How do I keep a tank cycled with no fish?

[WaterBaby]

A few weeks ago I needed to set up a hospital tank for one of my cories. He had some kind of internal bacterial infection. Obviously this tank was not cycled when I put him into it. He had a two week treatment and then I did several water changes and added extra carbon to get the meds out.

I had fully intended for him to stay in the hospital tank set up for another week or two (he was in for the two week round + another 2 weeks for "just in case"). The internal infection disappeared, but he may have some gill damage.

The other day I noticed that there was ammonia starting to build up in the tank (no nitrites). I had the option of doing a water change, adding ammo chips to the filter, or moving the cory back into the community tank. Since the infection I had treated him for had affected his gills, I thought I'd better move him back to the main tank rather than to make him suffer with ammonia and nitrites while this tank cycled.

I moved him and he is doing fine in the main tank (fingers crossed).

But I would like to keep this hospital tank going. How can I do this with no fish in it. It already has ammonia readings and I would like to cycle it completely.

[Grassguy]

cycle it like a fishless cycle, then continue adding food or ammonia to keep the bacteria colony fed......methinks.
Anyone else have a better suggestion?

[OrionGirl]

There are several easy ways to provide a ready-for fish tank. I setup a small sponge filter in a main tank. It's colonized and ready to go for a hospital/quarantine tank at all times. I just pull it out and put it in the hospital tank. This is easiest for me, since I don't have to have a tank going, just the filter.

Other options--just as ammonia will cycle a tank, it will also keep a tank cycled. Just add some each day to keep the bacteria colonies fed. You will need to treat it like a 'real' tank, and perform water changes to avoid nitrate build up.

[WaterBaby]

What about adding some snails to the tank (after it's cycled of course)? Would this maintain the needed bacteria?.

I would remove them if I needed the tank for quarantine (they're easier to catch). ;)

[OrionGirl]

It would work, sort of. The problem with that is that snails don't produce a whole lot of waste, so the bacteria populations would be very small. If you're only dealing with one fish at a time, 2 large snails would be adequate, but I would not risk more than one fish.

The bigger problem--snails and other inverts are very sensitive to most of the common medications. Many medicines contain copper, and copper kills snails.

[TKOS]

I just keep an extra sponge tucked into all of my HOB filters. My QT tank is really a 5 gallon bucket and I just setup a sponge filter and voila.

[aquariumfishguy]

Here are a few good links I like to share with others on Fishless Cycling your tank, and water chemistry in general:

Guide To Cycling Your Tank (http://www.angelfire.com/pro/mavericks/Guide/Cycling.html)

Fishless Cycling Info (http://www.fish-disease.com/articles.htm)

Tips For Cycling Your Aquarium (http://honors.montana.edu/~weif/firsttank/cycle.phtml)

Those should get you started on your way to a successful aquarium, with minimal fish loss hopefully! ;)

[anonapersona]

I add filter squeezings to the Q tank from the home tank as I move a fish over. I've never seen any ammonia in the Q tank. The bare bottom Q tank gets 50% water changes every 2nd or 3rd day to keep the bottom clean of any poop. The planted isolation tank get 50% water changes weekly.

[aquariumfishguy]

Another point is, in a Q-tank you should be regularly replacing water while sick or injured fish are taking a "visit". This being the case even if the tank is uncycled, toxic levels of ammonia, and nitrite shouldn't have a chance to build up.

HTH