QT woes - cycling!

[otrlynn]

I don't mean to be an alarmist, but you have to act quickly when you have rising ammonia in the QT, especially if your fish are showing signs of distress. Ammonia is a fish-killer, much more so than, say, high nitrate levels. As far as the rock, if you put it in the QT, and the fish look fine at the end of the QT, you are making the judgement that the fish don't have ich or any other parasite, and are placing them in the DT's waters. Just move the rock back to the DT--any ammo-lock remaining on/in the rock won't hurt the DT. If you need to treat with any chemicals (for instance copper) you will need to remove the rock, and then either re-cure the rock in a separate container without fish, or boil it, in which case it will become dead rock (which will re-seed itself nicely once it is back in the DT. Don't delay on changing out that water. If you can do it on a lunch break, do it.

By the way, I don't have a sump, so I'm not sure what you mean by the return pump sponge. Is it removable? Can your pump be run without it? Any media that has been exposed to the beneficial bacteria in your cycled DT, will add nitrifcation bateria to the QT. If you can remove it and stuff it in the HOB filter that I assume you have on your QT, or even just let it float in the water, it would be helpful

 

[Macimage]

How are your fish today and the ammonia levels in the qt?

Joyce

 

[Crazed]

The fish both look great today. They both ate well and they've besn swimming around like normal. I'm getting ready to do the water change (I just got home, I was gone since 5 am =/). I don't know what was wrong with the one fish last night; maybe I just never noticed that he sleeps strangely compared to the other one. At any rate, I'll be doing the 15 gallon change very soon, and I just bought a 32 gallon Brute that I'll be using to mix up water for the future big changes.

Once again ,thanks for your help, and I'll let you know what hte ammonia looks like after the change. I have a question though, that I sort of alluded to earlier. My test kit says wait 5 minutes. At 5 minutes, the ammonia looks .50. However, if I wait, say, 10 minutes, it looks 1.00-2.00. Which do I go with? The one that's longer developed, or the one that ascribes to exactly what the test kit says?

Thanks!

 

[otrlynn]

I don't have any hard evidence, but I'd tend to go with following the instructions. Glad to hear that your fish look good.

 

[Macimage]

Originally posted by Crazed
I have a question though, that I sort of alluded to earlier. My test kit says wait 5 minutes. At 5 minutes, the ammonia looks .50. However, if I wait, say, 10 minutes, it looks 1.00-2.00. Which do I go with? The one that's longer developed, or the one that ascribes to exactly what the test kit says?

It's a 50/50 guess at best. I would either purchase a new kit or have your lfs test the water so that you can establish a baseline.

Glad to hear your fish look good today.

Joyce

 

[Crazed]

Alrighty, I changed 75% of the water in the tank. Before the change, I took it the ammonia and it was 2.00. After I changed the water, it was down to .50. Still needs to go lower, but it's progress!

Thanks for the help once again. I'm currently filling my Brute up with water and I'll try to get some salt in it so I can do another large water change late tomorrow night (if I can make enough, I would like to try 90%).

 

[Macimage]

Excellent!

As long as you are using the aged water from your display tank large water changes are ok.

However, two days of 75% changes may be better than one large 90% now that you are getting a handle on it.

Keep us posted.
Joyce

 

[Crazed]

I've been doing 70-90% water changes for the past week and the ammonia has been keeping within .25-.50. I think the fish will be fine until I put them into the display tank, which is this coming Friday.

Thanks so much for your help, everyone, particularly Macimage. You've been a great help in getting through this!

 

[Macimage]

Aw shucks. I'm really glad to hear that your fish as doing so well!!

Joyce