QT systems

D

dahenley

I have been really thinking of putting together a QT tank for corals more then fish, but ideas of both or a dual purpose system would be fine.

I would like some ideas, pictures, or thoughts if at all possible.
I have seen Marc's QT tank through different pictures, but what kind of filtration/flow/ maintenance do you do to these kinds of tanks? daily water changes, weekly, just run carbon, or a full skimmer/refugium.. also, what kind of lighting is recommended? i know not much is needed for fish, but what about corals?


i know its a lot to ask, but if i set up a QT tank for coals, i want to do it right. (im a college student so the process is slow, but the funds are only available for a single build. i cant really afford to built a temp setup and then re-do it..... )

thanks!
 
With fish in the tank, daily water changes. With corals, it can go weeks without one, assuming you aren't feeding the tank food. If you are, weekly water changes would be good.

You can use LEDs, T5s or MH for lighting. My stuff doesn't stay in QT more than a few days, so I don't worry about lighting. As soon as they've had the 12 hour Interceptor bath, and then dipped in ReVive, they go in my frag tank which is part of my system.
 
I set up a system where 4 gallons each days transfers from my DT into my coral QT, kind of accomplishing a 10% daily water change (ignoring that it isn't new water technically). The advantage there is that I can concentrate less on parameters of the coral QT and just get my DT specs right. I am just using 4 36w T5s on that QT and bringing the coral racks close to the surface.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk through more specs and procedures as I run both a coral and fish QT... seem to slowly be getting things right... with a lot of lessons learned the hard way!

Marc, just curious on what the advantage of doing such frequent water changes on a fish QT is. Is it solely to cut back nitrates and phosphates? Or other benefits? I have been doing 1-2 weekly but not having much luck with my 2nd round of fish life. Wondering of that may be a reason... Sorry if this is slightly a derail to the OP thread.


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Doing daily water changes (10%) is best for fish that are eating and pooping in a limited amount of water. 10% doesn't feel like anything.

I was doing much bigger water changes on my little cube (75%) daily since I had way too many in there at once. Most people have one or two in there, and I had something like 23 little guys. I kept using tank water, and replacing that with mixed saltwater from my vat. My reef ended up getting a 90g water change in a single week. hehe
 
Spar
I'm guessing your QT is a 40gal breeder tank? And your running a 4 bulb fixture. Do you mind sharing what bulbs you use? And the rack you built, how high is your rack?

Marc
if you don't mind me asking, what size is your acrylic QT tank? And what size acrylic did you build it from? (Does it have a euro bracing on top?)

Thanks.
And I appreciate both points over view, and that helped a lot.
Keep them coming
 
It's maybe 14g total. It has a top flange (akin to eurobrace), and is made with 1/4" acrylic.

I think a longer shallower system is better though. This cube was just something handy for me, and I never changed it out.
 
Mine is a 46g bowfront. And yes running a 4 bulb system. They are corallife bulbs with 2 6700K and 2 12000K.

There are 2 racks, one sits 6" below the surface and the other about 12-14" below. I just used PVC as legs and used zip ties to lock them in (drilling a hole through the PVC).


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