Quarantine tank questions

[cowgirluntamed]

So...if my new 55 gallon tank is water tight, this will be my stock(hopefully).

30-40 glowlight tetras
15-20 harlequin rasboras
12-15 peppered cories
1 bristlenose pleco
1 blue 3spot gourami.

This will be hopefully heavily planted.

Now, I have two 10 gallon tanks, one will not have any live plants, the other has a couple of anubias. I do have a plastic tote and a spare heater and sponge filter I can use that can hold 10 gallons of water.

My main question is, that if petsmart doesn't have the fish I want....and I need to buy online....to save shipping costs...could my two 10 gallons hold the fish?

Oh, and I already have the pleco, gourami, and 6 cories so that just leaves all of the glowlights, harlequins, and the other half of the cories.

I can get tetra safe start easy enough to help the bacteria load if I add a bunch, but I don't want to overload either.

Would all the glowlights be ok in one 10 gallon for 4-6 weeks and the harlequins and cories in another? Or should I split up the glowlights?

Thanks for any help!

 

[seangee]

If you're stocking all at once what about using the 10Gs for your existing fish? So effectively the 55G is your QT.

 

[Colin_T]

How big is the blue gourami and is it male or female?
A small female blue gourami grown up with the tetras should be ok, but a big male might eat the glowlights.

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I assume this is to quarantine new fish before adding them to the big tank?

If you have established filters on the 10 gallon tanks, then you can keep 30-40 glowlight tetras in one tank, and 20 harlequins with 6 Corydoras in the other for a few months. Just keep the feeding down, monitor the water quality and do big water changes and regular gravel cleans and you should be fine.

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If you have another tank running, put the new filters in that tank until you get the fish. If the tank isn't big enough for more filters (eg: too much water movement), then put the new filter materials in the old tank and have them in contact with the older established filter materials. This will help them get bacteria quicker.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

If you're stocking all at once what about using the 10Gs for your existing fish? So effectively the 55G is your QT.

Well...if I had to medicate is the real reason. 55 would be much harder to do that than a 10 would.

How big is the blue gourami and is it male or female?
A small female blue gourami grown up with the tetras should be ok, but a big male might eat the glowlights.

It's a male, probably around 3-4 inches. He MAY not be able to stay in with the glowlights and such. But right now he is in a 20 gallon by himself with a mystery snail for company. So far he picks at that snail but I believe it's more out of boredom than aggression. He's actually calmer since the snail was added. So I want to give it a shot, but of course I want the other fish in their before moving him over. And if he's too aggressive he will go back into the 20.

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I assume this is to quarantine new fish before adding them to the big tank?

If you have established filters on the 10 gallon tanks, then you can keep 30-40 glowlight tetras in one tank, and 20 harlequins with 6 Corydoras in the other for a few months. Just keep the feeding down, monitor the water quality and do big water changes and regular gravel cleans and you should be fine.

------------------------
If you have another tank running, put the new filters in that tank until you get the fish. If the tank isn't big enough for more filters (eg: too much water movement), then put the new filter materials in the old tank and have them in contact with the older established filter materials. This will help them get bacteria quicker.

Well, one filter will remain established but one will be getting tossed soon. My pleco tank has a planaria outbreak (or something) that I can't get rid of so I have to bleach his tank. These little things have killed snails before and possibly led to other fish deaths. Time to get rid of them for good. Though it will have a little time to establish since my pleco will go back in there until my big tank is planted and established for a little bit.

But like I said, I can get tetra safe start easily for when I get a group of fish as well.

I will test water quality a lot and can do lots of water changes, no big deal there.