Originally Posted by
renogaw
technically you should keep it up and running.
you should have a sponge filter of some type to act as live rock and be a bacteria area, but other than that just some pieces of pvc fittings, a heater, a light, and a filter (and maybe a powerhead if you want) and that's it.
you should keep it up and running and cycled just in case you need to put a fish in there. if you use it for holding your water, you'd have a cycling issue when you put a fish in.
Good point. another way to be sure you have some ready bacteria filtration (depending on your set up) is to keep a sponge filter in the sump, media chamber, filter basket, or any other area of your DT. Just pull out the sponge when you need it. Be sure to completely disinfect the sponge (a few days in the sun) after use in the Qt before putting it back in the DT sump--or just toss it, they're cheap.