Ammonia in QT

[Ab129]

I just picked a melanaurus wrasse and a royal gamma basslet to add to my clowns, they are now in day 2 of quarantine.
My QT is bare bones, sponge filter, heater and powerhead in a 10 gallon tank.
Checked ammonia today and it was at 0.5 ppm. I added some prime and will check level again later but I want to keep on top of it and was wondering what is the best way.
It seems that it doesn't take much to get ammonia up in only 10 gallons.
What type of schedule should I follow.

 

[mcgyvr]

Water changes... as much as needed to maintain suitable (undetectable) ammonia levels..

That amount depends on how much you are feeding and how much they are "pooping/peeing" and how much of a bacterial colony you have to handle that..
It could mean 100% water changes every day or a gallon or 2 or whatever...

 

[Easy E]

I just picked a melanaurus wrasse and a royal gamma basslet to add to my clowns, they are now in day 2 of quarantine.
My QT is bare bones, sponge filter, heater and powerhead in a 10 gallon tank.
Checked ammonia today and it was at 0.5 ppm. I added some prime and will check level again later but I want to keep on top of it and was wondering what is the best way.
It seems that it doesn't take much to get ammonia up in only 10 gallons.
What type of schedule should I follow.

I don't think Prime has nitrifying bacteria in it. I would add something like Quick Start to speed up cycling. This will naturally convert the ammonia into nitrates which are much less harmful to fish. You might also add another sponge filter or a porous rock to provide more surface area for the bacteria to grow on.

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[Ab129]

I thought the prime was supposed to decrease the ammonia level.
I will test again to see if it had any effect before I do a water change tonight.
I'll try a two gallon %20 water change tonight and see where I'm at in 24 hours to see if 20% was adequate
Does that sound like a good plan?

 

[mitch91175]

I thought the prime was supposed to decrease the ammonia level.
I will test again to see if it had any effect before I do a water change tonight.
I’ll try a two gallon %20 water change tonight and see where I’m at in 24 hours to see if 20% was adequate
Does that sound like a good plan?

From my understanding, prime doesn't decrease ammonia, it binds to ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates and make them non-toxic for live stock. I wouldn't suggest using it in place of proper husbandry, but you can do a water change and add some to it until you cycle catches up.

 

[Ab129]

From reading the bottle it sounds as though you may be correct but does that mean I will still get the same reading for ammonia after applying prime but the ammonia present is not toxic?
I first added prime about 8 hours ago then did a 20% water change an hour ago
After the water change the ammonia level seemed about the same as it was before I added the first dose of prime.
I just added a second dose now. Will check again tomorrow.
Level is between 0.25 and 0.50 ppm.

 

[Ab129]

I vacuumed out all the food particles I could when I did the water change.
Hopefully that will help too.

 

[Easy E]

From reading the bottle it sounds as though you may be correct but does that mean I will still get the same reading for ammonia after applying prime but the ammonia present is not toxic?
I first added prime about 8 hours ago then did a 20% water change an hour ago
After the water change the ammonia level seemed about the same as it was before I added the first dose of prime.
I just added a second dose now. Will check again tomorrow.
Level is between 0.25 and 0.50 ppm.

Water treatments should be added with the new water or the dose may not be correct. The main purpose of Prime is to neutralize the chlorine in your tap water. If it does reduce the toxicity of ammonia, it does it artificially with chemicals. Nitrifying bacteria breaks down ammonia the way it's done in nature, by converting it to nitrates. Once the bacteria colony is established, you shouldn't have to worry about ammonia anymore, unless you somehow kill the bacteria or add too many fish at once. It sounds like you should read up on the nitrification cycle in aquariums. Ideally a quarantine tank should be cycled before you put fish in it.

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[mako61]

I kept ceramic media in my sump. When I do QT I have a HOB filter that I put in a little media from sump. I toss it when done cost 6 bucks or so. I havent seen any ammonia, but do a change a little water every couples days just to vacuum food.

 

[homer1475]

Water treatments should be added with the new water or the dose may not be correct. The main purpose of Prime is to neutralize the chlorine in your tap water. If it does reduce the toxicity of ammonia, it does it artificially with chemicals. Nitrifying bacteria breaks down ammonia the way it's done in nature, by converting it to nitrates. Once the bacteria colony is established, you shouldn't have to worry about ammonia anymore, unless you somehow kill the bacteria or add too many fish at once. It sounds like you should read up on the nitrification cycle in aquariums. Ideally a quarantine tank should be cycled before you put fish in it.

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Sounds like this one should reread the OP and the use of Prim in a QT tank.

Its an uncycled QUARANTINE tank, and with the addition of medications, it most likely will never be cycled.

Now that that is out of the way....

Yes prime is fine to bind ammonia so it's not as toxic, but water changes are more effective. Depending on what test kit your using, it may still show dangerous levels of ammonia even though they are locked up into non lethal form.

Love how people never read a thread and just spout off information like it's the gospel or something. Forums and the internet have ruined reading comprehension.

 

[oldhead]

Will Prazi kill the bacteria in a cycled tank?

 

[Ab129]

Might it help if I did water changes and replaced QT water with water from my display tank to import some nitrifying bacteria or is that not a good idea?

 

[oldhead]

Might it help if I did water changes and replaced QT water with water from my display tank to import some nitrifying bacteria or is that not a good idea?

Not really any bacteria in the water.

 

[nereefpat]

Will Prazi kill the bacteria in a cycled tank?

No. It's just a dewormer.

Might it help if I did water changes and replaced QT water with water from my display tank to import some nitrifying bacteria or is that not a good idea?

You can, but it won't help much in cycling a qt tank. Nitrifying bacteria lives on surfaces, for the most part.

Are you trying to cycle a qt tank, or are you doing tank transfer method?

 

[Ab129]

I am just putting some new arrivals in QT for observation before adding to main display

 

[nereefpat]

OK. Then I agree with the water change approach. Just monitor ammonia, and change water if needed. Nothing wrong with using prime on top of that.

 

[oldhead]

No. It's just a dewormer.



You can, but it won't help much in cycling a qt tank. Nitrifying bacteria lives on surfaces, for the most part.

Are you trying to cycle a qt tank, or are you doing tank transfer method?

Thanks, My QT just finished cycling and it's time to go get some fishes.

 

[Easy E]

Sounds like this one should reread the OP and the use of Prim in a QT tank.

Its an uncycled QUARANTINE tank, and with the addition of medications, it most likely will never be cycled.

Now that that is out of the way....

Yes prime is fine to bind ammonia so it's not as toxic, but water changes are more effective. Depending on what test kit your using, it may still show dangerous levels of ammonia even though they are locked up into non lethal form.

Love how people never read a thread and just spout off information like it's the gospel or something. Forums and the internet have ruined reading comprehension.

Sorry I didn't realize that attempting to cycle the tank is not a viable option in this situation. My quarantine tank is cycled so I don't have to add chemicals and do constant water changes. I guess I'm doing it wrong, so I won't spout off again. You'll have to forgive me, but people who can't comprehend what they're reading usually can't think good either.

You know what I like about forums? You can insult people and question their intelligence without having to do it face to face.

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