[jporlier]

So in my last post I discussed setting up my quarantine tank before I get my DT. I have set up a really simple 10g with a marineland power filter Penguin 100 and about 1 lb of live rock. I went with the basic flourescent tube that came with the hood. I mixed the water and added it to the tank. the guy at the LFS recommended a Blue Green Cromis to jump start the tank. With the "Cheap" lighting that i have in my QT will the live rock suffer? Also since this is the first fish i have ever purchased, how long should i expect it to be shy/skittish and hide out behind the intake?

[dinor2]

Welcome to the hobby and site!

Please take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt, starting this hobby can be sooooo confusing and frustrating! I would not have bought the fish to 'jump start' the water. You really don't have to do this anyways and sometimes all it does is stress that fish out as the tank cycles which, saltwater fish almost always get sick when they get stressed, and he may not survive the cycle. This really takes a LOT of patience, trust me, I'm still learning patience! I've had my 55gallon up and going for almost 9 months and I have 3 corals and 3 fish and a clean up crew, that's it! (80lbs of lr too but, it took about 4 months for my tank to finish all the cylces it went thru from set up!) There are many more experienced reefers here that will give you very good, sound advice and I take this before I take the advice of my lfs, as much as I LOVE my lfs! But usually, what they tell me lines up with what these great guys and gals here tell me!

That being said, you have your fish and it's normal for them to take a week or so to not be shy. One thing that you could put in your qt to help him not be shy is a pvs pipe or two, most saltwater fish NEED to have hiding places. In the wild, they make their homes there and it gives them the security they need to go out and swim around. In my qt I will add some lr rubble from my overflow over to the qt a few days before i add the new fish to it to help give the fish something to graze on (the algae and any pods on it) and it keeps (I think) the water parameters closer to that of the main tank.

The filter shouldn't hurt but may not help too much either, if you don't have a mini protein skimmer on the qt, I'd do small water changes every 5 or 6 days and just be sure not to overfeed the fish. This is what I do since I have no skimmer on my qt either, just a powerhead for flow and the drop in carbon filter that was running in my main tank a week or two before.

Oh, are you planning on getting more lr and ls? (I have a bare bottom qt, btw; you'll quarantine any new fish for at least 4 weeks, 5-6 is ideal. It takes this long sometimes to catch any parasites or disease on new fish).

ABout the lights, they should be ok for a few weeks, you will have die off from the live rock though and you will see your chromis stressing in a few days or so after you see the ammonia spike. Really watch that ammonia, it's the most toxic thing to your animals, if it goes about 10 i'd do a partial water change but if it stays below 10 for 2 days or less i'd let the bacteria go thru the cycle as doing unnecessary water changes could prolong the cycle completing.

Good luck! I know you'll get more (and probably better!) advice from other reefers here!

[DEWAYNE]

well, I do not totally agree w/dinor2 the fish that you purchased is not a bad ideal at all, simply because of the price, now if you plan on medicating you qurantine tank, then the live rock will not survive, you can take water from another (trusted) saltwater tank and greatly speed up you cycle, I did this twice in the ten plus years I have had a fish only saltwater tank. I love this site, and everyone is the best at what they do, sometimes we all need advice, including myself. I am not here to cause a spark from dinor2, just letting you know from my exsperiance of. I am sure other folks will tell me I am right, and I am wrong. I just know that this worked for me, within 24hrs I bought damsles to help cycle my tank, when I setup for the first time. I did not have a fish die for over two years, and not to mention no disease, sure alot of luck, but you never stop learning in this hobby, read all the books you can get your hands on, there will be some that tell you to do it this way, and some that tell you another, but with that inmind and this site, (alot of patience) you will do fine. I am getting closer to my 110g conversion into a reef tank, so I have alot to learn as well. good luck

[aquasalt]

Quarantining is a great start but what are you going to do after 5 or 6 weeks without a display tank kick started?

I have a couple of fish in a QT tank currently. One of them is a Kole Tang and after almost 3 weeks he is still extremely skiddish whenever I enter the room.

[saltwaternubie]

IMO, I would have gotten the DT first, got it set up and running so it could go ahead and start the cycle that may take up too 4 to 6 weeks. Then after the DT is set up and fully running, then worry about a QT. Let the tank cycle with just LR and LS and no livestock, then after a few weeks put in a clean up crew then after a few more weeks then put some livestock in. Remember, this hobby takes great patience as everyone here will tell you, dont load your tank down with a bunch of livestock at one time, this could cause a spike in your water levels that you do not want. Start with the DT first then while it is cycling, set up a QT. JMO.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Actually his qt is his dt lol.Qt's are supposed to be real simple affairs.A small air driven filter, a few pieces of pvc for the fish to hide in,and its parameters controled thru water changes.The live rock serves no purpose.There isnt enough for filtration and you dont have enough light for it to prosper and grow coraline.There are any number of medications that can be used in the same tank with live rock without killing it.

[aquasalt]

Hey JPorlier, look up the thread "we need to start thinking about disease". It has a ton of great information on QTs and the best way of going about setting one up. As Native indicated (and that is why I asked) you are running your QT as a display. So after 5 or 6 weeks you're not going to have anywhere to put the little guy...provided he will survive the inevitable cycle of your QT. Once you do have you main tank set up, you can re-start you QT using water from a water change so your parameters are identical and you don't have to cycle.

I think your way ahead of the game and in a good way. Your intentions are good and with some tweaking in your approach you will be well on your way. Best of luck and welcome to the hobby! Beware tho, it is addictive!

[jporlier]

Ha ha thanks everyone... there is some conflicting advice, but at the same time all of it seems pretty sound. I put the Cromis in there for a few reasons.
A. He will help speed the cycle
B. He cost me less that $3.00
C. If, heaven forbid. he should die the decay from his corpse will accelerate the cycle more.

Now as far as Native's comment. he is absolutely right, for the time being my QT is a DT. I just moved to the Phoenix area and have enough savings to start a DT, but don't really wanna spend all of my savings without a job. on that note i am about to get one so the DT should be up sooner than later. As far as the live rock it will be moved into my DT when the time comes and hey thats #1 less that i have to buy at start-up.

I will look into a protein skimmer for the QT, but not sure when i will be able to add one.

As far as the concerns of me not providing hiding and adequate living conditions, i have 2" of coral sand and some rocks with caves to provide hiding places. As of right now he has been in there about 48 hrs and since my last post he has come out more and began to explore the tank.

My final reason for starting the QT before the DT is the fact that i can use this system to learn the ropes of monitoring all of the parameters. I would rather worry about me screwing something up in a ten gal system that cost less that $100 than make a simple mistake and wipe out or harm my DT that is looking to cost me a few G's to start.

Thanks for all of the help and advice.

[DEWAYNE]

okay, on the medication pertaining to the live rock, would anybody be willing to medicate their DT, I sure would not wanna take that risk... I am just in thought that the meds. can kill off disease and parasites, then what (if any) will it do to the live rock. I do not use meds at all, not saying that all my inmates survive, or are disease free, just my way on my own tank. you guys are great, really, I have learned alot myself from all of ya'll. I just have to ask WHY?

[aquasalt]

I may be wrong on this, but i am not shy. After all, we are all here to learn! Medications such as copper for example are absorbed by rock and substrate and will continue to leach out long after initial administration.

[jporlier]

If the concern is regarding me being able to medicate in my QT. the point is moot as i stated in an earlier post that the LR i put in there will be going into my DT when i get it. But for now My QT is a DT so i put some things in there to make it enjoyable while i use it to learn from.

[aquasalt]

I thought your question was what meds do to live rock.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by jporlier

So in my last post I discussed setting up my quarantine tank before I get my DT. I have set up a really simple 10g with a marineland power filter Penguin 100 and about 1 lb of live rock. I went with the basic flourescent tube that came with the hood. I mixed the water and added it to the tank. the guy at the LFS recommended a Blue Green Cromis to jump start the tank. With the "Cheap" lighting that i have in my QT will the live rock suffer? Also since this is the first fish i have ever purchased, how long should i expect it to be shy/skittish and hide out behind the intake?

Everybody here is trying to help you out and Im gonna help you out even more.

Save your money and wait till you can afford to do it right. Seriously.
A little more reading and hanging out on the site wouldnt hurt either. Will save you big bucks down the road.

[Marine1]

I have a 55 gal FOWLR with the stock lighting and the live rock is thriving - not as much as it would with better lighting, but is still alive. I wouldn't worry about the lighting in your DT/future QT tank. If you are going to buy a larger tank in the near future I would not spend money on a small skimmer for the current tank you have, but that's just me. Good luck. Update us when you get your big DT going.