# Quartine Tank



## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

Quick question.When you put a fish in a quartine tank,do you put it with new water or water from your main tank?


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

You'll want it cycled, so yes, use water from the main tank. Since you want the fish to be used to that water anyway. Half of more of what goes into the quarantine tank should be from an established tank, then just put the rest in as new, conditioned water.


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

wrong. water has nothing to do with cycling a tank. u need to seed it with either filter material or gravel from the old tank.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

Zakk said:


> wrong. water has nothing to do with cycling a tank. u need to seed it with either filter material or gravel from the old tank.


I really disagree on this, Zakk... I think it is myth that water has nothing to do with it. We've started up both our 20s with NOTHING from our older tanks except water. (One had a decoration from a former tank but that was it, and that tank hadn't even been running very long.) Both are sand, and both have some gravel in them but it was brand new gravel, not out of our old tanks. 

We had no blooms, no deaths, and no clouding of the water. How do you explain this if the water didn't play a part? Sheer luck? I think not.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Zakk is correct. The bacteria lives attached to something. It does not normally float around in the water. There may be a little, but not much. Or at least that is the way I understand it to be and that is the accepted explanation in the hobby. I don't know for sure cause I don't have a science lab or even a microscope. LOL. And I wouldn't know what to look for even if I did.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

There must have been enough in our water to establish our tanks, at least... I don't know of any other explanation


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

hXcChic22 said:


> (One had a decoration from a former tank but that was it, and that tank hadn't even been running very long.)


that is all u need. ur seeding ur tank with an object that was in an partially or nealy established tank.

Sheer luck? in my 15 years of keeping fish i have NEVER cycled a tank.why? sheer luck. Obsidian has never cycled a tank. why? sheer luck. loha never cycles a tank. why? well loha knows the tricks to the trade and very cleverly seeds the tank with established filter material.

WATER doesnt need to be cycled. the cycling process establishes its self in the tank. my tap comes with 0,0,15 readings. doesnt mean the water is cycled. its just fish ready. every time i start a tank i still have a less than 24hr mini cycle based on the number of fish i have and luckily for me, the water i get is river water, filtered and dechlorinated and not recycled water like most of the US is.

keep in mind tori, the bacteria arent free floating. they form on objects. like the gravel. the filter media and in ur case, the decoration.


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

and Elvis.....havent u been here long enough to know what needs to be done for a new tank?


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

This seems to be the problem i'm having on a 10 gallon I just set up. I added 2 rocks from one of my other tanks and so thought this would put bacteria in the tank, but after nearly a week theres no cloudiness nothing, no signs of it cycling. Is it safe for fish coming from what you just said above?
Nat


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## Ace (Mar 16, 2010)

I put water from the tank you take them out of, unless it's like finrot then use different water.


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

cloudiness isnt always a sign of a cycle. have ur parameters checked and this rock, did you let it fry or did u transfer it directly from 1 tank to the other.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Zakk said:


> cloudiness isnt always a sign of a cycle. have ur parameters checked and this rock, did you let it fry or did u transfer it directly from 1 tank to the other.


 transfered them directly


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

is there an ammonia source?


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Well I added a few fish flakes for about 3 days but then stopped as it was messing up the tank


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

its supposed to mess up the tank! what are ur readings?


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

Zakk said:


> and Elvis.....havent u been here long enough to know what needs to be done for a new tank?


Uhhh Wth.Im not getting a new tank i said quartine....


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

which makes it EVEN worse! DUDE! u DONT add water from your display tank to your QT and viceaversa! if you dont know the definition of a QT u shouldnt keep one! u'r better off dumping your fish in your main tank directly! sharing water is a big big mistake.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Ok ok haha but yeah I havent done nothing for a few days, I have no idea what the readings are but ive been told by others that I need to put fish in to get the cycle started so gonna put up some hardy ones tomorrow morning.


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

Wouldn't adding water from your tank to the quarantine tank bring any bad organisms and fungus with it? I would think you should not share water at all or anything else for that matter, just to be safe. Just my opinion.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

pxexaxcxex said:


> Wouldn't adding water from your tank to the quarantine tank bring any bad organisms and fungus with it? I would think you should not share water at all or anything else for that matter, just to be safe. Just my opinion.


I agree as any diseases in the water will be brought into the quarantine tank then which means it will be pointless and wont help the fish.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I use all clean water and a cycled filter in a QT tank. Usually, you use a QT tank to keep bad stuff out of your main tank, so while moving stuff from the main to the QT is ok, moving anything from the QT to the main tank is forbidden until quarantine is "up". If you have a sensitive, sick fish in your main tank, you can move it to QT with some old water. And slowly get it used to new the water with water changes. I usually call this "hospital" rather than QT, since whatever it has is already in the main tank. 

I recently read a suggestion that I have never tried that seems to make sense. If you add one of your existing fish to the QT with the new fish, you will find out if your fish are carrying something that will kill the new fish without a bunch of dead fish in the main tank. And you will find out if the "healthy" new fish are carrying something that they are immune to but will kill your existing fish. 

The point is to have a barrier. Ideally nothing new (fish, plants, rocks, filters) that has been in contact with other fish gets into your tank without QT.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

Zakk said:


> which makes it EVEN worse! DUDE! u DONT add water from your display tank to your QT and viceaversa! if you dont know the definition of a QT u shouldnt keep one! u'r better off dumping your fish in your main tank directly! sharing water is a big big mistake.


YOu dont need to start yelling at me.I asked this cuz i wanted to know if i was right or not.i use to have a QT (NEW WATER!!!!!) then i stoped it.ANdf i wanted to know if i ever did it wrong or not.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

emc7 said:


> I use all clean water and a cycled filter in a QT tank. Usually, you use a QT tank to keep bad stuff out of your main tank, so while moving stuff from the main to the QT is ok, moving anything from the QT to the main tank is forbidden until quarantine is "up". If you have a sensitive, sick fish in your main tank, you can move it to QT with some old water. And slowly get it used to new the water with water changes. I usually call this "hospital" rather than QT, since whatever it has is already in the main tank.
> 
> I recently read a suggestion that I have never tried that seems to make sense. If you add one of your existing fish to the QT with the new fish, you will find out if your fish are carrying something that will kill the new fish without a bunch of dead fish in the main tank. And you will find out if the "healthy" new fish are carrying something that they are immune to but will kill your existing fish.
> 
> The point is to have a barrier. Ideally nothing new (fish, plants, rocks, filters) that has been in contact with other fish gets into your tank without QT.


Yea your right


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2010)

elvis332 said:


> YOu dont need to start yelling at me.I asked this cuz i wanted to know if i was right or not.i use to have a QT (NEW WATER!!!!!) then i stoped it.ANdf i wanted to know if i ever did it wrong or not.


 
LOL if you though i was yellin at u.....ur sadly mistaken. i wasnt even close to startin to yell at u. 

logically i dont see the point of this whole thread. even my 12year old kid cousin knows not to add water from her main tank to her QT and viceversa. infact she even has a seperate net for her QT and never shares her equipment. guess i was wrong to expect someone who has been here for the last 3 years to know better than my 12 year cuz who isnt even a member on a forum. yeeesh! LIVE WITH IT! ASK A STUPID QUESTION: GET TOLD OFF!


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

It wasn't stupid. I would have used tank water as well. I thought the purpose of a quarantine tank was to make sure the new fish didn't have a disease and get your other sick. I didn't think the tank water would matter. Now if it was also used as a hospital tank I could see this differently in using new water.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2010)

ummmm isnt a QT the same thing as a Hospital tank? to treat and isolate? maybe am seeing this wrong....i dont think people will actually keep 2 tanks empty....1 for new fish and 1 for sick fish......doesnt make sense to me in any way i look at it.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Zakk it is OK to use water from your main tank for the qt tank. I usually use a seeded filter from the main tank anyway so what difference does it make? The purpose of qt is to isolate the new fish. Make sure nothing that the new fish contact (water, net, etc) goes into the main tank.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

Zakk said:


> LOL if you though i was yellin at u.....ur sadly mistaken. i wasnt even close to startin to yell at u.
> 
> logically i dont see the point of this whole thread. even my 12year old kid cousin knows not to add water from her main tank to her QT and viceversa. infact she even has a seperate net for her QT and never shares her equipment. guess i was wrong to expect someone who has been here for the last 3 years to know better than my 12 year cuz who isnt even a member on a forum. yeeesh! LIVE WITH IT! ASK A STUPID QUESTION: GET TOLD OFF!


Dont be posting on peoples Threads if ur just gonna wanna make fun of them.Your really acting like an idiot.(No offense)Im just asking a question.Im nnot here for a whole argument.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2010)

hush kid.

ron seeding the tank using an established filter material i understand.....but water? i dont know chief. its not something that makes sense to me. by adding water from your main tank to your QT/hosptial tank kind of goes against the idea of running a QT.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

Zakk said:


> hush kid.
> 
> ron seeding the tank using an established filter material i understand.....but water? i dont know chief. its not something that makes sense to me. by adding water from your main tank to your QT/hosptial tank kind of goes against the idea of running a QT.


It makes plenty of sense to me... you want to keep the nasties out of your MAIN tank. If your main tank is pretty healthy, then using water from it to start a quarantine tank seems ok. It's cycled water (say what you want, I DO think it has some bacteria in it and can jumpstart a tank) and even if it does have disease in it, then it's probably not bothering the fish in the main if they're not showing any problems. 
Since you're trying to make sure a new fish is free of problems, if they have disease already, the water isn't going to make a difference. If the water is contaminated, but they are healthy, then they might get it, but at least they are away from other fish. If they die, then they most likely were weak in the first place... pet store water can be pretty nasty, and if they survived that but can't survive the transition, (if your water is healthy) then something else was wrong.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I seldom see the point of using old water. But I see QT as one-way. Nothing goes from QT to the "protected" tank. Now if you have disease in your main tank, you have to consider it in QT, in addition to your QT tank, and let nothing out of the main tank as well. Whether it is hospital or QT (they are the same empty tank) depends on whats in it (sick fish or new fish). A QT tank gets dried before being used again, a hospital tank gets bleached.


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## jrdeitner (Feb 7, 2010)

To me it makes more sense to use water from the main tank because then you're exposing them to diseases the other fish may be immune to that way they would get sick or die in the qt so you could treat them easily if they're sick and if they're dead the other fish aren't pickin at it and it's not adding any ammonia or whatever is released from a dead fish.


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2010)

dunno folks. i wouldnt be caught using old tank water in my 15gl QT.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

old water is bad, old water has nitrates, nitrates are stressful, you do water changes to get rid of old water, new fish are already stressed. You do need to adjust QT to match water parameters (pH/hardness) with the main tank. And its true, using main tank water would do that. But clean water is good medicine.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

Well OK thank you for the "Point of views" Really cool ideas and thoughts!


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