Understanding A Q Tank

[Fish_Man43]

I have a small 10g Q tank with heater and filter but the filter as been in my main tank since i have been cycling it, and now the main tank is cycled i'm getting some fish, but before this i will be placing them in a Q tank. So do i just fill the Q tank up be treating it with Seachem Prime (I use) buy this fish and put the mini Q filter in? or do i put filter in before i buy the fish? advice please.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Fish_Man43 and Welcome to TFF!

The Q (Quarantine) tank is not needed until the -second- stocking of fish and later. For the first (initial) stocking of fish, there is little or no point to the Q-tank as you would just go ahead and treat the disease in the main tank if it occurred. Once the first stocking has been successful and you have a bunch of happy, well-adjusted fish, you wouldn't want to wipe them out with disease being brought in by new fish, so the new fish need a period (two weeks? depends..) in the Q-tank. To tell the truth, I'm so slow I end up with fish in my Q-tank for weeks and weeks before I bring them over to the main tank. I've got 5 excited little neons in there right now just begging to be put across the room with the big fellows, lol.

Wonderful that you've run across the term "cycling" and are doing it? What brand of household ammonia were you able to find? What is your test kit? The fishless cycling process rarely takes less than a month, more often 2 months (well, sometimes 2 months) and we usually hear questions from new members before they've reached the end of it! Did you base it on our Fishless Cycling article in the Beginners Resource Center?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Fish_Man43]

Hi Fish_Man43 and Welcome to TFF!

The Q (Quarantine) tank is not needed until the -second- stocking of fish and later. For the first (initial) stocking of fish, there is little or no point to the Q-tank as you would just go ahead and treat the disease in the main tank if it occurred. Once the first stocking has been successful and you have a bunch of happy, well-adjusted fish, you wouldn't want to wipe them out with disease being brought in by new fish, so the new fish need a period (two weeks? depends..) in the Q-tank. To tell the truth, I'm so slow I end up with fish in my Q-tank for weeks and weeks before I bring them over to the main tank. I've got 5 excited little neons in there right now just begging to be put across the room with the big fellows, lol.

Wonderful that you've run across the term "cycling" and are doing it? What brand of household ammonia were you able to find? What is your test kit? The fishless cycling process rarely takes less than a month, more often 2 months (well, sometimes 2 months) and we usually hear questions from new members before they've reached the end of it! Did you base it on our Fishless Cycling article in the Beginners Resource Center?

~~waterdrop~~

Thank's for your guidance, of course you don't need a Q tank for my first set of fish don't know what i was thinking silly billy yes been reading about cycling the last few weeks to see if i done it ok and it took me just over two months to cycle it but it's all done now as i have a friend Not far away well about 50miles that as been keeping fish for 30 years so he introduce me to fish keeping and the cycle. The ammonia was from boots and it done the job, my friend used the old way for his first tank a shrimp, but advised me not to go down this rout

But again cool information on cycling you have for those how want advice pity the LFS don't tell you all this when you buy a tank or fish, good job i have a good friend to tell me this