Quarantine tank

[hrlpn]

Hello!I just want to start off by telling everyone a little bit about me.I started this hobby about 6 years ago.This forum is what kept me going.My tank was up and running for 4 years.I had an ich outbreak and lost a lot of fish.Then about 2 months later,I went on a weekend outing and came home to cooked fish(heater stuck on,water at 96 degrees).Thats when my tank sat empty for a little over a year.So,here I am again,as addicting as you all know it is.My tank(125 g) has been up and running for about 8 months with nothing but 6 damsels and a crab. Now its time to get real. So this takes me to my question.Since I am going to do this right,I am setting up a Q tank.I am using a 29 g high.Over the past month,i have been using the water from my main tanks water change,putting it in a circulating tub,now my Q tank is full.My plan is to throw a few of the damsels in there to make sure the tank is cycled ok.My question is,am I on the right path?Secondly,once the tank is cycled,can I leave the tank empty and will it be ok?There is a very small amount of sand in the bottom and fake rock for them to hide behind.Nothing fancy.Any info would help.Thanks!!!

 

[hot883]

First off

and welcome to the boards. I would not cycle the qt with the damsels. If and when you get a new fish put him in the qt and just monitor the levels. What you can do is use some filter floss etc. and place in your sump (if you have one) or just in the main tank for a couple of weeks. That will get a bacteria started and then place the floss in the qt.
Or, feed the qt tank with small amounts of flake food etc. and that will cycle it.
I personally have saltwater mollies in mine to keep it cycled but I did cycle it without fish to begin with. Hopefully that helped alittle.