QT alternative?

[shista]

Hi everyone. I have a 44 gallon tank that has a rainfords goby, and 2 true percula clownfish. I wanted to add about 2 more fish in the future but do not have a qt (have no tank, and hate waiting so long) . All my fish are healthy now, but i want to prevent any ick outbreaks because i lost a tank to it a couple years ago... I was wondering if there is some sort of medication or dip i could do to new arrived fish so that they are guaranteed to not bring in any parasites in my tank. I heard of FW dips, but does that eliminate any parasites from new fish? anything else more effective and less stressful?

 

[beth]

The only way to prevent fish diseases from being introduced into your display tank is by quarantining all new fish first.

 

[shista]

Thank you.. I think i might take the plunge and make a qt tank.. Will a 10 gallon with a heater, biowheel from DT, and cheap filter? And should i add some sand ( I'd rather add sand)? If i do add sand, will it cause some sort of crash if i do hypo?

 

[siptang]

That should do.

 

[beth]

If you plan to get smaller fish, such as 1" or so, then 10 gal is fine. If you plan to get larger fish then usually 20 gal long is best, at min.
I used an eclipse hood that had the filter and light, and also installed an additional powerhead.
Only use a couple of cups of sand from your display for your QT. You can use a few small pieces of rubble rock as well.

 

[shista]

i have a 44 gallon, so i would only be adding fish like clownfish, bangaii... i hope a 10 gallon is good for those fish, i might add a flame angel instead (still have alot of time) would a fish like that be okay in a 10 gallon?

 

[shista]

okay so i got a 10 gallon. I was wondering how i should go about doing this with the quickest cycle... Im thinking of adding 5 gals from DT, and 5 gals new, along with a cup of ls and one piece of rock. Will there be a cycle?

 

[beth]

That sounds good. A QT is the same as a display tank, and must be cycled. Do you have some small pieces of live rock you can add to it, to get the cycle going?

 

[shista]

yes, im going to add one piece of LR, along with a cup of LS, and a biowheel that has been sitting in my DT. Thanks for the help

 

[siptang]

Before, I always just used bare bottom tank with some ornaments that fish can hide but never a lr or ls. However, I did use the water from my dt and biowheel and worked for me.

 

[shista]

would you guys think i could add 2 fish in the qt at once? i was thinking of a pair of bangaiis but idk if they would send the 10 gallon into another cycle.

 

[beth]

Get them small.

 

[saxman]

If the tank cycles, just do whatever it takes in terms of water changes to keep the NH3 levels under control. Also realize that if you add any fish to an occupied QT, the QT time for the original fish gets set to zero and starts over.
Adding water from your DT really does nothing to your cycle, as the bacteria you're wanting to colonize is demersal and isn't found in the water column. Established LR or filter media is the best way to accomplish this.