qt question

[karenjo]

I am quarranting my 20gal qt tank with 1 damsel. i will eventually take out the damsel. My question is how do I keep the tank cycled without a fish?

 

[beth]

Do you mean that you are setting up a QT and using a damsel to cycle?
Did you read the FAQ section stickied to the top of this forum?

 

[karenjo]

Hey Beth,
Yeah I read it and took a lot of ideas from it but my question still isnt being answered.
Question after it is cycled and setup I am going to take out the damsels. So how do I maintain the correct levels without something in there to keep it cycled?
Thanx

 

[radioactive]

I believe a peice of live rock will keep it cycled . not sure if this is correct but thats what i am going to try and do .

 

[karenjo]

yeah ive heard that too but the rock will lessen the effect of meds like copper also. So i wish beth would reply.

 

[radioactive]

I agree that you can not medicate the tank with lr , but to keep the cycle going while the QT is dormant should keep the QT cycled . remove the lr right before you QT a fish .... IMO

 

[karenjo]

this might sound dumb but i jave a question in regards to the last reply.
Okay if i use a piece of live rock and then take it out, then when i replace it in the qt tank then the medicine i use to treat a sick fish will get into the rock. Right? So what will i do with the rock a the second time i need to qt a fish?

 

[karenjo]

bump

 

[radioactive]

good question !!! that makes sense , maybe just keep a little substrate from your display tank to keep the tank going . LS or some bacteria from your filter should keep it going , then remove and discard when you add a fish to the QT .
I am going to try some different methods when i get done QT the current fish i have . maybe someone else can help us out here !!!

 

[beth]

Feed the tank a bit of fish food, a bit of sand from your main tank.

 

[ttv83]

What I was planning on doing with my QT is to keep it a home for my black mollies.
Before I did hypo in the QT I treated with copper for about a week or so. The mollies were in there the whole time. What I'm getting at is that I think you can keep some fishes in there all the time.

 

[karenjo]

thanx to all who have replied. i am goin to use beth's method.
thanx