Quarantine tank for nano tank questions

Hello all,

What is the small tank crowd using for a quarantine tank? Tell me about your QT setup please.

Are you leaving it up all the time or taking it down after livestock has been proven safe for display?

If you take it down, how do you start the QT back up? Do you keep a small sponge filter in your display tank to transfer to the QT?

I’m going to setup a QT but don’t want to leave it up all the time. My Innovative Marine Nuvo 38 is still weeks out from being setup.

Andy

 

Hello all,

What is the small tank crowd using for a quarantine tank? Tell me about your QT setup please.

I use a 20 gallon long.

Are you leaving it up all the time or taking it down after livestock has been proven safe for display?

Leave it up all the time, because i only have one fish in the QT at a time. Once i have fully stocked my tank i will take it down.

If you take it down, how do you start the QT back up? Do you keep a small sponge filter in your display tank to transfer to the QT?

To start it back up i would put a sponge in the sump of my DT. However, making sure never to add a sponge that was in my QT tank to my DT without cleaning it and letting it dry out for weeks.

Video:
JB's 90 Gallon Saltwater Reef Tank- Quarantine Tank, Orange Clown - YouTube




I’m going to setup a QT but don’t want to leave it up all the time. My Innovative Marine Nuvo 38 is still weeks out from being setup.

Andy

 

a qt is no different then the mt, it takes time to cycle, theres no difference so i would say it has to be maintained to be effective and not kill what you put in it or stress it out.

 

I've use an empty 6 gallon bucket- that my salts come in.
I use a sponge/air stone filter in it.- new or dry between uses.
I put a few pieces of base rock and/or a few chucks of PVC in it too.
I take some tank water, make some water and use that.
I use a small heater also.
I add a little water from the DT, RO/DI and/or RO/DI/salt when it needs some.
This has worked great for me!

I never even thought about leaving it up full time. In fact I haven't used it in over 9 months.

It doesn't have to be expensive, or complicated.

 

I never 'cylcled' my QT , somehow my fish have been fine otherwise. If you use 100% freshly made SW, and don't overfeed, add some new water- seems to work

I guess I do it differently

 

Thank you all for the great info.

Andy

 

i have never used a qt and have been lucky and never lost anything because of it i did get a few zoa nudies once but got rid of them fairly easy but i do believe in cycling a tank and have never seen an instant tank cycle but it may be possible,in general ammonia should be present and not so good for fish and inverts

 

I have 2 QT setup currently. One is a 46 gal bow that has live rock, sand, skimmer, carbon reactor, powerheads w/ wavemaker, and a heater of course. I QT all of the fish that go into my 55 gallon in this. After the 55 is fully stocked, it will be stocked itself.

The second is the more usual 10 gal bare bottom tank. It has a rather large Penguin HOB filter (had it from my previous FW setup), skimmer that I had lying around (basically just adds to the water volume and helps to oxygenate the tank), nano powerhead, sponge filter that was in my DT, and some PVC. I use this to QT all of the fish for my nano cube, as the 46 is too large to really observe them and see what they eat.

To setup the 10 gallon, I used 5 gallons new water, and 5 from water change (no real benefit besides cost of new water). Drop in my sponge filter that is normally in my sump of my 55, turn everything on, and add some Nite-Out bacteria. Let it run for a couple days before adding a fish. Doing it this way, I never see any ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates. I take it down after done.

 

Great info thanks a lot guys!

Andy