Set up a QT in 3 days

just looking for imput before I get my fish from Will Saturday
I never Qt before and got real lucky but now I want to be smart/safe about it
I have a 30gal with a hang on filter, powerhead and a fake coral for hiding. Also I have live rock in my sump if I need be.
My question is I am about to order 5 fish and want to make sure they live and not die while I qt them for a week or two.

I have a sponge thats been in my sump for about two weeks collecting bacteria and going to do a 30 gal water change from my Dt tomorrow and put in the 30gal. What are some tricks so I do this right

watch ammonia closely...and don't trust the Seachem Ammonia Alert badge.

I like using a prophylactic combined Cupramine and Prazipro treatment.

Unless these are very small fish 5 fish in a 30 gal tank is too small. I would either get less fish or get 2 more tanks, depending on the size of the fish. You're going to need to QT them for 2 - 4 weeks so you want to make sure the load in the tank is light, don't feed that much.

I fugured that so maybe your right 3 small fish

I would also have additional water on the side to do water changes. After 2 or 3 days do about a 20% water changes and then another 20% after 2 more days. Make sure you vacuum the bottom of the tank and remove any uneaten food and fish waste. At the end of the week you probably want to do a 50-70% water change. Keep following this and you should be fine just don't over feed, the fish will be fine with limited food.

If you're doing weekly water changes you can use the water from your DT.

I plan to use only the water from the DT
I was thinking change 20% every 2 days for 4 weeks

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+20+54&pcatid=54

that is the fish

Run carbon and GFO. Actually chemi pure elite in a reactor would be great.


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That's fine but even with the 20% water changes every 2 days the water is going to reach a point where it's going to get bad and you're going to need to do a larger water change, thus the 50-70% at the end of the week.

if you get a good biofilter going you can do waterchanges less often.

I have a sponge filter rated for 120g tank on a 30g breeder and can go through a full 2 week cupramine treatment without changing the water but it did go through a cycle when I initially set it up.

Now i do large waterchange (about 75%) every 2 weeks.

Imbarrie said:

Run carbon and GFO. Actually chemi pure elite in a reactor would be great.


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Not sure why you would run GFO, a simple poly pad or carbon would be good.

and make sure you take out the poly pad or carbon if you medicate.

Wes said:

if you get a good biofilter going you can do waterchanges less often.

I have a sponge filter rated for 120g tank on a 30g breeder and can go through a full 2 week cupramine treatment without changing the water but it did go through a cycle when I initially set it up.

Now i do large waterchange (about 75%) every 2 weeks.

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There is no reason not to do water changes, even if you start with a large bacteria filter, which really isn't necessary to being with. Remember a QT us very basic.

As for treating with medication in a QT, well that really not necessary or a good thing to do. You're basically treating a fish for something it mayn't even have or if it does have something the medication you're treating with mayn't be what it needs.

there is a reason, it's a waste of time and effort for me. My QT filtration keeps ammonia and nitrites at zero. I have marco rock and a big sponge filter that has fully cycled and my QT is always running.

As for treating with medication in my QT. All my go fish go through Cupramine and Prazipro. The fish may not have what i am treating for...But i know what all my fish in the display tank do NOT have...

If anything else shows up during the course of this QT process that Cupramine or Prazipro does not cure, then I will cross that bridge when i get to it.

I lost a few chromis when i first setup my QT because of a Seachem Ammonia Alert that failed to alert. Since then, I have not lost any fish in QT.

Wes said:

there is a reason, it's a waste of time and effort for me. My QT filtration keeps ammonia and nitrites at zero. I have marco rock and a big sponge filter that has fully cycled and my QT is always running.

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Not sure that's a good reason. If you want you can run Nitrex in a filter and it will have the same effect, you also don't need to have the tank running all the time. In the end if you're not adding fish all the time, and you need to QT them, you basically just have another fish tank.

Wes said:

As for treating with medication in my QT. All my go fish go through Cupramine and Prazipro. The fish may not have what i am treating for...But i know what all my fish in the display tank do NOT have...

If anything else shows up during the course of this QT process that Cupramine or Prazipro does not cure, then I will cross that bridge when i get to it.

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Sorry but treating fish for something that they don't have, or what your fish in your display don't have, is not a good thing to do. You're treating for something that the fish mayn't even have, even then you're still not covering everything. You're also forgetting what the purpose of a QT is.

Wes said:

I lost a few chromis when i first setup my QT because of a Seachem Ammonia Alert that failed to alert. Since then, I have not lost any fish in QT.

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Not sure why you would use one of those alert things to begin with, then again if you're running a fully cycled tank all the time you shouldn't have that problem.

marrone said:

Not sure that's a good reason. If you want you can run Nitrex in a filter and it will have the same effect, you also don't need to have the tank running all the time. In the end if you're not adding fish all the time, and you need to QT them, you basically just have another fish tank.

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I keep it running all the time because it's easy and I have the space for it. If i dont have any fish i just turn the lights off and top off every once in a while.

marrone said:

Sorry but treating fish for something that they don't have, or what your fish in your display don't have, is not a good thing to do. You're treating for something that the fish mayn't even have, even then you're still not covering everything. You're also forgetting what the purpose of a QT is.

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I think it's a great idea. I have the most common parasites covered with Cupramine and Prazipro. If something else that I am not covering is there, it will likely show up during the QT period. Humans get treated for all kinds of illnesses they do not have. To me the purpose of a QT is to keep illness out of the display. Prophylactically treating all fish prior to entry works well for me. I eliminate the chance of a parasite on a fish getting through the QT process without showing any symptoms and making it's way into my display.

marrone said:

Not sure why you would use one of those alert things to begin with, then if you're running a fully cycled tank all the time you shouldn't have that problem.

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It was recommended in the Advanced Aquarist article on quarantine tanks...Useless, and you are correct..It's not longer needed now that it is fully cycled.

If a fish has a known sensitivity to copper, of course i would skip the cupramine treatment...but I don't have any of those yet

Wes said:

I keep it running all the time because it's easy and I have the space for it. If i dont have any fish i just turn the lights off and top off every once in a while.

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So you're basically running a fish tank. It's great that you have the space to do it but most people don't, which is why they have to setup a QT when they purchase fish. In the end if you have a tank running all the time then you don't really need to worry about extra water changes or much else, outside of diseases.

Wes said:

I think it's a great idea. I have the most common parasites covered with Cupramine and Prazipro. If something else that I am not covering is there, it will likely show up during the QT period. Humans get treated for all kinds of illnesses they do not have. To me the purpose of a QT is to keep illness out of the display. Prophylactically treating all fish prior to entry works well for me.

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It's actually a very bad idea. You're treating health fish for things that they mayn't even have. I'm not sure it's good for people to get treated for all kinds of illnesses that they don't have or can't get but you can't really relate that to fish. People can go to different places, or come in contact with people from different places, and get a disease, but that can't happen with fish. The only way a fish is going to get a parasites/diseases is if it already has it or it's being place in a tank where the parasite is. It may work for you but it probably wasn't needed to begin with.



The purpose of a QT is a couple of things. One is to give the fish some down time and let them settle in. Moving them from tank to tank can be very stressful, even more of a problem introducing them into a tank where they maybe attacked by other fish. It's also for looking and seeing if the fish has some sort of diseases, at which point if it does, you then treat and with the correct medication.

Wes said:

It was recommended in the Advanced Aquarist article on quarantine tanks...Useless, and you are correct..It's not longer needed now that it is fully cycled.

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And that make it right? In this case it was wrong and since it's so easy to use ammonia test I'm not sure why anyone would use those things.

marrone said:

So you're basically running a fish tank. It's great that you have the space to do it but most people don't, which is why they have to setup a QT when they purchase fish. In the end if you have a tank running all the time then you don't really need to worry about extra water changes or much else, outside of diseases.

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Yes and having a good biological filter makes life much easier.

marrone said:

It's actually a very bad idea. You're treating health fish for things that they mayn't even have. I'm not sure it's good for people to get treated for all kinds of illnesses that they don't have or can't get but you can't really relate that to fish. People can go to different places, or come in contact with people from different places, and get a disease, but that can't happen with fish. The only way a fish is going to get a parasites/diseases is if it already has it or it's being place in a tank where the parasite is. It may work for you but it probably wasn't needed to begin with.

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I disagree and you still have not said why exactly its a bad idea other than it may not be necessary. Cupramine and Prazipro isn't that expensive, i can swing it.

The purpose of QT to protect the fish in my tank, not the new fish. I don't care if it is needed or not, it's a preemptive treatment and I havnt had any fish die from my practice.

marrone said:

The purpose of a QT is a couple of things. One is to give the fish some down time and let them settle in. Moving them from tank to tank can be very stressful, even more of a problem introducing them into a tank where they maybe attacked by other fish. It's also for looking and seeing if the fish has some sort of diseases, at which point if it does, you then treat and with the correct medication.

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Giving them time to "settle in" actually has nothing to do with the definition of quarantine. But thats semantics. And like i said, I have time to treat with the correct medication if Cupramine and Prazipro is not the correct medication.

marrone said:

And that make it right? In this case it was wrong and since it's so easy to use ammonia test I'm not sure why anyone would use those things.

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Who am I to judge what a so-called expert (Stephen Pro) has to say? His reasoning was in a newly setup QT tank, the ammonia can go bad so fast the indicator is always looking for elevated levels and you can get a quick warning even if you don't happen to be testing that particular time of day.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php

I occasionally employ preventative treatment even when an infection may not have been noticed and I would recommend others do the same. The reason for this is some fish are routinely plagued by certain diseases. Many hobbyists miss the signs, or, even if they see initial signs, they often misdiagnose the malady and use the wrong treatment. Or, by the time they realize something is wrong and get the right medication, the fish is too sick to be saved. Because of that, I propose certain blanket treatment protocols for some fish. For instance, any surgeonfish/tangs that I import go through a hyposalinity treatment because of their propensity to be infected with Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans. Also, I give all wild-caught clownfish a formalin bath in case they harbor Brooklynella, a common condition called "clownfish disease." I also recommend adding garlic to the food of all quarantined fish as a general immune system stimulant (Colorni, et al. 1998) and as a de-worming agent (Fairfield, 1996 and Jedlicki, pers. comm.).


A well-stocked and organized medicine chest will go a long way in helping aquarists treat a
quarantined fish should the need arise. Photo by Steven Pro of Kelly Jedlicki’s fish medicine chest.
Unlike fish prophylaxis, I don't recommend any preventative treatment for the invertebrates I purchase. I don't freshwater dip, iodine dip, or use any sort of commercial bath on any of my corals. I don't believe we hobbyists understand nor can we properly identify most coral pathogens or pests, so I use only close, careful observation over time during the quarantine of corals. If something can later be identified, such as pest flatworms, Acropora copepods, or any other pests, it is far better to deal with it in the quarantine tank where there is no possibility of spreading it to other specimens or of collateral damage to beneficial fauna in the display from the treatment.

JARRETT SHARK said:

just looking for imput before I get my fish from Will Saturday
I never Qt before and got real lucky but now I want to be smart/safe about it
I have a 30gal with a hang on filter, powerhead and a fake coral for hiding. Also I have live rock in my sump if I need be.
My question is I am about to order 5 fish and want to make sure they live and not die while I qt them for a week or two.

I have a sponge thats been in my sump for about two weeks collecting bacteria and going to do a 30 gal water change from my Dt tomorrow and put in the 30gal. What are some tricks so I do this right

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Keep it simple. Bare bottom. A couple of PVC tees from Home Depot.

It is best to QT one fish at a time if possible. There are multiple reasons if you want me to go into them, but you can probably guess some of them.

Many experts will QT for at least 4-6 weeks. Use this time to look for health problems, and to see what foods will be most readily accepted.

Are you looking at purchasing multiple lyretail anthias? If so, what size display tank do you have, and how many males/females were you planning on?