QT with no livestock question.

[Brian W]

My QT period is up for my newest little clownfish. It is now in his forever tank. I do not plan to buy any new fish (or coral) anytime soon but I do want to keep it cycled just in case.

What do I need to do to keep this tank cycled? Should I just dose bacteria monthly alongside the recommended dose of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride?

I really want to ensure this QT tank keeps its cycle as I pulled a 5lb rock from my display. It's roughly 6 years old and do not want to lose all of the different bacteria diversity I'm assuming it has.

Thanks.

 

[davidcalgary29]

My QT period is up for my newest little clownfish. It is now in his forever tank. I do not plan to buy any new fish (or coral) anytime soon but I do want to keep it cycled just in case.

What do I need to do to keep this tank cycled? Should I just dose bacteria monthly alongside the recommended dose of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride?

I really want to ensure this QT tank keeps its cycle as I pulled a 5lb rock from my display. It's roughly 6 years old and do not want to lose all of the different bacteria diversity I'm assuming it has.

Thanks.

You don't have to do anything to it to maintain the existing bacterial load. It's a good idea to keep at least a snail or two in it to control the algae, as algal growth will continue even with ambient lighting. And the poop that the snails produce will be more than enough for the bacteria. I'd run an airstone as well.

 

[Brian W]

You don't have to do anything to it to maintain the existing bacterial load. It's a good idea to keep at least a snail or two in it to control the algae, as algal growth will continue even with ambient lighting. And the poop that the snails produce will be more than enough for the bacteria. I'd run an airstone as well.

Good idea. I will keep a Snail in there. I have a powerhead and heater in there already. I don't run a light on there but I may put a small one on there do it can grow some algae for the Snail. During the QT I did not have to clean the glass 1 time.

 

[ying yang]

@brandon429 ive read him say once a reef tank has cycled then the bacteria will never starve even without livestock as all the bacteria in the tank each other and bacteria from the room the tank is in enters the tank so cycle continues and bacteria doesn't die so no need to keep adding food or amnonia but be better him answering you and telling you himself as either he been told or researched it himself.
I know I seen a thread last year if medical professionally telling brandon about different kinds of bacteria and won't starve so maybe he got info from this or somewhere else idk.

I know qt tank remained empty for over 9 months now with everything still running incase I need it and only thing I do is top off rodi for evaporation etc.

If you got a sump you can turn qt tank off and just put say a sponge filter from your qt tank in sump still running and keep the bacteria alive on the media or whatever filter you got,but your choice but guessing you got a small tank with one fish so no sump but maybe I'm wrong

 

[Miami Reef]

Do you dose copper or any other meds that could potentially harm the snail?

What’s you goal with QT? Prophylactic treatment or just observation?

 

[Miami Reef]

@ying yang

I personally believe a tank that is not being fed will lead to bacterial populations slowly shrinking overtime. Having a tank sit empty with no food for a while, with a sudden increase in bioload will lead to a cycle.

 

[aggrofish]

Not worth keeping a tank running just in case IMO. Just add some biomendia to your DT sump to use in case you need to start up the QT tank again. Obviously don't reuse and media from a QT that has had any copper added to it

 

[ying yang]

@ying yang

I personally believe a tank that is not being fed will lead to bacterial populations slowly shrinking overtime. Having a tank sit empty with no food for a while, with a sudden increase in bioload will lead to a cycle.

Not sure buddy,but by going off what bradon says about if a tank is wet and no livestock and got flow then can't be starved and believe him.reason being it makes sense.
My opinion before that would be if dont feed the tank then you not feeding the bacteria then they decline in numbers or go dormant or die completely but if what brandon says is true then the bacteria are still getting fed by bacteria on the air that enters your tank or if put hands in tank then bacteria on your arms so bacteria still getting fed but I honestly not experienced enough in bacteria so have no clue.
I do know after about 5 months of having qt tank empty and still wet and everything running,and 0 livestock I added 1 ppm amnonian chloride and it processed it within 14 hours so all nitryfying bacteria still doing there job so to speak

 

[davidcalgary29]

Not worth keeping a tank running just in case IMO. Just add some biomendia to your DT sump to use in case you need to start up the QT tank again. Obviously don't reuse and media from a QT that has had any copper added to it

The potential problem with this method is that you will not have a "clean" source of biomedia from which to draw if you have an outbreak of disease.

I don't think that we have to worry about starving our bacterial colonies because tanks aren't closed systems -- they're constantly being fed nutrient-laden dust (some of which is our own dead skin cells) through incoming air. And that's surely enough to enable microbial growth even in the absence of added food particles. And we don't even know that these bacteria require a constant food source -- there's a bit of anecdotal evidence that they enter some type of statis in the absence of nutrients, but don't die off readily.

 

[aggrofish]

If you're just observing a fish and it gets something from your bio media then it would get it in the tank and now you can treat. If on the other hand you have an outbreak, well, you're going to have to medicate anyway and all the media is doing is providing you with nitrifying bacteria.

There is no wrong answer. I just tend to go with whatever is simple. I ran a QT tank for a while and it became a PITA topping off all the time. In addition to two other tanks so I just shut it down.

 

[Azedenkae]

My QT period is up for my newest little clownfish. It is now in his forever tank. I do not plan to buy any new fish (or coral) anytime soon but I do want to keep it cycled just in case.

What do I need to do to keep this tank cycled? Should I just dose bacteria monthly alongside the recommended dose of Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride?

I really want to ensure this QT tank keeps its cycle as I pulled a 5lb rock from my display. It's roughly 6 years old and do not want to lose all of the different bacteria diversity I'm assuming it has.

Thanks.

Brandon is right in this point.

Nitrifiers go for months ammonia-starved, and given that ammonia is all they need as an energy source, you'd be fine.

If you want to be sure, just dose some ammonium chloride every 2 weeks or so. That's all you need to do. Don't add fish food or anything like that, you don't want to feed the wrong type of microorganism. Just ammonia for your nitrifiers.