QT Tanks, When to use, how to use, and what to use.

Gary

Gary

Active member
Hi all,

This information will provide my experience on QT Tanks, how I set mine up, and how I recommend them. I will then also include some links to some major outlets that discuss other users and professionals way of setting up quarantine tanks.

When to QT new inhabitants?

Always, is the short answer. However, how you QT them will depend on what you are putting in QT, and what condition it is in. How long also depends. Some recommend two weeks in a QT tank if no ill effects were observed. Some recommend longer, so the choice is yours. It is recommended to use water from your main system to QT, of course assuming it is free of parasites.

**This QT Process is for fish only, no inverts and no corals**

How to QT?

This varies, and may depend on the fish. Some fish are more sensitive to copper and some can't handle it at all. The main thing to do is know what can handle copper and what cannot. Generally scaleless fish are not able to handle copper well or at all. Some Wrasses are also sensitive to copper. Knowledge is key and I highly recommend you research each fish prior to treatment. More info below.

What to use?

Equipment - A tank, filter, aerator, separate bucket, separate fish net, heater, pvc, and of course a top. A light is not always required, in some cases it can cause more stress with the "on" and "off" effect, especially if you have a Wrasse that like to sleep in sand or caves as the quick light turning off will startle the fish sometimes and make them "dart" and harm themselves. A substrate should never be used. In the case that you have a sand sleeping wrasse, it may be ok to get a wrasse rock with some sand in it, but the sand can not be used for the next QT. the QT tank should also be throughly cleaned and sanitized between uses.

Medications -

There's few things to use, and when to use them.

Prazipro
Copper
Melafix
and "less" salt, salinity.

It's important to know that Prazipro and copper can be used together, but hypo-salinity should not be combined with copper.

Important things to note -

Temperature. Keep it stable. I recommend the standard 78 degrees.
pH - Monitor it, keep it around 8.1, when you do hypo-salinity treatments it's easy to lower the pH to stressful and unsafe conditions. Baking Soda can be used to increase pH. (I'll update and add resources to show how to use.)
Test kits. Make sure to have a proper copper kit that accurately test for the type of copper you are using. No all copper kits can test correctly for the type of copper used. IE: API Kits are not accurate when using SeaChems copper treatment. (a common copper used) Also have kits to test pH, and ammonia.

I recommend the following as a simple ammonia alert. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000255R5G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Remember, we want to create the "LEAST" stressful environment possible.

Additional Resources -

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...nts/23131-hyposalinity-treatment-process.html

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/

Thanks,

Gary
 
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How do you sanitize the tank before use? I'll be setting QT up with the new build so a sanitizing procedure would be helpful. Thanks and great info here gary
 
anarchy said:
How do you sanitize the tank before use? I'll be setting QT up with the new build so a sanitizing procedure would be helpful. Thanks and great info here gary
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I recommend using bleach. People are worried about it, but as long as it's "Standard Plain" bleach, it will be safe to use. The most important thing is to allow it to dry, and be wiped clean. You want to be sure it no longer has a scent to it.
 
anarchy said:
How do you sanitize the tank before use? I'll be setting QT up with the new build so a sanitizing procedure would be helpful. Thanks and great info here gary
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Drain tank and fill with non salt water and add a half cup of plain non scented bleach for every ten gallons of water. Put a ph or pump that was used back in and let run for 24 hrs. Empty wipe dry and store. Some also run another 24 cycle with a de-chlorination agent.

Clean all equipment used in the tank the same way. EVERYTHING!
 
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[MENTION=2634]vucious[/MENTION]
I don't keep a QT tank setup all the time, only when I need it. I do daily water changes to help keep ammonia down. However i recently (last night) got distracted by football since Thursday and have only done one 2g water change on my 10g system. My ammonia alert was "fine" so I decided to manually test it. Boy was I wrong. I was at 4.5 (it couldn't read any higher). I did a water change with all the SW I had, got it down to about 3.0 and at 1am while still making water i could barely stay awake. I remember I accidentally ordered Amquel from amazon. Turns out the stuff worked. I dosed a 3rd of the recommend amount, and turned on my air pump. This then took it down to 2.0. I dosed a little bit more (same amount this morning) and will do another water change when I get home.

In short, I don't keep a cycled QT tank as I live in a condo downtown. IF I had a basement, I'd consider a closet downstairs for fish storage AND a QT Tank that would be up and running prior to my choice of buying new fish.

IMO: If you know you plan to buy fish and have room for it, there is no reason not to have a cycled QT setup, a lot of people take filter pads that go into their filter and throw it into their sumps from their established (Clean and pest free) tank and use that to seed their QT Tank.

I hope that helps.
 
I do the same. I just set up a 10 gal as needed. Then I just do about 2 gal water changes using water from my DT every other day. Then I put fresh saltwater in the DT to replace it. This way my DT gets a small water change out of it too.

I just skip the observation period and use copper and prazi on all fish. I'm not taking chances.
 
Sawdonkey said:
I do the same. I just set up a 10 gal as needed. Then I just do about 2 gal water changes using water from my DT every other day. Then I put fresh saltwater in the DT to replace it. This way my DT gets a small water change out of it too.

I just skip the observation period and use copper and prazi on all fish. I'm not taking chances.
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Very good idea..Thanks..
 
I plan to use cupramine during QT. I've heard that using carbon will remove the copper before transferring from QT to DT but I've also heard that carbon does not work. What methods do people use to transfer the fish from the QT to DT without contaminating the DT with copper?
 
vucious said:
I plan to use cupramine during QT. I've heard that using carbon will remove the copper before transferring from QT to DT but I've also heard that carbon does not work. What methods do people use to transfer the fish from the QT to DT without contaminating the DT with copper?
Click to expand...

By the time your fish are ready to go from qt to DT there is no risk left, theoretically. Grab the fish out of qt and throw it in DT. The residual amount of carbon shouldn't hurt anything. And yes, carbon will absorb the copper.
 
Well, you should drip acclimate it to the new tank since the params will differ, and since you are doing that you can drip the same amount out of the container the fish is in, resulting in a "bath" of the fish. I don't see a problem with just catching it then putting it into the display, but if you are paranoid you could also bath it in a FW dip.
 
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