qt tank

[adam & jeanne]

I am starting a ten gallon qt tank. My question is do I need to setup the tank to be hyposalinic to start with or should that be done only if the new fish is seen to be carrying a parasite? Also I bought my qt tank in an aquarium kit, containing a power filter, hood, and light. Ill be purchasing a heater, the question is: what do I need to add to ensure my biological filtration needs will be met? and at a cheap price?

 

[kris walker]

Hi guys,
I believe that Mr. Tang has put a How-To on the Arhcive message board for this. But I'm not sure of the specifics he talks about (I haven't read it yet).
If it were me, I would keep a QT tank at around 1.009 salinity from the beginning. When you need to transfer a fish to it, I would go through the same acclimation processes that you would take to introduce a fish into a new tank (perhaps a little bit longer of an acclimation than that). However, the generally prescribed acclimation is over a 2-day period, but that is a very conservative estimate. You could do it in much less time with no problem, but it might be a tad more stressful on the fish. It is really hard to say.
Congrats on taking a great step that will save you time, money, and mental anguish. And I'm sure the fish are high-fiving it too.
sam