Quarantine Tank Questions

[Sharelleshobbies]

Alright, my fish are shipped and will be here soon!  I just had a few last questions regarding the quarantine tank and the sponge filter.  I've never used a quarantine tank, so I'm a little nervous.  So, for background, about a month ago I set up my new tank and started to cycle it.  It went through the nitrogen cycle and grew lots of algae, and my plants are growing like crazy.  I added some cherry shrimp a couple weeks ago, and they are fat and sassy- doing well.  One even molted yesterday!  The water is holding up with consistent readings for the past couple weeks- it's perfect. Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 25 (I have plants and have been using Easy Green- hence the nitrates).  Anyways- about 3 weeks ago I added a small sponge filter to use in future quarantine tanks.  My water responded positively to this new addition and got much better readings very quickly.  My question is this: will this little filter have enough bacteria on it after 3 weeks?  I'm a little nervous as I worked so hard to get my tank to where it is now, but it would be sad if my QT wasn't quite right, and I lost some fish.  Would it be okay to squish my main filter sponge in the QT water to add more bacteria?  

[Holly]

just my opinion, so buyer beware and all that... I think you should be fine. Part of the reason it takes so long to cycle in the beginning is because certain bacteria types can't even get started until others have grown and converted enough ammonia. That said if you are concerned watch the fish, test the water and do water changes if needed. I'm not sure what kind of fish you ordered but if you lose any in the first day or two it usually has more to do with the fish and less to do with your quarantine tank.

Good luck

[Widgets]

What size sponge, and what size QT? You could move the sponge over and dose with Ammonia to see if it processes directly. It would not hurt to add some media squeezings to the QT to help it along.