Display tank is ready. Leave it alone during QT?

[meh180]

My Display tank is officially cycled and ready. I was all set to place an order for my first fish today. Now rethinking a QT tank after reading about tearing out rockwork after a DT has been treated with meds.

Trying to put an order in for the items I need for a QT tank today.
A few questions, will my DT cycle be fine if I leave it for another month without fish? I saw a recommendation to add a cleanup crew to the DT in the meantime. Is there not the same risk for not QTing inverts?

After going to so much trouble to properly cycle the display tank, how do you deal with a QT tank that may be put up and torn down periodically? My DT is a 35 gal AIO, so placing extra rock in a Sump to seed it isn't really an option.

When I get to the point of adding corals, how do you deal with lighting to isn't sufficient in the QT tank?

Thanks for any suggestions. I've gotten a lot of good information here so far.

 

[brandon429]

It will be fine, a cycle cannot be starved no matter how long you wait. We have two month self-cycles on file, totally cycled reefs that got no bottle bac or feed, just wait time.

the longer your tank goes unfed by you, the longer it’s feeding anyway off nature, a cycle cannot be starved. Everything you read about the need for ghost feeding is just made up forum speak, cycles can’t starve out.

 

[EHaddad]

My Display tank is officially cycled and ready. I was all set to place an order for my first fish today. Now rethinking a QT tank after reading about tearing out rockwork after a DT has been treated with meds.

Trying to put an order in for the items I need for a QT tank today.
A few questions, will my DT cycle be fine if I leave it for another month without fish? I saw a recommendation to add a cleanup crew to the DT in the meantime. Is there not the same risk for not QTing inverts?

After going to so much trouble to properly cycle the display tank, how do you deal with a QT tank that may be put up and torn down periodically? My DT is a 35 gal AIO, so placing extra rock in a Sump to seed it isn't really an option.

When I get to the point of adding corals, how do you deal with lighting to isn't sufficient in the QT tank?

Thanks for any suggestions. I've gotten a lot of good information here so far.

So my QT tank I bought the 40gallon breeder kit from petco or pets smart. I also keep rock in my sump in my display tank that I use to help seed me qt tank when needed along with bacteria. I’ve seen some people leave filter sponges in the sump as well.

 

[BostonReefer300]

It will be fine, a cycle cannot be starved no matter how long you wait. We have two month self-cycles on file, totally cycled reefs that got no bottle bac or feed, just wait time.

the longer your tank goes unfed by you, the longer it’s feeding anyway off nature, a cycle cannot be starved. Everything you read about the need for ghost feeding is just made up forum speak, cycles can’t starve out.

@brandon429 honest question for you: if the nitrifying bacteria die out because a tank is lying totally fallow without any ammonia source, isn't that starving a cycle?

 

[Idoc]

My Display tank is officially cycled and ready. I was all set to place an order for my first fish today. Now rethinking a QT tank after reading about tearing out rockwork after a DT has been treated with meds.

Trying to put an order in for the items I need for a QT tank today.
A few questions, will my DT cycle be fine if I leave it for another month without fish? I saw a recommendation to add a cleanup crew to the DT in the meantime. Is there not the same risk for not QTing inverts?

After going to so much trouble to properly cycle the display tank, how do you deal with a QT tank that may be put up and torn down periodically? My DT is a 35 gal AIO, so placing extra rock in a Sump to seed it isn't really an option.

When I get to the point of adding corals, how do you deal with lighting to isn't sufficient in the QT tank?

Thanks for any suggestions. I've gotten a lot of good information here so far.

The level of risk you are willing to accept determines how much quarantine you perform.

I run a basic 10g tank as a quarantine tank for me fish. I also observe and treat with medications during that time, which tends to be around 45-60 days. This tank i only setup if I'm expecting new fish, so i set it up a couple days before receiving fish and use bottled bacteria for the first week... which is typically an observation time for me anyhow.

I also keep a 20g long tank constantly running as a coral and invert quarantine tank... no fish. Corals typically stay in there for at least 90 days, but 76 is the recommended time period. This can be reduced to 45 days of you run your temp at 80.6 degrees... but that can be hard on some toes of snails. I also use this as a frag tank basically since i have some corals growing out in there for over a year now! I use a cheaper black box light for this tank. I will typically move snails to the main tank after 30 days though...and any shrimp after their first molt.

 

[dkeller22]

It will be fine. My DT is now cycled and will just sit and run while I QT fish. Use the slack time while you quarantine to make sure all of the equipment in your DT is rock solid. I've already had heater failures and decided to make some changes in some of my setup and use different manufacturers for some things. Better now than when it's full of livestock that we don't want to kill.

 

[brandon429]

Bostonreefer

they do not die, they are feeding every second even if master humans add nothing


we don’t control water bac like we are trained to think, so we’ll buy bac products.


read this example see MStevens testing on fallow tank never fed:

Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact

Did the online calc indicate to use one mil in the tank for your gallonage

www.reef2reef.com

there isn’t a post on the internet that shows a set in cycle starving out, not a single example. It’s purely made up by web posters. We have not been taught about free food that gets into a reef every second of existence...if they put that in the rules less bottle bac would be sold, all our cycle training is designed to sell bottle bac or supplements to organisms that don’t require any, shown directly above. This is meh180’s first introduction into the fact water bac don’t need our help, they’ve adapted fine.


this means less hesitancy and more deliberate planning, that’s better reefing. Also we aren’t pumping algae fuel into the water before everything is set, another benefit of trusting bacteria. Flake food wouldn’t be a big deal but it’s shown right above as not needed, the more years you wait to feed the more the tank has cycled just fine anyway.

 

[BostonReefer300]

Bostonreefer

they do not die, they are feeding every second even if master humans add nothing


we don’t control water bac like we are trained to think, so we’ll buy bac products.


read this example see MStevens testing on fallow tank never fed:

Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact

Did the online calc indicate to use one mil in the tank for your gallonage

www.reef2reef.com

there isn’t a post on the internet that shows a set in cycle starving out, not a single example. It’s purely made up by web posters. We have not been taught about free food that gets into a reef every second of existence...if they put that in the rules less bottle bac would be sold, all our cycle training is designed to sell bottle bac or supplements to organisms that don’t require any, shown directly above. This is meh180’s first introduction into the fact water bac don’t need our help, they’ve adapted fine.


this means less hesitancy and more deliberate planning, that’s better reefing. Also we aren’t pumping algae fuel into the water before everything is set, another benefit of trusting bacteria. Flake food wouldn’t be a big deal but it’s shown right above as not needed, the more years you wait to feed the more the tank has cycled just fine anyway.

I think the debate needs to be in the separate contexts of theoretical or practical. Theoretically, you can starve bacteria in a sterile, fallow tank. Bacteria can survive for a very long time with no food source using various mechanisms, but not forever. However, in a practical context, it's almost impossible to have a sterile tank. I removed everything from my tank except sand and kept it running in the dark for several weeks (to kill off algae), but still had a robust biological filter going because there was plenty of junk decaying in the sandbed, pipes, etc. feeding the bacteria. However, if I had left it that way for a year, I'm pretty sure I'd have to start over with fresh bacteria. In any case, practically speaking, I agree that you're almost never going to totally wipe out a filter once it has become established. People just need to be careful about not over-loading its capacity when introducing livestock.

 

[brandon429]

Here’s a three year fallow test: post #189

The microbiology of reef tank cycling.

A couple of questions... How do you recommend using h2o2 on a newly cycling tank like mine? Wait till after its fully cycled? Dosing the entire tank at the first signs of algea? Or just spot trating when necessary?

www.reef2reef.com

see the timeline developing:

a cycling chart never has ammonia rise back up, because cycles don’t starve

our sixty day test of a total dry start shows that to be the case, for sixty days at least. And then above, carried out to three years, see how there is not an ammonia downslope at all

why would testing at ten years make a diff, it will be the same timeline as long as an open top exists and hydration is kept decent


its important to know there isn’t a single example on the Internet of any cycle starving out, but myriad examples exist for them not ever starving. We don’t get lucky sometimes and a cycle barely makes it


in all cases, 100% of them, a cycle cannot starve. All the qualifiers we read that are needed is just more weak bac training being promoted in the market, these bacteria don’t need our help they need only time to do what they do.

 

[brandon429]

despite the links above, likely to be the only ones on the thread, I bet ten virtual forum coins OP will still feed or dose, peer relay of info even without any sources avail to read is the most powerful purchase controller on the web.

It doesn’t matter how long we study bac and make work threads, when peers cast doubt without any links that doubt remains and influences the market. Bottle bac sellers love the stuff we keep circulating, they love it.

 

[BostonReefer300]

Here’s a three year fallow test: post #189

The microbiology of reef tank cycling.

A couple of questions... How do you recommend using h2o2 on a newly cycling tank like mine? Wait till after its fully cycled? Dosing the entire tank at the first signs of algea? Or just spot trating when necessary?

www.reef2reef.com

see the timeline developing:

a cycling chart never has ammonia rise back up, because cycles don’t starve

our sixty day test of a total dry start shows that to be the case, for sixty days at least. And then above, carried out to three years, see how there is not an ammonia downslope at all

why would testing at ten years make a diff, it will be the same timeline as long as an open top exists and hydration is kept decent


its important to know there isn’t a single example on the Internet of any cycle starving out, but myriad examples exist for them not ever starving.

That tank had plenty of gunk in it to keep the bacteria alive (and I don't even want to think about what it smelled like) and even Meh180 's new tank will keep a colony going for long while without effort. It's not worth getting further into the weeds about theoretically starving bacteria here. Important thing is that @meh180 doesn't overload the DT biofilter whenever livestock introduction begins. Take things slow and monitor. Dump in a bottle of bacteria before stocking if it'll make you more comfortable.