Should i quarantine my first clown fish?

neupane00

neupane00

Member
my water param are showing ok for last few days. And within a week i am planning to buy my first fish. Tank raised clown. Now the question is should i quarantine my first fish? there is nothing else in the tank than live rock. is it still smarter to qt my first fish. Or just put that in display tank?
 
neupane00

neupane00

Member
I just got my 10 gallon QT tank. Its not setup yet. I am just worried that good bacteria in my main tank will die because of lack of ammonia, if i qt my fish for next 2 weeks in qt tank. So far i have been putting fish food in mesh bag in main tank as a source of ammonia so bacteria will have smth to eat. Lol. Thats why i was debating if i should just put my first fish in anyways.. and then onwards qt next fish.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I am not sure what you mean by your tank needing ammonia.....Nothing is going to die w/o a fish....I would lose the fish food in the mesh bag too.....ALSO...how old is this tank?
And do you have any clean up crew yet?
 
neupane00

neupane00

Member
by tank needing ammonia, i mean that nitrifying bacteria will need ammonia to feed right? without ammonia wont those bacteria die?? My tank is 10 days old but very since 3-4th day water param are good. I got lots of Live rocks from 4 years old established tank. No cleanup crew yet cuz there is nothing else eat for them or clean.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
OK...sooo you are saying the tank was put up using existing LR....right? You had an ammonia..then nitrite...then nitrate spike within the 1sr 3-4 days..and then it went to 0??
IF...Your tank has finished it's beginning cycle...I would not even consider putting a fish in until you get some snails.....
 
neupane00

neupane00

Member
yes, it was setup using existing live rock. Yes, i saw a bit of ammonia spike. But it went to 0 in 1 day. Also no nitrIte. NitrATE is about about 10. Also to be sure, i added a bit of ammonia yesterday to the tank to bring the level up to 0.25 . it was brought down to 0 within 6 hours. that tells me that tank is cycled.
Why would i put snail first? it has no algae or anything. wouldnt the snail starve? there is nothing to clean so far. thats why i was thinking of adding fish. pls advise.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
OK...I'm confused...Just how did you add ammonia? what did you use?
Have you done any research? The Clean up crew (snails) should always go in before fish
 
arvins

arvins

Member
Aye always add your CUC first. ...And don't add ammonia to your tank. Just put a few snails in and "feed" your tank for a couple weeks then move on to fish if your levels stay at zero.
 
neupane00

neupane00

Member
okay. what should i feed my tank/ snail/ hermit crab? when i add them?? i added clear pure ammonia just few drops of them to bring ammonia level a lil up to see if that gets cycled.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I have never heard of anyone adding ammonia to their tank, that is why I asked. I do not advise doing it again...
when your levels are at 0...and stay at 0..for a few days, then get some snails, and test and re-test for a week or 2...then if you have no water parameter changes, you can think about adding fish
 
arvins

arvins

Member
Originally Posted by neupane00
http:///forum/post/3069030
okay. what should i feed my tank/ snail/ hermit crab? when i add them?? i added clear pure ammonia just few drops of them to bring ammonia level a lil up to see if that gets cycled.
Fish food flake or algae sheets (small torn pieces) just a little to get to the bottom of the tank....the liquid ammonia isn't a good idea in my opinion. I wouldn't add a fish for couple more weeks at the earliest, I'd moniter until all levels are zero then add a couple snails or hermits. Then watch and record levels for a couple more weeks and if it all stays at zero then get a fish. Just my .02
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3069033
I have never heard of anyone adding ammonia to their tank, that is why I asked. I do not advise doing it again...
when your levels are at 0...and stay at 0..for a few days, then get some snails, and test and re-test for a week or 2...then if you have no water parameter changes, you can think about adding fish
Lois, if you read the gallery in our other site, you will find instructions on cycling with ammonia. That how most of them over there do it

T
but you are supose to do it more then once, you have to add it and when the tank can handle it in a certian amount of time then its cycled
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/3069047
Lois, if you read the gallery in our other site, you will find instructions on cycling with ammonia. That how most of them over there do it

T
REALLY??? OMG I have never heard of it....
OK...I still wouldn't do it either...
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
why QT a fish that cant infect other fish?
if it does come with a disease your gonna treat it anyways.
and there is nothing else to contaminate.
 
taznut

taznut

Active Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3069157
why QT a fish that cant infect other fish?
if it does come with a disease your gonna treat it anyways.
and there is nothing else to contaminate.
i think you QT it because it could introduce something to the water column... i think, clowns are usually pretty tough and you cant always tell that they have a disease, so if you put them in the DT they may get that in the water and other, weaker, fish you add later might get sick...
 
neupane00

neupane00

Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3069157
why QT a fish that cant infect other fish?
if it does come with a disease your gonna treat it anyways.
and there is nothing else to contaminate.
i heard that even if this is the only fish if it comes down with ick, i cant still use the copper based meds cuz live rock absorb copper and release later on. And when later on u add inverts, they will get affected.
 
woody189

woody189

Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3069157
why QT a fish that cant infect other fish?
if it does come with a disease your gonna treat it anyways.
and there is nothing else to contaminate.
If there is Ick on the clown, then once he puts it in the main tank, then it will be in the main tank. Even if he then takes the clown out and puts it in QT, he won't be able to add anything else to the DT for a month. Ick an live w/o a host for long periods of time.
Besides that, it's good to get into the habit of QT'ing now. I wish I did it, I'm just too impatient.
Originally Posted by neupane00
http:///forum/post/3069267
i heard that even if this is the only fish if it comes down with ick, i cant still use the copper based meds cuz live rock absorb copper and release later on. And when later on u add inverts, they will get affected.
I don't think the inverts will be affected by ick, it's just fish I believe. And yea, you're right. You can't use meds w/ the rock or inverts in the tank. You would have to remove the fish and put it into QT (not very hard to catch a clown though).
Originally Posted by neupane00
http:///forum/post/3069030
okay. what should i feed my tank/ snail/ hermit crab? when i add them?? i added clear pure ammonia just few drops of them to bring ammonia level a lil up to see if that gets cycled.
Take out the mesh bag. It's called "ghost feeding" You feed the tank a little bit of fish food as if you really had a fish. Not too much, just what you would be feeding if there was a fish in there.that way the it can produce ammonia and the bacteria can convert it and do all that good stuff you were talking about.
Buy the clown and CUC together. Put the CUC into the DT, and the clown in to QT. QT'ing isn't necessary, especially not now, but it can't hurt.
 
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