My First Quarantine Tank

[cracker]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I had to stop testing everyday.It was making me even more impacient.

[goldenmean]

I understand that. LOL!
Luckily I am pretty good with patience. My display has been up and running for 5 months and I have not added any fish yet.
I am going to stick with testing just once a day. I tested twice yesterday as I had just added ammonia the night before and I was curious what impact that would have. Depending on how long this takes i could see testing every other day soon but the Seachem tests I am using are easier to do than some of the other tests kits I have used.

[BarbMazz]

Sooooo... what's the first fish going to be?! Do you have in mind how long it will take the QT to finish cycling?

I'm going to try to emulate your patience! Right now I'm drumming my fingers waiting to go get the tanks and stuff. Hafta wait for a friend to come along and help unload here at home.

[goldenmean]

I am hoping that I tank will be cycled by the end of the month.

My fishy wishy list is:
Longnose Hawkfish
flasher/fairy wrasse (of some sort) Scott's Wrasse? McCosker's? Exquisite?
(I saw one on the web the other day that was claimed to be good at controlling montipora pest and since I have a couple montis that would be a great addition. The next day he was gone and I dont remember what kind he was. I need to do some more research.)
Rainsford Goby
Midas Blenny
I saw a Priolepis goby that was pretty interesting but I need to do some more research on that one.
Im still open to other suggestions????

I am hoping the first fish will be the Long nose Hawkfish but I am planning on buying my fish from Diver's Den due to their awesome in-house quarantine process and their stellar customer service. So what I get first will probably depend on which fish is available when my Qt and I are ready. They have had a couple of Longnoses recently but they are sold quickly. I have been watching their site almost daily for a while now.

[BarbMazz]

Heck I was just reading about the Longnose Hawk last night in USA Marine Fish and Reef.. the 2008 annual magazine. It's volume 10, 2008. As you know, these fish are good for reef tanks.. the article did mention adding them last as they can become aggressive to later fish additions, but I sure don't know if that's accurate!

I love Diver's Den! I look there daily as well... gives a person a look at all kinds of different animals that aren't in most LFS or books. I really like the Midas Blenny, too.

Here are some ideas I've come upon, but you know I don't have a clue yet so take with a grain of salt! I'm going to have some Pajama Cardinalfish.. their coloring is rather silly and different, and you can keep more than one in a tank. I like the idea of a small school, so I'll probably have three. Also, I'm thinking of a Citrinus Goby. They're very small and their coloration is different, too. I also like the looks of their little faces. I would like some sort of shrimp goby (paired with a shrimp of course)... the shrimp goby annd the Citrinis goby may not be good together so I'll have to make a choice.

I'm going with the seemingly requisite Clowns.. probably either ocellaris or true percula. Those will probably come later because I do want to have a BTA for them to host in. Later down the road as well will be a Mandarin dragonet, if my tank matures appropriately and I've figured out how to propagate lots of pods for him/her. Then, last, if I'm really brave I may venture into the BSJF... but it's a "dream" and I certainly have to wait to see what sort of conditions develop!

As I've been reading about setting up a shallow reef clam tank.. these fish I've mentioned above have been mentioned multiple times as good co-existers. Mentioned also were anthias, but they seem so tricky from what I've read, even though they are BEE-yoo-ti-ful fish!

[goldenmean]

Thanks Barb!
I had not heard that about the long nose - adding them last.
I will check into it.

Here is tonight's readings
NH3 = 1.
NH4 = 3
NO2 = 15
NO3 = Off the chart. My test only reads to 50 and my test turns a color not on the chart.

[goldenmean]

This Sunday evening's readings

NH3 = 0
NH4 = 2.5
NO2 = 7
NO3 = 75+ Tested with my elos test kit that measures up to 75
The seachem test seems to break down as the trates are so high

So in less than 24 hours NH3 (Free ammonia) dropped from 1 to 0.
I ran a second test to get confirmation. They both tested at 0.
Ionized ammonia/NH4 is still up there but it seems to be coming down a bit too.
Nitrites also dropped from 15 to 7.

[cracker]

Good News! Sounds like it's getting close. How long has it been?

[goldenmean]

I set it up last Monday so it has been 6 days.
However I had the sponges in my sump for just over a month.
I have some more ammonia cycles to go through yet.
This is according to the seahorse.org article seahorse.org - Cycling a Marine Tank

After the tank has been set up and the bacteria have been introduced, begin to add the ammonia. If the tank is on the smaller side, start with only a couple of drops. Let it circulate in the water for a short time, and then test for ammonia. You want to raise the ammonia level to about 1–2 PPM Continue adding drops of ammonia and testing, while keeping track of how many drops total it takes to get to 1–2 PPM

Once you've reached the desired level, you now need to wait for the bacteria to multiply and do their job. It may take several days to a couple of weeks for your ammonia test to register zero. Once it does, add the same number of drops of ammonia again. Keep repeating this many times, each time waiting until ammonia reads zero, until finally the ammonia test goes to zero within 8–12 hours of the addition of ammonia.

When the tank is able to clear the ammonia within this time frame, that means that there are large numbers of bacteria present. At this time, test for nitrites. If nitrites are present, perform 3v4 more ammonia cycles to further establish the second group of bacteria. If the nitrite test reads zero, perform a very large water change and then you can begin slowly stocking your tank.

It's been suggested that elevating the temperature of the tank to the mid-80s F during cycling with the ammonia method can have beneficial effects. Just make sure that there are no animals in the tank being subjected to this temperature extreme (and ammonia), and also make sure to lower the temperature again prior to stocking.

So I am going to add some more ammonia tonight.
I want ammonia to drop to 0 in 8-12 hours after I add it to the tank.
The last couple of days I have been trying to get the water temp up. It is at 80 but I want to get it to 85 to help the bacteria growth.

What I want to do is wait for my nitrites to get to 0, do a big water change, and add the first fish. But If I am going to set up a QT - I am going to do it right. Otherwise i am stressing the fish in the QT with poor water quality

[goldenmean]

Around midnight I added 1.5ml of ammonia to create another spike.
I tested this morning about 10 hours later.
NH3 = .05
NH4 = didnt test
NO2 = 15/20
NO3 = didnt test
I am a bit surprised at how quickly free ammonia dropped.
Obviously I have a lot of the bacteria that converts NH3 to NO2.
I will be interested in seeing how the trites look this evening.

Oh i did get the qt temp up to 85 to help speed up bacteria growth.

[Woodstock]

Karma to you! Keep up the good work

[goldenmean]

9:30 pm test results
NH3 = .02
NH4 = didnt test
NO2 = 7
NO3 = didnt test

Trites did drop during the day. Still a little free ammonia

Thanks Doni for the encouragement and the karma!

[goldenmean]

I havent posted test results the last 3 days but I have been testing.

Jan. 15
NH3 = .1
NH4 = 3
NO2 = 10
NO3 = 75

Jan 16
NH3 = .1
NH4 = didnt test
NO2 = 10-15
NO3 = didnt test

Today, Jan 14
NH3 = .01
NH4 = didnt test
NO2 = 20
NO3 = didnt test

Ammonia is almost down to 0 but the nitrites seem to be rising still.
The water temp got a bit higher than I wanted ~90 degrees for a couple of days.. I was shooting for 85. I went and got a digital thermometer so I can keep a close eye on the temp. Currently 84.1. I am wondering if that has hindered the nitrite consuming bacteria. I had added a small piece of fresh squid and that is almost gone so when I fed my Mantis shrimps I added another piece. Eat away bacteria.

This evening I had just opened the Divers Den site on my browser when Barb sent me a PM that they had posted a Long Nose Hawk Fish. Right after that Michael cb 125 posted on my 55 chronicle thread about the long nose too. The Rsers are watching for me. Too cool.

Alas the QT is not ready for fish yet. Only been 10 days. gotta wait! sigh.

[zy112]

Great job on planning a QT. As crappy as skilters are I actually use them on my QT without problems. Take the pads out and just run the annoying skimmer lol

[Woodstock]

Yeah, the 95 deg water might have inhibited the bacterial growth. Bacteria consume a huge amount of oxygen and as you know, the warmer water had less o2 in it.

You're close! Keep up the good work