QT advice - noob

I'm almost ready to start my 75g tank, rock/sand/salt should be here this week and I have everything else ready to go with it.

I was debating a QT tank as I have basically NO ROOM in my room so I was going to take my chances BUT I was told a 10g could work with minimal cost, plus it would save me from the tank destroying ich.

Anyways...

I have a 10g tank, a light, and I was told at least a filter or air pump/air stone for water movement?

How often should I do water changes in it and when I do, won't that be an extreme shock to the fish replacing a couple gallons?

I don't think I need a heater as I'm in the South and my room stays room temp.

I wanted to get a QT tank going as my DT is going so my fish will be ready when my tank is ready.

Items needed:

Tank
Saltwater
Any light
Some PVC for hiding

what else?

 

Test kits.

Ammonia binding products.
Net used exclusively for the OT.
Means of flow and O2.

 

I have the test kits already but I'll be getting an ammonia binder and a clip on also.

The problem that I'am seeing right now is that I don't have a cycled tank to borrow the bacteria from, so how do I go about using my QT tank without a cycled tank?

I was told frequent water changes will be fine, but how frequent is frequent?

 

Frequency depends on the values for ammonia.....

Any container of water will cycle. You can speed it up by using products like Dr. Tims. He is a sponsor here and you can start a thread under the sponsor forum and ask more specifics.

Another product might be Microbacter7. Simply ghost feed the tank, tiny amount and test the values in a day or two and see how fast your OT is able to complete the nitrogen cycle/challenge.

You have to test daily and that will dictate the frequency. Initially you will change it much more frequently (again small more frequent water changes is better). Once you introduce fish you will have to change it more frequently again.

There are no hard and fast rules other than preform a water change in the presence of detectable ammonia or use a binding product initially and then the water change. Binding products are not solution but buys you some time.

 

Would products like ammo lock and ammo chips be OK to use to buy time in between water changes?

Reason being, my QT will only be up and running when I'm getting a new fish in or treating a sick fish. When its not in use, it will be broken down.

and thanks for answering my questions, love this site.

 

Personally I would not use them, but I never have so take it for what is worth.

The link below will eventually get you to where you want to go, regarding treatment and QT you just have to look around and follow the links.

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

Also if you do a search in the disease section using the word QT I am sure you will find more information.

I have had the same fish for 5 years so I have not used a QT in a long time.

 

what i do is have a spare 10 gal and when I need it I use tank water and I don't cycle it at all. Chances are if you need to use meds they will kill the bacteria any way. So I put an airstone and a few PVC elbows and a heater. That's about it. I only QT one fish at a time. And Change a little bit of water every day. One day I use tank water, next day I use freshly mixed salt water.