New QT setup questions

Daddio · Jul 12, 2014

Okay, so I am a believer. It has been a really long time since I added fish. After my rebuild I waited 6 weeks to add fish but had transferred a clown and a 6 line wrasse from the old tank. My old tank had ich but the previous fish were fine. When I sold my old equipment, I sold my hospital tank- think it was a 29 tall? Not really a good qt size.

So...

I started adding fish and had a horrible ich outbreak. Going to go fish less for 8 weeks (if I can catch the 6 line- fire fish are easy.) those are the only fish in the tank at present.

Bought this qt setup from someone getting out of the hobby. The tank is split in two each side having a heater, aqueon 10 filter and a tiny powerhead. Was thinking of starting out pulling water from the display to start. Was going to get filter material for the filters and run them and put a spare set in the sump to colonize bacteria meanwhile. Was going to keep this running full time while I make a stocking list and qt new fish for 4 weeks.

My questions are:
- would you run the tank with copper or hyposalinic?
- would you run one side at full sg to qt corals?
- if I run hyposalinic, would you set tank up hyposalinic and acclimate or set up at full sg and slowly lower salinity.

Any other tips/experiences would be helpful. There is so much to read on this subject that I am a little confused. Real world experience would be helpful.

Kworker · Jul 12, 2014

My questions are:
- would you run the tank with copper or hyposalinic
In my opinion, it depends. I try to avoid Cu treatment at all costs. Hypo salinity is generally easier on the fish and I say generally because my Achilles did not like low salinity AT ALL. The issue with either is you will need to monitor the levels very closely to make sure they are within the proper range or you will be wasting time. With Hypo you can not let the salinity raise above 1.009 or you are giving the parasite an edge.

- would you run one side at full sg to qt corals?
I would NOT run the other side as a QT for corals, I like the idea of QTing everything but if you are using one side for fish and the other for coral. It only takes a small leak or too much splash for the medication for the fish to reach the Coral side and killing the coral.

- if I run hyposalinic, would you set tank up hyposalinic and acclimate or set up at full sg and slowly lower salinity.
No reason to raise the salinity just to bring it down. Most stores have their fish displays at 1.015-1.017 and a good start is slightly below that for Hypo. Fish take the down swing of salinity a lot easier than going up.

Any other tips/experiences would be helpful. There is so much to read on this subject that I am a little confused. Real world experience would be helpful.

Here is a link to another thread not long ago of someone setting up a QT and I explained what I do: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/new-saltwater-reef-aquariums-post-here/165755-starting-quarantine-system.html