HELP!!! QT show 1 ppm ammonia

[Aleiva16]

Hello all,

I have 10 gallon QT that I cycled and spiked and came down to zero. I bought some fish and began the QT process with them. Today being the 4th day the fish are in QT my parameters are showing 1ppm ammonia and .10 nitrites. I did a 30% water change and the ammonia has lowered to about .60 ppm ammonia. I have no idea what else to do? Please help me guys!,

Thank you for your help.

 

[ska d]

What are you using as bio filtration.

 

[Aleiva16]

HOB without the carbon in place put filter floss

 

[nivram]

Keep doing water changes until your system is able to catch up. Also make sure you ate not over feeding.

 

[Aleiva16]

I hear if I do too many water changes is bad. I don't think I'm over feeding I'm giving them a 1/4 of a frozen cube

 

[mrx66699]

get some amquil and it will lock up the ammonia into a non harmful ammonia and since its only a 10 gal just do the water changes twice a day till its 0 naturally without the use of the amquil .....do not just leave it as is .....will be doing damage to the fish .......once you get things fixed now make up enough water at the same params as the qt and do daily or every other day water changes to keep things in check ....if you are using any chemicals add them to the water you are replacing before you do the change, do not add them to the qt after a change your amounts will be off

marvin is correct do not over feed ......now that does not mean you can not feed them tons and fatten them up during the qt process what it means is you will have to keep up the daily water changes or by daily changes to assist in the nutrient export and clean any uneaten amounts up off the bottom after about 10 min after feeding.....

 

[AquamanE]

Everybody can kill me!! Thats why i dont QT. Fish are stressed enough as it is.

We take from ocean in plastic bags. They are shipped to distributors ACROSS THE WORLD.. Then pack back up and sent to wholesalers ACROSS THE Country. They pack back up and go to retailers. Then pack back up to our homes.

You put them in small tanks and HOPE this is less stressful than DT, an aberrant tank which gets "occasional" filtration, and has a piece of PVC in it, matbe a piece of dead rock. And we hope this helps then acclimate to the DT? Really?

Just IMHO.

 

[mrx66699]

your probably not fully cycled yet for the amount of the load of fish you introduced into the qt ....you say hob filter but what was the prior preparation of the filter for your usage ....

 

[Aleiva16]

I'm only trying to prevent my other fish from getting sick I hear parasites and ick can be taking care of in the qt if there is any. I took the precautions of our fellow reefers on our forum.

 

[Aleiva16]

Mrx would you happen to have any idea where I'm getting the ammonia from?? And how I can prevent it from coming back??

 

[AquamanE]

Mrx would you happen to have any idea where I'm getting the ammonia from?? And how I can prevent it from coming back??

If i where to guess your getting ammonia because the tank you are putting it in is not "cycled". Maybe im wrong.

 

[mrx66699]

I'm only trying to prevent my other fish from getting sick I hear parasites and ick can be taking care of in the qt if there is any. I took the precautions of our fellow reefers on our forum.

Good choice .....Eddie is just too lazy and undisciplined to bother with a fish QT, dont let him fool you he just passes it off as well it doesn't make sense lol

ask him how many corals he dips before he puts them in his system or if a new coral had spiders or red bugs on it and he knew it would he just drop and flop it into his setup lololol

Eddie is prolly correct your HOB does not have enough cycled bacteria to keep up with the load you have introduced into this small system all at once ....the filter is taking a hit it can not keep up with that is where the water changes and amquil will assist

 

[Aleiva16]

I QT for about a month it did it's spike and came right back down to zero waited a few days to check if it maintains and it did then I added fish

 

[mrx66699]

how many fish and what sizes .......30 days aint much .....you dont need to cycle a qt if you are doing regular water changes......all i do with my HOB to prep it for use is to take the bio wheels out ( I have two sets ) and after cleaning them and letting them dry out after using them I just put one set in the sump of my DT and keep them bio populated then when I want to use them they are always ready......

 

[AquamanE]

Eddie is correct your probably not fully cycled yet for the amount of the load of fish you introduced into the qt ....you say hob filter but what was the prior preparation of the filter for your usage ....

Matt- I totally agree with you.

If i ever decided to buy a fish of that nature (>$500), I WOULD set up a QT. But i dont know that this is the case in this thread, or in many cases where QT is discussed.

A properly set up QT means keeping the biological aspect of it the same as any other tank for an extended period of time. This requires a tank that is constantly set up for new introductions. It is not about bringing out a 10 gal tank from the attic for a few days with a HOB filter, pouring in some nitryfing bacteria and some copper, and hoping this is better.

BTW- With ZERO QT. I recenlty brought in to my tank a Genocanthus Semifaciatus, MALE, along with a number of other wrasses from a friends tank (you know him) with zero casualties. No QT. I then bought a FEMALE Genocanthus Semifaciatus from another source. ALL into my tank Zero QT, well worth over a few hundred bucks. Happy as can be....

Again. Im not condoning this. But its worked well for me.

 

[Deep Reef]

I have been only in this for a year but I found that a 10 gallon tank for anything but the smallest fish more than one and it has a really quick ammonia spike. I found that 20g tanks work much better. it can take as much as a week before you need to change water. First get yourself a bottle of prime. it will lock up the ammonia and make it harmless. however, you will still see the ammonia in your test kit as it is still there. So you then need to get a seachem ammonia alert badge (about $8). this will read the bad ammonia levels that the typical test kit doesn't see. it will take 3 to 7 days for the filter media to grow enough bacteria to begin to reduce the ammonia levels. change the water every 2-3 days until it stabilizes. That is what I found. After 2 bouts of ICH in my tank I now QT all fish, corals and other invertibrates.

good luck I hope this helps.

 

[Aleiva16]

Mrx I don't think the HOB I have has a bio wheel. If I get this ammonia controlled ill be able to work with it but if I can't would it be best if I just do a dip and then put them in my tank?

 

[mrx66699]

pick up the prime or amquill this will get rid of the effects of any ammonia and as said it will still read but will be locked up and then just do bi daily water changes till the biological in the HOB catches up and can sustain on its own .....its actually a very simple fix....fish being sick or injured is another story thats more tricky .....just do the water changes until its gone with water that matches the params of the QT and then keep about 30 gal on hand for future changes and this should last you for most of the QT process .....always have water on hand and just keep changing it out till any ill effect that arise are alleviated

and the seachem ammonia badge is the only way to go for measurements......

 

[Aleiva16]

Thank you for your help...my question now is since I only have filter floss no bio wheel what do I use in place?

 

[mrx66699]

You say in place of do you mean in place of the filter floss or in place of the bio wheel