but on a plain and simple scale.
Hope this helps some.
Allen