Fishless Quarantine Tank Cycling Question

[carronann]

Hi all.

I have set up a quaratine/hospital tank and used some of the water from my other well established tank to start it off. I also took half of the filter media out of the established tank and used it in the new quarantine tank.

After reading the fishless cycle advice page, I am wondering if it was ok to do what have done to set it up? Also, as the quarantine tank hasn't any occupants in it, do I do what the fishless cycle post says and add ammonia daily or when needed etc, or will the tank continue to cycle itself as the water/filter media is well established from the other tank...... or do i add fish flake or anything to keep it going until I may need to use it as a quarantine/hospital tank?

Tis a bit confusing I know

Cal

 

[doresy]

I will let someone with more cycling knowledge answer your questions and watch with interest as I too wish to set up a hospital/fry tank. My imput? What about adding substrate from your established tank as it contains useful bacteria as well. (You can top up your old tanks substrate with new without upsetting its balance.)

 

[rdd1952]

You will need to continue to add ammonia until the day before you get your fish. Most people don't actuall cycle their Q-tanks. They just add media from an existing tank to the filter and the bacteria catches up pretty quickly but doing it the way you did is better and you shouldn't have any ammonia issues at all.

Moving the old tank water and substrate really isn't necessary. First, there is almost no bacteria in the water column. What there is wouldn't make a significant difference in cycling except over a long time period such as a full fishless cycle. Second, unless you have an undergravel filter, there is also very little bacteria in the substrate. In order for bacteria to develop and live, there has to be water flow to bring food (ammonia) in. There is very little water flow through the substrate (none if it's sand) so only a minute amountof bacteri will be present and it would be mainly near the surfae.

 

[carronann]

You will need to continue to add ammonia until the day before you get your fish. Most people don't actuall cycle their Q-tanks. They just add media from an existing tank to the filter and the bacteria catches up pretty quickly but doing it the way you did is better and you shouldn't have any ammonia issues at all.

Moving the old tank water and substrate really isn't necessary. First, there is almost no bacteria in the water column. What there is wouldn't make a significant difference in cycling except over a long time period such as a full fishless cycle. Second, unless you have an undergravel filter, there is also very little bacteria in the substrate. In order for bacteria to develop and live, there has to be water flow to bring food (ammonia) in. There is very little water flow through the substrate (none if it's sand) so only a minute amountof bacteri will be present and it would be mainly near the surfae.

Thanks hun

I have no ammonia issues at all as you say. But I was wondering, as the tank wont have any fish in unless one becomes sick (I hope never), will i have to add the ammonia until then. Or as I have no ammonia issues at all, will adding flake every so often suffice?

Cal

 

[rdd1952]

You would have to add either ammonia or flakes to keep the tank cycled. Are you planning on running the tank strictly on an "in case" basis or do you have plans to get more fish soon and are going to use it as a q-tank? I wouldn't keep it set up just in case you need it. Put the filter pack or media in one of your other filters. A lot of people keep a spare filter pack or exxtra media in their filters just for that reason. When you have a need, simply remove it, add water to the tank (you can use old tank water in that case just to make acclimation easier for the sick fish) and start it up. You shouldn't have any ammonia problems just for one or two fish.

 

[loachman]

If you're just going for the occasional Q-tank for a small amount of fish, you can put a few drops of ammonia in every day or two. Fish flakes will also work, but IMO they're going to be messier. Be sure to do a ~100% water change before adding fish. This method can be a pain if the Q-tank almost never gets used (added work, algae growth, etc.).

The easiest way to do it would be to just keep the Q-tank filter/filter material on the main tank and swap it over as needed. You can keep the Q-tank dry then and put dechlorinated water in with the "new" filter material.

For me though, I can't really do it easily since my 20gal powerfilter won't fit on my Oceanic 75gal (it has a thick wood trim). I'd have to use a filter tray for the Q-tank material or leave the "floss" hanging in the tank.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup you can either keep it cycled by adding ammonia/fish food daily but that can be a PITA and you'll have problems if you're going away for a few days you'll have to start again cycling it.

we run a couple on 'spare' internals on our big tank and if we ever need to set up a Quaratine/Hospital tank just move the filter over and you have an instant cycled tank. then when you're done fill it with brand new media and put it back in the big tank so you don't risk infecting the big tank too