New QT tank cycling tips

[chiroboy126]

Hello all,

I am very new to the hobby after watching and researching for several years. I decided to jump in and now have my 75 gal display tank aquascaped and ready for live sand and water. I also have a 10 gallon QT set up. The QT tank has been running for about 3 weeks now. I do not intend to do a fishless cycle on the QT tank, I have been carefully selecting a pair of clowns I want and plan on giving them 30-60 days in the QT tank while my DT is cycling and to make sure these fish are healthy before placing them in my brand new DT. I found the fish I wanted and they will be here Tuesday. I tested my water and just would like some opinions and guidance on what to do next. Here are my current water parameters:

Ammonia: 0.8 (obviously high due to cycling, not sure if I should be alarmed but with my PH & temp, my kit tells me this would be toxic).
Salinity: 39.2
Temp: 78.6
PH: 8.2
Nitrate: 1ppm
Nitrite: 0.1 ppm

My plan is to use Dr. Tim's Aquatics One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria for Reef Aquariums when my fish arrive after drip acclimating them but seeing my salinity and ammonia so high made me nervous. What would you all recommend? A 10-20% water change to reduce ammonia? Do I just add more freshwater to bring down the salinity? Both?

I'd appreciate any guidance as it's not too late to cancel my fish order if I need to pump my brakes. I'm in this for the long haul and don't mind waiting to do it right. Thanks in advance!

 

[TheBear78]

Hi there.
I'm sure more experienced reefers will have their say on various aspects of your plan but for now, how has the QT ended up with ammonia?
You mention not wanting to do a fishless cycle bit what have you done? It will be easier to make suggestions based on how you got to this point.

 

[chiroboy126]

Hi there.
I'm sure more experienced reefers will have their say on various aspects of your plan but for now, how has the QT ended up with ammonia?
You mention not wanting to do a fishless cycle bit what have you done? It will be easier to make suggestions based on how you got to this point.

All really good questions, all I've done so far is set up the QT tank with fresh RO water and added reef salt. I have not added any other additives, food, or fish. I'm really confused as to how it is reading any ammonia as well but figured that was part of the normal cycling process? During my research, everyone else seems to need to add something to get ammonia to appear but I haven't added anything.

 

[brandon429]

this is how to do it:

post a pic of your setup so we can see how much surface area is in the qt, compared to other qt's of that size and to see where it's positioned. from that view alone, no testing, it will be easy to cycle your tank without any testing

the ammonia you see: all salt mixes have some, that's your test kit non digital overstating it. if you had a calibrated digital meter it wouldn't show those levels, this is why we use testless cycling/to forego stumbling blocks from poor tech availability.

all we have to do is add any common bottle bac for cycling, a ground up pinch of fish food ground into powder/any brand doesn't matter/wait ten days and do a water change-its cycled

that wait time plus feed will always cycle a given set of surface area, so let's see how your qt presents. looking to see where the filtration is, how it flows in the water path etc. looking to see degree of surface area to see if it matches common qt setups that size, no testing is needed to get this qt tank ready.

 

[brandon429]

the way that system works is this: per any cycling chart, ~10 days is the consistent ammonia drop date. it doesn't matter whether or not a cheap test kit confirms that drop, it happens relative to the surface area in a system.

thousands of people overdose ammonia in their cycle (classic 2 ppm as sellers told us to do)

and by day ten of stewing among food and heated/circulated water, even a grossly overdone system can control it's ammonia though it may not have moved a huge initial amount down per the cheap test kit

we simply have people do a big water change and begin. that peels back any gross overage of ammonia if that happened, and leaves a veneer of working bacteria on all surfaces, all the time, it doesn't fail so we don't need to test and confirm. what fails is place, degree and water flow pathing / surface area matters, the bac coating time # of days is already known

so once we see your surface area and relate it to other common qt's or reef displays, your predictive cycle will be complete. you could easily get it ready by 3/28/23. the initial ammonia and trace feed in the salt mix are already feeding bac as we speak. once some boost carbon is added /fish food/ they'll take off fast and coat surfaces.

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

Do you have a sponge filter or someplace for the bacteria filter to grow?

 

[chiroboy126]

this is how to do it:

post a pic of your setup so we can see how much surface area is in the qt, compared to other qt's of that size and to see where it's positioned. from that view alone, no testing, it will be easy to cycle your tank without any testing

the ammonia you see: all salt mixes have some, that's your test kit non digital overstating it. if you had a calibrated digital meter it wouldn't show those levels, this is why we use testless cycling/to forego stumbling blocks from poor tech availability.

all we have to do is add any common bottle bac for cycling, a ground up pinch of fish food ground into powder/any brand doesn't matter/wait ten days and do a water change-its cycled

that wait time plus feed will always cycle a given set of surface area, so let's see how your qt presents. looking to see where the filtration is, how it flows in the water path etc. looking to see degree of surface area to see if it matches common qt setups that size, no testing is needed to get this qt tank ready.

Here's a pic!

 

[chiroboy126]

Do you have a sponge filter or someplace for the bacteria filter to grow?

I'm using the aqueon quietflow 10 filter on the back of the tank for bacteria and a fluval sea powerhead for added flow. I'm also running an eheim 75w heater as well.

 

[brandon429]

people routinely use that setup for two clownfish quarantine

*of note still: quarantining is evolving fast, that's considered absolute bare minimum acceptable setup for fish health. it is the sparsest possible surface area, and for anything more than two small clowns you start to press ammonia control issues because any feed left littered about, any, is a true ammonia control risk along with the fish waste. a system that sparse in surface area is likely to require water change help. don't use the additive Prime for controlling ammonia, water changes are the way if that system is used to quarantine or medicate fish.

ways quarantine is evolving where that tank could be spruced up and allow safer fish carry, larger fish carry, without as many water changes to guide out the inevitable clouding of water:

-double up hang on back filters or replace that one with one three times bigger.

-have a substrate made of bioballs or ceramic balls, vs bare bottom. exclude live rock and sand, they bind up medications, but include more surface area that is rinseable/able to be cleaned and reused when the quarantine begins again.

remove PVC altogether, provide overhang hiding places via fake plastic plants/adds surface area too and use terra cotta pots in place of pvc (earth tones vs bright white) and use ceramic bricks to make stacks of hiding spaces. you can increase surface area tremendously still using qt-specific media and you can decrease fish stress at the same time by making the setup more inviting

where I got this info:

reef beef, bad qt is bad
Paul B's writing about high quality qt effort and Tamberav's relay of those details
Posts of hq quarantine in the fish disease forum.

*the vast majority skip qt altogether, so the fact you got that much ready above is still commendable. for two clowns that's not a big deal above, but beyond that I'd maximize that qt. the cycling portion is easy/already set. fill it out more. after initial use, all that stuff can be dried and put away for re use. to activate it a second time: add a bottle bac, add ground up fish food, wait ten days/ready

 

[chiroboy126]

people routinely use that setup for two clownfish quarantine

*of note still: quarantining is evolving fast, that's considered absolute bare minimum acceptable setup for fish health. it is the sparsest possible surface area, and for anything more than two small clowns you start to press ammonia control issues because any feed left littered about, any, is a true ammonia control risk along with the fish waste. a system that sparse in surface area is likely to require water change help. don't use the additive Prime for controlling ammonia, water changes are the way if that system is used to quarantine or medicate fish.

ways quarantine is evolving where that tank could be spruced up and allow safer fish carry, larger fish carry, without as many water changes to guide out the inevitable clouding of water:

-double up hang on back filters or replace that one with one three times bigger.

-have a substrate made of bioballs or ceramic balls, vs bare bottom. exclude live rock and sand, they bind up medications, but include more surface area that is rinseable/able to be cleaned and reused when the quarantine begins again.

remove PVC altogether, provide overhang hiding places via fake plastic plants/adds surface area too and use terra cotta pots in place of pvc (earth tones vs bright white) and use ceramic bricks to make stacks of hiding spaces. you can increase surface area tremendously still using qt-specific media and you can decrease fish stress at the same time by making the setup more inviting

where I got this info:

reef beef, bad qt is bad
Paul B's writing about high quality qt effort and Tamberav's relay of those details
Posts of hq quarantine in the fish disease forum.

*the vast majority skip qt altogether, so the fact you got that much ready above is still commendable. for two clowns that's not a big deal above, but beyond that I'd maximize that qt. the cycling portion is easy/already set. fill it out more. after initial use, all that stuff can be dried and put away for re use. to activate it a second time: add a bottle bac, add ground up fish food, wait ten days/ready

Gotcha, I think... lol! So with all those recommendations in mind, would you suggest performing a water change at this point? And should I hold off on getting my 2 clowns delivered? I don't mind waiting but need to cancel asap if necessary

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

All really good questions, all I've done so far is set up the QT tank with fresh RO water and added reef salt. I have not added any other additives, food, or fish. I'm really confused as to how it is reading any ammonia as well but figured that was part of the normal cycling process? During my research, everyone else seems to need to add something to get ammonia to appear but I haven't added anything.

RO or RODI?
Did you test the water for ammonia?

 

[brandon429]

I honestly think that setup will run two clowns but try and time their delivery to when it will be cycled after the known wait time. can you at least get a bigger hang on back filter?

 

[chiroboy126]

RO or RODI?
Did you test the water for ammonia?

RODI water, my bad. No I did not test the water for ammonia initially.

 

[chiroboy126]

I honestly think that setup will run two clowns but try and time their delivery to when it will be cycled after the known wait time. can you at least get a bigger hang on back filter?

I'm going to grab another filter and run 2 of them. I'm also going to try to grab some ceramic balls and swap out the PVC for terra cotta pots.

 

[brandon429]

if you do that and give the right prep time wait # of days I'm certain that very good quality qt for two clowns and really a good job in prep, nice one. nice approach.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

If you plan to add nitrifying bacteria anyway, why not do so now?

 

[chiroboy126]

If you plan to add nitrifying bacteria anyway, why not do so now?

I was under the impression this should be used when adding my new fish to the aquarium, not before. Is that wrong?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I was under the impression this should be used when adding my new fish to the aquarium, not before. Is that wrong?

Very! Many of us use bottled bacteria to cycle the tank well PRIOR to adding fish!

 

[brandon429]

agreed add it now. again above I typed: you'd add the cycling bac, to the setup, add the fish food wait ten days then you're done

you wouldn't withhold the cycling bac till you add fish, although that still works it wasn't the order of ops typed for a reason. it only works if your bottle bac added isn't dead. the fish food and ten days wait accounts for that small % risk.

 

[chiroboy126]

Well that clears up a lot. Thank you both!