QT & ammonia how do you deal with this?

[D-Rod]

I'm treating my fish in QT for ick & red streaks/blotches
I have an air/sponge filter and a tetra hob filter, no carbon.

while the tank is medicated my ammonia continues to rise, if I do a partial wc wont that dilute the meds? I do have a bottle of
Kent ammonia detox, is it good to mix meds with Kent?
or just do a partial wc??

 

[NanoLurker]

before i add antibiotics i pull the sponges and throw them out or at least clean and sterilize them. you can leave the HOB (sans media) for circulation or just drop airlines. if you don't, the antibiotics will kill the nitrifying bacteria on the sponges and the biofilm in the tank and you'll have problems with ammonia. you don't have any LR or LS in there, do you?

i rely on water changes and use prime or ultimate to control ammonia. if i do a 50% water change i replace 50% of the meds.

 

[steve-s]

What antibiotic are you using?

Maracyn II (Minocycline/Tetracycline) will not adversely affect the bio-filter as a rule. If this was not a pre cycled tank, the normal cycle would still need to occur. Keep in mind that with marine fish, only the ammonia is a concern, not the nitrite. Also, while/if ammonia is present, do not keep a high pH, 8.0-8.1 at most. Ammonia binding agents will not interfere with most types of antibiotics. Just keep in mind that some test kits will show a false possitive when using these kind of binding agents. Get Seachem's ammonia alert badge and their Multitest ammonia kit.

Do regular large water changes. They are the most effective and are typically needed before each new dose of antibiotic is added to the tank anyway.

What fish are you treating and how long have you had it? More commonly red streaks are from improper/chronically low pH. Occasionally in new fish it can be a systemic infection.