[swansondan]

Hi I got two new fish about 1 week ago....I decided that it was about time that I started qt them instead of putting them in my tank.. THe two fish are a red sea sailfin and a foxface. I put 10 gallons out of my display tank into a 10 gallon with a powerhead a heater and a airstone. I also added some copper to the tank...I used a littile less then the recommended dose. I put them in the tank after about a 2 hour acclimation...they were both doing great at first..both eating as well. Then later that night they were both breathing really fast with their mouths open...the foxface was doing really bad so I decided to take him out and put him into a 5 gallon bucket with just display tank water...he started to do better....Decided to take out the water in the qt tank and replace it with display tank water.. took about 8 gallons out and put 8 gallons of fresh water in it's place...No change after about a day...That night I lost my first fish...my sailfin died and all because I was trying to do the right thing...should have just put them in my tank. The foxface slowly started getting better...about 4 days ago he started eating again and now he is a little pig.....So basically my questions are.....

Why would the copper kill my sailfin..I used less then the container says.

Also how long can I keep the foxface or any other fish for that matter in a qt..do I need to clean it often? The tank seems a little dirty already and it's only been a week....also there in so filtration just bare bottom...is that ok....

Basically any other hints that people might have....I am frustrated and think that maybe I should just put all my fish straight in to my display tank..

THanks!!!!!

Dan

[Tonz of fun]

O man sounds rough. I would do more research next time and see what fishes cant take copper. I do know in my QT I suck out all that crap your talking about by doing daily water changes. Always getting water from the main tank. No when you say 8g of fresh water do you mean from the main tank "fresh" being good water from the main tank. If not that low of salinity would be a shock. So many things could of been the determining factor. The rapid change in water parameters could of sent them into shock. There is so many things...

[swansondan]

Yeah I meant 8 gallons from my display tank. In a QT tank...should there not be some copper in the tank?

[Tonz of fun]

If your perfectly healthy to you take aspirin? I never use anything unless I have reason to believe something is wrong. I think I read somewhere that tangs dont take copper well because it hurts there internal systems. I do know one thing though if you cant keep your QT tank water stable it wont be leaving it alive. Rabbit fish are very hardy. It doesnt matter how cruddy it looks. He is a fighter. It may have had everything to do with water parameters.

[swansondan]

Makes since...they both looked extremly healthy....so I should have just watched them for the 3 weeks instead of dosing the water...then if something were to show up I would then dose the water......Yeah the foxface does look like a fighter.....How long should I keep him in the qt? He has been in there 1 week now...4 days of that he has been acting healthy....

[Tonz of fun]

im a a 3 week qt guy. But thats because I qt under hyposalinity. I dont recomend doing that unless you have a refractometer.

[swansondan]

I do have a refractometer...but again; like you said before; is there a reason to use hypo if there is no signs of any illness?

[pogodzib]

I like to keep my fish in my q-tank for 6 weeks. I prefer to use hypo treatment on all new tangs regardless of how they look since they almost always seem to get ich anyway and I don't want it to get into my main tank. For all other fish, I don't add anything to the water and use a standard SG=1.025 and watch the fish closely. I never dose copper unless that is the only proven treatment method since copper is so harsh.

[wlt501]

Some folks use hypo salinity to ensure they kill off any hitch hikers the fish may have came with. It's not a sure thing but it may decrease your chance of transporting something into your display. Some folks use 4+ weeks of QT, the thought is to give any parasites a full life cycle so you should know by then if something hitched a ride. Remember, if you are using a bare bones QT you may not have a biological fiter in place and little to no clean up crew so keeping ammonia and nitrates down could be fun. 10% water changes every 3 days or so usually works well.

[Tonz of fun]

Originally Posted by wlt501

Some folks use hypo salinity to ensure they kill off any hitch hikers the fish may have came with. It's not a sure thing but it may decrease your chance of transporting something into your display. Some folks use 4+ weeks of QT, the thought is to give any parasites a full life cycle so you should know by then if something hitched a ride. Remember, if you are using a bare bones QT you may not have a biological fiter in place and little to no clean up crew so keeping ammonia and nitrates down could be fun. 10% water changes every 3 days or so usually works well.

I had to do daily water changes when my fish were in the QT tank...

[Tonz of fun]

Originally Posted by swansondan

I do have a refractometer...but again; like you said before; is there a reason to use hypo if there is no signs of any illness?

Like I said do your research. Some fish cant take hypo. But most do and there are fine with it. You are not going to stress your fish out when doing hypo. You will stress fish out when using copper.

[RGRDGR]

I have a question. I it absolutley necessary to use 100% tank water in the QT or can you seed it with say 25% tank 75% new?

[Tonz of fun]

Thats what I do to mine. 75/25. I then do 10 percent daily changes after day 3.

[Okayamapiper]

I keep a 25 gallon QT running with a wet/dry sump and an ozonizer running in a Berlin Airlift skimmer. I keep the salinity at 1.008. The skimmer won't get much, but I keep it going to oxidize all DOC in the water and also to catch the poison that some unhappy cowfish or box puffer decides to let loose. Carbon is placed in the sump to catch any ozone that may have gotten out into the tank.

I would steer clear of copper as it is toxic to your fish.

Cheers,

James

[jlombardi29]

What is hypo?? imo get a bigger qt tank

[Okayamapiper]

I believe hypo refers to hyposalinity. Hyposalinity is the state where the tank water salt content is way below that of ocean water. Usually 1.010 to 1.008 sg are used. I use 1.008 as it allows for some evaporation to occur and still keep me within the effective range. As parasites are unable to regulate the amount of water in their body and rely on osmosis, the lower sg (specific gravity) will cause water to rush into their little bodies, bursting the little buggers. It is the safest way to deal with ich though it takes 4 to 5 weeks to work as ich is only vulnerable to this type of treatment while they are free swimming trophonts (babies). You can google Osmotic Shock Therapy to learn more.
Regards,
James

[Daddyoh1]

What should the perfect Qt consist of ? I Know the obvious but anything I should also consider ? Like size for one, or UV, or filtration and lighting ( do you go Hi-Tech or will simple do ?) and is 4weeks an absolute or can obvious healthy livestock be introduced earlier to main tank. This will be a first in a long long time and I want this endeavor to be sound the waiting is the hardest part.

[Okayamapiper]

As I catch my own fish and give them to friends, I run two QT tanks ( 45 gallon and 15 gallon). My 15 gallon has a wet/dry sump w/a skimmer and ozone. Not much skimmate comes up as the sg is 1.008, but whenever a boxfish or cowfish lets out some poison, it gets skimmed up and oxidized. I use ozone to do the oxidation side of filtration ( NH3 to NO3) and don't worry to much about reduction as water changes will take care of that.
UV is great for the main tank, but if you keep the specific gravity down you don't really need it as parasites and microroganisms will die from osmotic shock.
As for the quarantine period, 4 weeks is the average lifecycle of ich, so keep them in for at least 4 weeks or risk introducing some nasty buggers into the main tank.

Cheers,

James