qt tank

[johnmiami]

I had set up a qt tank in the last couple of weeks to try and avoid premature deaths of new fish, but now that seems to be doing its own cycling. The last 3 fish I had in there I had to take out after only 2 days because my amnonia and nitrates were increasing.

Is there an easier way to have a qt tank? Or is this correct?

 

[seafansar]

You can add something like Prime by Seachem to keep the ammonia and nitrites down. If your qt tank has no liverock, livesand, or live filter media that's enough to breakdown the toxins, you just have to make a bunch of water changes. It can be a big pain, but it's worth having healthy fish in the end.

 

[johnmiami]

well I did put 2 pieces of live rock in it should I not have done that? I was trying to keep the new fish qt'ed for at least one week so I need them not to stress out in the qt tank before I can get them over to the main.

 

[nikkipigtails]

the reason you don't want any LR or LS in the QT is if you have to put fish in there to treat Ich. The copper in the medication will attach to the LR and LS and will become useless. You can put some large pieces of PVC in there so the fish have a place to hide. What kind of filter did you use for the QT? Did you let the filter media sit in your sump to seed it with denitrifying bacteria before you added the fish?

 

[Witfull]

a QT is differnt than a hospital tank. a QT can have rock in it. its an isolation/observation room. a hospital tank, is serile with inert hiding caves (PVC pipe) and needs regular daily waterchanges.

which are you trying to set up?

 

[nikkipigtails]

a QT is differnt than a hospital tank. a QT can have rock in it. its an isolation/observation room. a hospital tank, is serile with inert hiding caves (PVC pipe) and needs regular daily waterchanges.

which are you trying to set up?

You're right...I've always just used one tank for both. It's a lot easier that way.

 

[Witfull]

nik,,,i will never argue semantics with you......ok,,i will,,,,,each has a purpose

 

[johnmiami]

1. Then I should remove the LR. Is it contaminated now that I can't put it in the display? I do have inverts there.
2. My qt tank is 10g and I only have a little filter with suction cups that stick to the inside of the glass with a pad inside that basically pulls out any debris and keeps the water moving. ):

 

[johnmiami]

I see definitions for qt and hospital here. I am using qt to treat all my new fish. yes its observation but I do a copper treatment anyway.

 

[nikkipigtails]

So...you're treating all new fish with a copper medication before you add them to your DT, is that right? If that is the case, then I would not add the LR from the QT to the DT.

What kind of filter is it exactly? If there is a pad or sponge, then you can put it in your sump to seed it with denitrifying bacteria before you use it for your QT. When you use this method, you have to use a new sponge/pad each time but it helps a little bit with the ammonia/nitrate issues. You will, however, still need to do daily water changes.

 

[johnmiami]

I had decided that I would treat all of them because before they all got ich and usually died. So I thought that would be a good precaution. Would that be a correct assumption? The little filter has a sponge in it. So if I put it in the sump it will help?

 

[nikkipigtails]

Why would you assume that they would get ich anyway?

 

[johnmiami]

unfortunately most have at least ended up with it and I have used different stores for purchase. The ones that I have qt'ed have lasted longer at this point. However a tomato clown I just bought 3 days ago and did not qt is showing signs of those little spots..........

 

[nikkipigtails]

You should probably put all your fish in QT and let your taank go fallow for at least 6 weeks.

 

[goldenmean]

There are many great stickies in the Fish Disease & treatment sub forum that will help you a great deal.

Among them:

fish-quarantine-process-step-step

marine-ich-myths-facts

copper-treatment-use-problems

hyposalinity-treatment-process

 

[lcstorc]

You took the links righout of my hand.
There are may ways to create biological filtration in a qt of hospital tank. One of the most common is to put a sponge in the DT to populate with bacteria and use it in the qt tank.
If you have qt in the tank (which you do) any new fish will be exposed to the parasite no matter what you do in the qt. The first thing you need to do is to rid the tank of the parasite by leaving the tank fishless for 8 weeks while treating your current fish with copper or hyposalinity. Then you can return those fish to the tank. Any future additions need to be treated in the hospital tank in the same way so they do not re-introduce the parasite.