Jestersix

QT setup

R

ReefLove

Guest
Ok. Now that I have ordered my tank. 120GL. I'm wondering what fishes I should put in and in what order. And what size of QT( s ) I need.

following are few fishes I'm thinking of having. Any particular order I should put them in ?

Clowns
Tangs
Gobys
Few small fishes - including fire fish
I don't know any other that I might have but I'm open for suggestion.

I'm thinking to have more than one QT so I can have few fishes once my two months of maturing tank are over. So at any given time I'm thinking to have two QT tanks going, each with 6-8 weeks QT cycle.

As I have not done this ever, I'm not really sure what is best way to do this.
 
Least aggressive fish first. Live Aquaria has a basic chart you can follow for a start: http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm

You may want to read up a little more on setting up tanks/QT/etc. - There are some good books and online articles you should check out that talk about setting up a first tank... The Conscientious Marine Aquarist is a good one...As is The New Marine Aquarium - Both of which will get you off to a basic start with the fundamentals and various options you have available.

127 gallons of awesome. Can't wait to see your setup!
 
That's wise to plan a QT system ahead of time Nish. A simple 20 long and a 40 breeder should be sufficient to cover most fish on your list. You want to purchase some sponge filters, ebo jager heaters, pvc of various sizes (for the fish to feel secure), cheap lights on a timer, dedicated tools for only the QT (nets, turkey baster, etc.), quick test strips, & a ammonia badge (seachem). You are going to need to seed the sponges (I might have some ammonia to give you) or use the raw shrimp method.
Typically, you want to make a list of desired fish and purchase them from the most docile first and then most aggressive.
 
Air driven bio filters work well (spongy ones) but they have to be left in your DT for a few weeks (4 weeks minimum) but It sounds like you won't have an established tank when you setup your QT so you should cycle the QT before any fish are added, I would do a 10G & a 20G, 20 especially if you get the tang (if you have room & equipment for 20 & 40 even better). Do not put more than one species in the QT at a time, so if you get a pair of clowns it is ok to QT them together but everything else needs to be QT'd individually. 4 weeks is the bare minimum for QT period, if the fish gets sick and you have to medicate your quarantine period starts over after the last dose of medication. Paint the bottom of the QT black, put it inf front of a white wall or white background, also throw in some PVC pipe joints (about 3" long and variety of 2"-4" diameter) the fish will like to hide in these. No fancy light, I just use a standard screw socket CF bulb of low wattage.

I like the natural QT cycle as it is least stressful to the fish, although depending on where the fish comes from a freshwater bath + mild anti-parasitic meds (I use prazipro) is a good idea but I would recommend at the least a 3-4 minute freshwater bath with no meds and you have to match the temp as well as PH in the dip because there is no acclimation when you move the fish from the freshwater to the saltwater. I also like to feed non-medicated anti-parasitic food and I have had good experience with New Life Spectrum Thera-A Formula Sinking Pellets.

Lastly you must be methodical about testing parameters, specifically ammonia & nitrites as these can climb quickly without LR or LS but with the bigger size QT's this is even less likely. Weekly water changes are a must regardless of how good the parameters look.

Not too complicated once you have everything set up and after the first fish it'll be a breeze just a PITA to be patient.

I QT inverts & some corals as well, but that's a different topic :)
 
gimmito said:
That's wise to plan a QT system ahead of time Nish. A simple 20 long and a 40 breeder should be sufficient to cover most fish on your list. You want to purchase some sponge filters, ebo jager heaters, pvc of various sizes (for the fish to feel secure), cheap lights on a timer, dedicated tools for only the QT (nets, turkey baster, etc.), quick test strips, & a ammonia badge (seachem). You are going to need to seed the sponges (I might have some ammonia to give you) or use the raw shrimp method.
Typically, you want to make a list of desired fish and purchase them from the most docile first and then most aggressive.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jim. I think I'm going to need more than little Ammonia for the future too as I'm not a big fan of raw shrimp method, Can I buy it from somewhere? I'm going to do the fish less cycle using nitrifying bactaria FritzZyme® 9. After that add the fish.

I like the idea of hypo salinity for few weeks and then increase little by little after that over two weeks and then match it to display tank and then move them to display tank.
 
Nish,

You can seed the sponge filters with bacteria such as Dr. Tim's One and Only or FritzZyme (you'll need a air pump & tubing also to drive the sponge filter). As a beginner, I would highly recommend going with atleast a 20 long and a 40 breeder (for larger fish). Minimum QT is 6-8 weeks for most fish with certain exceptions such as dragonets. Fresh water dips can be beneficial in removing flukes and other parasites, but can be stressful on fish (please use caution). Kevin Kohen recommends feeding multiple times a day to build up the fishes immunity, but you need to stay on top of water parameters. Depending on the amount of fish you may need to do daily or every other day water changes.

Here's a link to well written QT article written by Leebca over at RF:

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/quarantine-process-27022/
 
HiFidelity said:
Air driven bio filters work well (spongy ones) but they have to be left in your DT for a few weeks (4 weeks minimum) but It sounds like you won't have an established tank when you setup your QT so you should cycle the QT before any fish are added, I would do a 10G & a 20G, 20 especially if you get the tang (if you have room & equipment for 20 & 40 even better). Do not put more than one species in the QT at a time, so if you get a pair of clowns it is ok to QT them together but everything else needs to be QT'd individually. 4 weeks is the bare minimum for QT period, if the fish gets sick and you have to medicate your quarantine period starts over after the last dose of medication. Paint the bottom of the QT black, put it inf front of a white wall or white background, also throw in some PVC pipe joints (about 3" long and variety of 2"-4" diameter) the fish will like to hide in these. No fancy light, I just use a standard screw socket CF bulb of low wattage.

I like the natural QT cycle as it is least stressful to the fish, although depending on where the fish comes from a freshwater bath + mild anti-parasitic meds (I use prazipro) is a good idea but I would recommend at the least a 3-4 minute freshwater bath with no meds and you have to match the temp as well as PH in the dip because there is no acclimation when you move the fish from the freshwater to the saltwater. I also like to feed non-medicated anti-parasitic food and I have had good experience with New Life Spectrum Thera-A Formula Sinking Pellets.

Lastly you must be methodical about testing parameters, specifically ammonia & nitrites as these can climb quickly without LR or LS but with the bigger size QT's this is even less likely. Weekly water changes are a must regardless of how good the parameters look.

Not too complicated once you have everything set up and after the first fish it'll be a breeze just a PITA to be patient.

I QT inverts & some corals as well, but that's a different topic :)
Click to expand...

Yes, I was gonna think Bout QTing inverts so for how long and what's your standard ??
 
I QT inverts for a short period of time just to be sure that they are healthy and not dying off that way if anything dies the next day it's easy to find and perhaps take back to the LFS or dispose of, this can back fire because I quarantined a dozen blue legged hermits with a dozen snails and one of the bigger hermits decided he needed a new home so he killed one of the cerith snails then him & his buddies made dinner out of it and he took over the empty shell. I don't do it for very long because I worry about the parameters and since I don't dose my QT I worry mainly about calcium since inverts rely heavily on calcium levels in the water column so I guess 1-2 weeks max is how long I keep them in there (they are also very very sensitive to high nitrate). Another thing I plan to do in the future when I purchase more hermits is put them in quarantine with a variety of size shells so they don't attack each other (one of mine was forced out of his home and killed earlier today). The LFS typically won't care what the hermit crabs are doing because they are their lowest priced stock and surely they have plenty of empty shells in their tanks (which I don't).
That being said, anyone know where I can get a bunch of empty shells?

I quarantined 3 peppermint shrimp because 2 of them came in looking very pale and I wanted to feed them separately that way they can have their own isolated space to eat without competing with everything in the DT and since they love to hide in rocks and such the QT makes it easy to monitor their eating habits and behavior, another reason I quarantined my shrimp is because I'm training them to eat Aiptasia and that's a task that would be far too difficult in the DT.

So overall I would say QT period for inverts is not very long at all (depending on what it is) but just long enough till you feel that they are doing well and healthy looking, after all regardless of what it is that we put in the DT we always should make sure they're healthy and happy before being introduced to a community tank. The first sign that something should be kept out of the DT is an animal showing signs of distress or deteriorated health.

This logic extends to other things beyond the health of the animal, if you are getting a new type of crab and you aren't sure if it's going to hurt your coral you can easily throw it in QT with the coral (or a frag from that coral) and carefully monitor its behavior before you let it loose in your tank, shall it appear to be eating/hurting things you don't want it to you will have one heck of a time trying to get it out of your DT, even with a trap sometimes it's frustrating to catch critters that are good at hiding.
 
HiFidelity said:
I QT inverts for a short period of time just to be sure that they are healthy and not dying off that way if anything dies the next day it's easy to find and perhaps take back to the LFS or dispose of, this can back fire because I quarantined a dozen blue legged hermits with a dozen snails and one of the bigger hermits decided he needed a new home so he killed one of the cerith snails then him & his buddies made dinner out of it and he took over the empty shell. I don't do it for very long because I worry about the parameters and since I don't dose my QT I worry mainly about calcium since inverts rely heavily on calcium levels in the water column so I guess 1-2 weeks max is how long I keep them in there (they are also very very sensitive to high nitrate). Another thing I plan to do in the future when I purchase more hermits is put them in quarantine with a variety of size shells so they don't attack each other (one of mine was forced out of his home and killed earlier today). The LFS typically won't care what the hermit crabs are doing because they are their lowest priced stock and surely they have plenty of empty shells in their tanks (which I don't).
That being said, anyone know where I can get a bunch of empty shells?

I quarantined 3 peppermint shrimp because 2 of them came in looking very pale and I wanted to feed them separately that way they can have their own isolated space to eat without competing with everything in the DT and since they love to hide in rocks and such the QT makes it easy to monitor their eating habits and behavior, another reason I quarantined my shrimp is because I'm training them to eat Aiptasia and that's a task that would be far too difficult in the DT.

So overall I would say QT period for inverts is not very long at all (depending on what it is) but just long enough till you feel that they are doing well and healthy looking, after all regardless of what it is that we put in the DT we always should make sure they're healthy and happy before being introduced to a community tank. The first sign that something should be kept out of the DT is an animal showing signs of distress or deteriorated health.

This logic extends to other things beyond the health of the animal, if you are getting a new type of crab and you aren't sure if it's going to hurt your coral you can easily throw it in QT with the coral (or a frag from that coral) and carefully monitor its behavior before you let it loose in your tank, shall it appear to be eating/hurting things you don't want it to you will have one heck of a time trying to get it out of your DT, even with a trap sometimes it's frustrating to catch critters that are good at hiding.
Click to expand...

A Michaels store is where Brandie got a ton of shells for pretty cheap. I would suggest checking it out over there.
 
I read that blue hermit crabs is a BIG NO for reef tank. Is that true ?
 
HiFidelity said:
I had them with zoa & paly frags in my QT and they didn't touch them
Click to expand...

Well, then might have two of those and I read Florida fighting conch is a good one too.
 
denzil said:
ReefLove said:
I read that blue hermit crabs is a BIG NO for reef tank. Is that true ?
Click to expand...
IMO, I think that's just a generalization. It's really up to you.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking that if you are intentionally over feeding the they should stay non-violent but if you don't feed your tank enough and also have many of them then they will be fighting for food and kill others or feed on corals.
 
ReefLove said:
denzil said:
ReefLove said:
I read that blue hermit crabs is a BIG NO for reef tank. Is that true ?
Click to expand...
IMO, I think that's just a generalization. It's really up to you.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking that if you are intentionally over feeding the they should stay non-violent but if you don't feed your tank enough and also have many of them then they will be fighting for food and kill others or feed on corals.
Click to expand...
I really think it's hit and miss. Some are just more prone to doing it than others.

Brandie has a few blue's in her tank and we haven't noticed any of the corals being bothered by the crabs. That was my reasoning behind me saying that it was a generalization. Everyone's experience can be different.
 
ReefLove said:
Thanks Jim. I think I'm going to need more than little Ammonia for the future too as I'm not a big fan of raw shrimp method, Can I buy it from somewhere? I'm going to do the fish less cycle using nitrifying bactaria FritzZyme® 9. After that add the fish.
Click to expand...

Pure ammonia can be found at ACE Hardware in their janitorial supplies section. I remember finding it back in the day at dollar stores, but when I checked a couple years ago they all had agents added for generating suds or scents. You don't need a whole lot of pure ammonia so I can give you a small bottle. My wife uses it for cleaning her jewelry. :D
 
Kensington Reefer said:
No need to worry about the bio filter of a QT system. You have to do the water changes anyway.
Click to expand...

Yes but if I'm traveling and my tank is not medicated then sponge filter will help a bit using the dr. Tim's like nitrifying bacteria.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top