QT and Hospital Tank

[714pedro]

hi, newbie here..
i have a 20gal QT for new discus, but it also became a hospital tank since my last 2 juvies got sick so i treated them in the said tank, thankfully they got well and i put them in my main tank already, it has a dritfwood, airstone, heater and a sponge filter in it, just like to know if i can still use it as a QT again since i'm planning to get more discus? do i need to replace the sponge filter? should i clean the tank thoroughly before going fishless cycle?
hoping for some info..

thanks for the help guys

[tcyiu]

Hi again.

If there were sick fish in the tank, empty the water and sterilize everything. You can use household bleach and then a dechlorinator.

Once everything is sterilized, add some water from an existing healthy tank, and mix in newly aged water. Turn on the heater and plug in the clean, but empty filter to mix the water and stabilize the temperature.
n
Now, here is the instant cycling tip. Once the temp has stabilized, take some old filter media from the existing healthy tank and draw half a bucket of water. Rinse the media briefly in the tank water, and put the media into the empty filter on the QT tank.

Voila. Instant cycling.

After having expended many words, I must caution that if you're not sure if the existing tank is really healthy, then you may have to go the fishless cycling route.

Whichever way you go, I would recommend no driftwood in this tank. As a hospital tank, the wood will absorb medicines and release them later. This could be toxic depending on what medicines are being commingled unintentionally.

As a QT, you're already dealing with skittish, nervous fish. You don't want them banging into the driftwood.

Tim

[714pedro]

@tim.. thanks so much for the advise,