use of charcoal in QT

[jwill275]

use of charcoal in QT

[hr]
I have a QT with a two inch hippo tang, she's been in the tank for about 4 days. The QT is 10 gal, flourescent hood, heater, floss filter w/air pump, no substrate and a piece of pvc for shelter. The fish seems to be doing fine, eating and swimming, no signs of ich or disease.
I change about two gallons of water every other day. I sometimes use a gallon or two of top water frommy dispaly tank in the QT. I did notice just before one change that amonia did show in one of mywater test. Can I use charcoal or a monia remover in the filter box if I'm not treating any disease?
thanks

 

[mie]

I would avoid carbon (charcol) as it has been shown that it can be a leading cause in hlle in tangs, just keep up on those water changes. Was your qt tank cycled before you put the hippo in?

 

[jwill275]

I used about 7 gallons of water from my DT to start the QT.

 

[andy51632]

Be careful with ammonia showing up in your QT. Your fish will start getting sick. Do you have a little bit of filter media from your DT tank you could throw into your QT filter?

 

[mie]

The beneficial bacteria on your rock or filter pad from your dt will help break down the ammonia in your qt tank

 

[sepulatian]

You can run carbon in your qt. It can be a contributing factor to HLLE, but that is if it is continuously used and the hobbyist does not do water changes to replace the minerals in the tank. I would not worry about it in a qt. Using water from the display does not do much for the cycle. Biological bacteria does not live in the water column. If there are no medications in the tank and the fish is not in hyposalinity, then you can add a piece of rock from the display. If the fish does have to be treated then the rock will have to be put into a bucket for at least three weeks before it can go back into the display.