Buying coral at different LFS's

Here is all you need.
10 gallon tank or rubbermaid bin, HOB filter like a penguin, heater, some PVC for hiding, lighting if you QT coral, air stone W/ pump.

That should do just fine.

Cheers

 

So here is the goal:
To ensure familiar water parameters, I should get 5 gallons of saltwater from the lfs, put it in a 5 gallon tank, filter it for a day, use air stone, pvc pipes(for fish), use standard filter (non carbon or with carbon?)
Will it be okay if in between new additions to my DT, i take my QT tank down and get new Saltwater everytime i want to QT a coral or fish?

Thanks

 

I don't have anything to add to this thread, but I wanted to say I loved this pic and the arrows and "heat wave" marks. I thought that was great. K+ for it.

 

Ha, thanks for the Karma. I love the cooling solution as well. For having a 20g, a water chiller isnt practical.

K+

 

Thanks everyone for the help on the QT and advice about using different lfs's

 

Technically it is OK, but ask yourself

"Self, will I really set it up when it is is needed? even when I come home from the store with an impulse buy?"

If you can , you will be better off leaving it running. Keeps everything stable that way.

 

How hard is it though to keep parameters in a 5 gallon stable though? I would think that it would be very hard based on its size...
I only have room for a 5 gallon and no larger unfortuneately.

 

Good point. Although I think the trouble with a 5 or a 10 isnt keeping params , its getting through a cycle.

That said, a 5 would be very easy to setup at each usage but you will still need discipline. I know when I come home from the LFS with an impulse buy, if I couldnt just acclimate, in the main tank it goes. Just check the params before acclimating. A new setup takes a bit to stabilize, even a small one. PH, temp, Salinity should be right before acclimation.


Cheers

 

I came up with a good idea....
What would happen if I used water from my existing tank when i needed it for the QT setup. The 5 gallons removed from my DT would be replaced with new water (creating a good water change (25%), and i would have water then for my QT tank. Is it okay for me to use the same water in my QT as in my DT? My parameters are closely watched.
If this is so, it cuts down the param problem as well as having the water available. I always have my 5 gallon juggs in my car for the lfs.
The other option is setting up a completely different tank at 5 gallons and have it permanently running for some purpose (always having something in it...) and use it as a QT.
I had a 10gallon reef before and the param were very hard to manage for its size. Everything was escalated in terms of param spikes. A 5 would be even worse. Im not too sure what I should do.

BTW, when I had the 10g, it was relatively quick to get through my tank cycle. It hit all of the spikes within a week or two.

 

I wouldnt see why you couldn't use the DT tank water, but at the same time I wouldnt see the advantage. I would still definately acclimate whatever you are doing to both tanks. With something as small as a QT tank, the water params could and probably will change pretty quickly, eliminating the "same param" suggestion. But I guess it would save you from mixing up water for 2 different tanks