Quarantine tank cycling question

[Rita]

Hello,

I am new to the aquarium hobby and I have a few questions regarding quarantine tanks. I am planning on cycling my display tank the "Cory" method of live plants and liquid fertilizer only (no ammonia), then slowly introduce fish as the plants show signs of growth. However... this does not seem like a practical way of cycling a quarantine tank. Would I be forced to do the ammonia or fish food method? Also I have heard of people putting 2 filters in their display tank to build the beneficial bacteria then transfer that filter to the quarantine tank. If that is the case... would I still have to put ammonia or fish food in to "feed" the bacteria? If no ammonia or fish food, is the only other option basically "fish in" cycling? 

Thanks!

Edited August 22, 2020 by Rita

[MickS77]

Seeding your QT filter in the display is a good way to go. To maintain the cycle in my QT tanks I keep a few hardy Danios in them permanently. 

[Brandy]

If you are setting up a QT to get your very first fish for the display, you wont have luck seeding the filter for the QT from the display tank before buying the fish. The bacteria wont have enough food if there are NO ammonia sources. If you have a smaller display tank, you can just put the first fish in directly and add meds to the tank as needed. If the display is over 30g though that can get very expensive.

After you have a few fish in the display tank you can then seed a filter for the QT, and quarantine all additional fish. 

If your display is big, I would get used filter media from you LFS, and seachem Prime and Stability, and a few of the toughest fish/snails you plan to keep, and do a fish-in cycle in the QT. A handful of duckweed or other floaters are great too.

Alternatively, if you don't like that idea, add some food to the QT each day as if there were fish in there, and let the ammonia come from the food, once the cycle is done (by testing), siphon out the gross detritus and start your quarantine in a cycled tank. 

 

[Rita]

1 hour ago, Brandy said:

If you are setting up a QT to get your very first fish for the display, you wont have luck seeding the filter for the QT from the display tank before buying the fish. The bacteria wont have enough food if there are NO ammonia sources. If you have a smaller display tank, you can just put the first fish in directly and add meds to the tank as needed. If the display is over 30g though that can get very expensive.

After you have a few fish in the display tank you can then seed a filter for the QT, and quarantine all additional fish. 

If your display is big, I would get used filter media from you LFS, and seachem Prime and Stability, and a few of the toughest fish/snails you plan to keep, and do a fish-in cycle in the QT. A handful of duckweed or other floaters are great too.

Alternatively, if you don't like that idea, add some food to the QT each day as if there were fish in there, and let the ammonia come from the food, once the cycle is done (by testing), siphon out the gross detritus and start your quarantine in a cycled tank. 

 

I have a 20 gal long tank... and my plan would be to have a few Armando shrimp and Nerite snails... then add about 6 cory’s and then a betta... so perhaps after getting the cory’s I should wait a month-ish then theoretically I will only have to quarantine the betta in a separate tank?

[Brandy]

Sure! 

[ChefConfit]

You 100% can put an extra sponge filter in your display tank then transfer it into your QT tank once the display is fully cycled in order to seed the QT tank. That's the way I would do it. Once the seeded filter is in the QT tank you should be ready for fish in it the next day. Since QT tanks are typically bare the vast majority of bacteria in them lives in the filter because the only other surface for it to live on is the glass. 

1 hour ago, Brandy said:

If you are setting up a QT to get your very first fish for the display, you wont have luck seeding the filter for the QT from the display tank before buying the fish. The bacteria wont have enough food if there are NO ammonia sources. If you have a smaller display tank, you can just put the first fish in directly and add meds to the tank as needed. If the display is over 30g though that can get very expensive. 

This is true but since OP is using plants then they have an ammonia source. 

 

Unless your water matches the water the plants had been growing in perfectly your going to have some degree of melt (how much depends on the difference in water chemistry, the plants, shipping time/conditions) don't cut away the dying parts of your plants. That's your ammonia source! You can also add some fish food for an additional source of ammonia if you'd like.