How long to cycle 10g QT??

[JR8999]

My DT has been cycled for months. I have 2 cleaner shrimp and snails in DT. But...I started cycling my 10g QT 8+ weeks ago with a shrimp I left in for 2 weeks. Ammonia is still sky high and nitrites are high too. I'm only running a Aquaclear filter with sponge and some bio cylinders that came with the filter that I left in my sump for a couple of weeks. How long can this take to cycle? Any way to speed it up. Want to add fish.

[scott3569]

if your ammonia is still way high I wouldn't add fish to it yet..Don't know how long it will take but it sounds like you have done it right

[leewish]

I'm a newbie but why would you not use water from your cycled DT to start your QT tank?

[scott3569]

you can use water from your DT tank, and he should have..if is Dt tank is cycled already then he wouldn't be waiting for the QT to cycle, Some people have there QT tank set up 24/7 others set it up when they are planning on getting occupants..there is a nice sticky thats goes through all that

[scott3569]

here is the sticky

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...g+up+a+qt+tank

[leewish]

Ok. The qt tank is only 10g. Dump it and add 10g from the DT. Boom, QT tank is ready for fish.

[scott3569]

Originally Posted by leewish

Ok. The qt tank is only 10g. Dump it and add 10g from the DT. Boom, QT tank is ready for fish.

yes, you also need the seeded filter which he did do, but yes that would work

[formsix]

Did you seed the filter or just the bio cylinders?

Using DT water won't make much of a difference because there's minimal bacteria in the water -- you need the bacteria living in the filter or on some rock.

What did you do after 2 weeks with the shrimp? Are you still feeding the tank with ammonia? If you started to establish bacteria you need to keep feeding it or it will die.

[Cymonous]

If your Ammonia is really high, you may not have enough medium for the bacteria to grow on and process the ammonia and nitrites. Either add more medium or do a 50% water change. You can use DT water if you want, but DT water does not help with or create an instant cycle. You still need bacteria on some type of medium like filter floss or the rings to process ammonia buildup from your fish.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by leewish

Ok. The qt tank is only 10g. Dump it and add 10g from the DT. Boom, QT tank is ready for fish.

This isn't true. Bacteria don't exist free swimming in the water column, they are on surfaces in the tank (like LR, filter media, etc). Transferring the water from DT to QT makes a lot of sense to save water, but it will not cycle a QT.

To get a QT cycled, you need to have the filter media in your (already cycled) DT or sump for 2+ weeks.

Another option is to use a bacterial additive (Dr. Tim's or Bio-Spira are ones that work well) and you should be able to cycle a QT within a week. I cycle all of my QTs with this method and it works quite well.

[Pigpen17]

That's what I was told too. DT water will do nothing as it does not carry any bacteria.

8 weeks seems crazy long. I used biospira to jump start mine. I am usually the "Get" help not "Give" help, but this worked for me. This is the guy to ask though.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...195588&page=62

This was my set up as well.:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2392381

[scott3569]

maybe his QT tank isn't fully cycled or doesn't have enough bacteria in it yet?? I don't know for sure just something I am thinking about

[Cymonous]

That's why I suggested to either add more medium for the bacteria to colonize or do a water change to reduce the ammonia.

[scott3569]

ahh understood!!!

[JR8999]

Since I no longer have a bacteria source in hindsight I maybe should not have taken the shrimp out. Going to get some bio spira in hopes of speeding things up a bit but not a miracle instant cure.

[Cymonous]

You should have bacteria, but not enough to process the excessive ammonia. So, it was good you did take the shrimp out. Adding bio spira is probably not going to help unless you add either more filter floss, rings or rock for the bacteria to colonize on. OR do a water change to reduce the ammonia.

[JR8999]

Well have rings that were in my DT sump for a couple weeks in the QT Aquaclear filter now. Bought some bio spira at lunch. Will add to the QT tonight and see how it goes the next few days.

[shermanator]

What size aquaclear for what size QT are you using? I always oversize for QT. Like an AC70 for a 20 or 30 gal QT.

This is like cymonous is saying, you might need more surface area for the bacteria. For example, if you are running an AC20 on a 20gal that might not be enough.

You can also seed cheap air filter sponges (from DFS) and that will work well and those have large surface area.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by Cymonous

YAdding bio spira is probably not going to help unless you add either more filter floss, rings or rock for the bacteria to colonize on.

It will at least work short term to lower ammonia. If you have a tank with 0.5 ppm ammonia, you can get to 0 ppm really quickly by adding Bio-Spira or Dr. Tim's. On non-cycled tanks, I've seen bacteria used instead of Prime or AmQuel and it can work really well to reduce ammonia quickly.

But yes, the bacteria will only grow (colonize) media like sponges and rings. So if you don't have enough surface for them to grow, you won't be able to sustain high bacteria concentrations.

I often put LR rubble in my QT. I know I have to toss it if copper is ever needed, but you can get rubble for cheap enough that I'm OK with it. I wouldn't recommend it to others because you can do perfectly fine without any rock in a QT and most people advise no rock (in part because if you do dose copper and your LR is your main filter, you'll instantly kill your filter and will get a big NH3 spike).

[JR8999]

It think it's an Aquaclear 20 for a 10g DT. I have a sponge that has been sitting in my sump for months that I guess I could put in the QT too

[DaveWJunior]

Why would you want to cycle a QT anyway? Run a bare glass tank with a heater, airstone or powerhead to move water, a large PVC elbow for fish to hide in, and maybesome type of filtration. The whole point of a QT or hospital tank is to monitor/treat fish of parasites and diseases. Why give parasites and hitchikers a place to hide (sand bed and live rock)? I run a 20 gal QT and I put my "old" water from my water change in it once a week so I akways have a clean hospital tank ready. When I'm actually quarantining fish, I change the water every 4 days. I've never had an ammonia problem in my QT.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by JR8999

It think it's an Aquaclear 20 for a 10g DT. I have a sponge that has been sitting in my sump for months that I guess I could put in the QT too

Yeah, run the AC20 with two sponges and the rings. That should be plenty of media.

Reading back though, I had one question... how high is the ammonia? If you are talking 10+ ppm NH3, you can kill the bacteria at those levels. If you are above 5 ppm, I would do at least a 50% WC and then add the Bio-Spira.

If you don't already have one on there, get an ammonia alert badge. Those are a must for a QT. They are cheap and sensitive and you can compulsively check on your QT'd fish without spending forever with the testing kit.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by DaveWJunior

Why would you want to cycle a QT anyway?

I'm often away from my tank for >12 hours. A lot can happen in a non-cycled tank. And doing 50% water changes every 3 days is a pain that can be avoided. If you are talking about new fish only - you can pro-actively treat for almost everything without killing your biofilter. I use medicated foods (Dr. G.'s) and can treat for worms, ich and bacterial infections without hurting my filter. And Prazi is totally safe with a cycled QT. Copper isn't, but chloroquine phosphate is (for ich).

If you do have an outbreak of something, then sure a cycled QT doesn't make as much sense. For example, I'd never cycle a hospital tank. But I consider hospital tanks and QTs to be very different in terms of motivation and setup. And if I actually had a case of ich, I would do TT method (which obviously doesn't use cycled tanks).