I have a large piece of sponge in my refugium, and when ever I need to start my QT I remove 5-7 gallons water from my display tank and cut a piece of the sponge and put it in the hang on back filter.
Sounds like you don't have your QT always running? If not, you should consider it... it costs next to nothing to keep running. Just keep the HOB filter running, no need to heat it (assuming water stays above ~65 F "ish") or light it (although I do to keep microalgae growing). No need to do any maintenance on it either, maybe top off occasionally, every few weeks or so depending how much evaporation is occuring. Then, before using it, change 75-100% of the water out with water from your DT or fresh mixed SW. By keeping it running you're alowing all the beneficial bacteria on the glass, media, PVC, etc. to stay alive... I even lightly feed my (empty) QT to introduce ammonia so the bacteria has something to feed off of. One of the biggest killers in QT is Ammonia, so the more beneficial bacteria you have, the better (and more stable) it will be.
However you QT, make sure to keep an extremely close eye on Ammonia, I use a Seachem Ammo badge for a quick look constant reading, and have enough water made to perform a 100% water change on QT while fish are in it. While using medication it's good to keep an eye on pH as well (certain meds do wierd things to pH).
Originally Posted by Mike
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