Help starting an emergency tank

Sharkattackmack · Mar 11, 2023

Hey everyone, we ordered a Pseudocheilinops ataenia (pink streak wrasse/pelvic spot wrasse/midget wrasse) from the only place we could that had them in stock. They had them for 5 days before they shipped and told us they were healthy and eating. So I paid for shipping and for the process started. FedEx said it was supposed to be delivered by noon but didn't show up till 2pm. At first glance we thought the fish was DOA but we floated the bag anyways and slowly saw some moment. We were hopeful and set up a emergency tank. Heater for heat and air bubbler for water movement ( couldn't find any of our spare pumps so this was the best we had). Lucky we keep lots of RO and salt water on hand so we were good to open the bag and put the fish in as soon as it was up to temp.

My question is how often do people so water changes in these emergency/qt tanks. Obviously they're not cycled so I had planned on doing daily water changes. Is this too often? I'm not sure how long it takes for fish poop to break down into ammonia. We tried to feed it this morning and when it didn't take any food so we drained the water, sucked out the left over food and topped it up with water change water from our established tank.

The wrasse is slowly starting to come around and will swim around slowly when we aren't looking. We put a small rock structure in there to give it a place to hide and feel safe. We plan to monitor it in there for a few days before we put it into our tank. Any tips on this would be awesome. Thanks guys!

AydenLincoln · Mar 11, 2023

Add established media from the display and/or bottled bacteria and invest in a Seachem ammonia alert badge and test constantly if you see any change or spike even the slightest that’s when you do a big water change or you could do small ones daily!

Quietman · Mar 11, 2023

If at least 10 gallon you should have a couple/three days leeway with that size of fish, assuming you're doing 25%-50% water changes. You're not worried about nitrates in this case as you'll be changing water for ammonia. Just grab a test kit or badges. I like to use badges - they're not precise but that's not really needed for this. They give nice constant snapshot and you can see if it's coming up and need to change water. Polyfilter is also nice but a bit pricey.

It's not just the food as fish expel ammonia from gills which can be significant. Small fish, smaller amount though.

If you can grab a rock or two from cycled tank (or in a few days), you'll likely be fine with ammonia and just have to WC for nitrate.

Sharkattackmack · Mar 11, 2023

I forgot to add that we did take some established rock in the back of the tank and added it in there. We will look into some ammonia badges and watch them. The fish is still looking weak and pale so we want to be able to have it set up for a week until we put it into our other tank. Thanks for the help and I will update in a few days and hopefully once more when we add it into our DT.

Tired · Mar 11, 2023

If you put established rock in that tank, it's now cycled and ready for small fish. You're good. Monitoring ammonia won't hurt, but is likely unnecessary.