What ratio of tank water to new RO water should I use if I am using a 30gallon bucket from target? Not sure what you mean by using a 30g bucket from Target. IMO you can use a ratio of 75% tank water to 25% newly made RO/DI saltwater.
I will keep a powerhead and a heater in the tank. I also have a penguin filter to remove amonia. Penguin filters don't remove ammonia from your tank. The biowheels will grow bacteria colonies that will break down ammonia to nitrites. This bacteria is the same bacteria that will colonize your LR. Do I need this and should I run it before putting the fish in? If you don't have any LR then you do need to add some type of medium to allow the bacteria to 'attach' to. If you have LR, then there really is no need for the Penguin. Should I put some damsels in the qt tank first to get the penguin going? Are you saying your QT is an uncycled tank? If it's uncycled, then I'd prefer to see you use some uncured LR and let that kick start your cycle and get the bacteria colonies going. Using fish to do it is inhumane. Ammonia will burn the gills of the fish. If you use some LR in your QT, just make sure you DO NOT put that LR into your display tank. Only a few small, highly porous pieces of LR is necessary in addition to your biowheels for the bacteria to colonize.
When setting up the quarantine tank, what else should I take into consideration? Use some short pieces of 2" diameter PVC in the QT for the fish to hide and give them a sense of security. Is any lighting besides natural light necessary? No expensive lighting is necessary. You can use incandescent bulbs if you don't have a spare aquarium light to use above the QT.
Is a week enough to wait before transferring to the new tank? 'Enough time' is determined by your test kits. When your test results reveal zero ammonia, zero nitrites and <20 nitrates, then you're cycled and ready to forge ahead. Should I keep the salinity the same as my Show tank? Absolutely.
Please give me some advise as I've never set up a QT tank before and reaaally want to do this right. Leave your newly acquired livestock in the QT for a minimum of two weeks, preferrably four weeks, before transferring them to your display tank.
