Using DT water for QT?

[Aggie1978]

My Display tank is now cycled: 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitities, 25 Nitrates, Salinity 1.027 and has been this way for one week. I would like to set up my QT, can I do a planned water change with the DT and use the water to fill my QT?

 

[Garf]

My Display tank is now cycled: 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitities, 25 Nitrates, Salinity 1.027 and has been this way for one week. I would like to set up my QT, can I do a planned water change with the DT and use the water to fill my QT?

Yes, that’s what I do.

 

[Smprc]

Sorry if this is obvious...so yes as Garf said, you can do that...but how are you keeping the ammonia at zero in the QT?

 

[daybreaksky]

Sorry if this is obvious...so yes as Garf said, you can do that...but how are you keeping the ammonia at zero in the QT?

i use this with an air pump. and a bag of ceramic rings, about 1lb. 30g tank

have 4 small fish in it right now, i can feed every day and have 0 spikes.
cycle with biospira or turbo start just like DT but if you are only adding 2 small clowns you can add live bacteria with the fish, just don't overfeed or don't feed at all for a couple of days.

also air pump oxygenates during prazi treatments in case of bacterial bloom

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT rely on seachem ammonia badge. test like normal until confident QT can handle the load. the badges are slow to respond and often don't color up until fish is dead. it's a very mixed result as they only test ionized nd not bound ammonia and work well in PH under 7...

 

[Smprc]

I just didn't want him to think that because he used his cycled DT water that all of a sudden his QT is cycled. Hey, Ive seen and personally made mistakes like this .

 

[daybreaksky]

I just didn't want him to think that because he used his cycled DT water that all of a sudden his QT is cycled. Hey, Ive seen and personally made mistakes like this .

I hear ya. you definitely learn from mistakes often in this hobby and sometimes they are very costly

 

[JasonK84]

Just be very careful not to cross contaminate your DT by using same buckets and hoses to get the water from the DT and then going to the QT. It would really stink to have a sick fish in QT and accidentally transfer a parasite with as little as a drop of water. If there’s a chance of this happening then I doing the QT water change separately from the DT and having different buckets, hoses, and nets for each tank. Yes you can just know the risk.

 

[Aggie1978]

Just be very careful not to cross contaminate your DT by using same buckets and hoses to get the water from the DT and then going to the QT. It would really stink to have a sick fish in QT and accidentally transfer a parasite with as little as a drop of water. If there’s a chance of this happening then I doing the QT water change separately from the DT and having different buckets, hoses, and nets for each tank. Yes you can just know the risk.

Thanks to you both - yes I understand. I would use the DT water, but then wait a week or two monitoring ammonia and NO2 & NO3 before adding any fish.

 

[JasonK84]

Thanks to you both - yes I understand. I would use the DT water, but then wait a week or two monitoring ammonia and NO2 & NO3 before adding any fish.

I was meaning if you were wanting to use DT water change water as a continued source for “new” QT water change water. For the initial fill up there won’t be a risk. Only once possible “dirty” fish are in the QT.

 

[JasonK84]

i use this with an air pump. and a bag of ceramic rings, about 1lb. 30g tank

have 4 small fish in it right now, i can feed every day and have 0 spikes.
cycle with biospira or turbo start just like DT but if you are only adding 2 small clowns you can add live bacteria with the fish, just don't overfeed or don't feed at all for a couple of days.

also air pump oxygenates during prazi treatments in case of bacterial bloom

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT rely on seachem ammonia badge. test like normal until confident QT can handle the load. the badges are slow to respond and often don't color up until fish is dead. it's a very mixed result as they only test ionized nd not bound ammonia and work well in PH under 7...

The badges are far better at reading levels of ammonia in the presence of copper. The regular ammonia test is skewed by the copper.

 

[Aggie1978]

I was meaning if you were wanting to use DT water change water as a continued source for “new” QT water change water. For the initial fill up there won’t be a risk. Only once possible “dirty” fish are in the QT.

Gotcha, makes sense thanks!

 

[lion king]

Doesn't really make sense as there is not enough beneficial bacteria in the water column to speak of, and you'll be starting a tank with nitrates and phosphates amoung other waste products. As well as the water will be degraded of essential elements that may be beneficial to fish as well. Ca and mg are a big contributor to overall health in the predatory fish I keep, fish do use elements from the water column.