Qt water is wayy off

[Joelle2149]

ok so i get qt tank i put 8 gal of my dt tank water in it 2 gals of ro water
test it is off.. then i change 5 gals on friday and its still way off...they arent the worst (i wrote down # at home and am at work)

nitrates are 1.0
nitrites are 1.0
amm is 3rd color down on chart....
ph

so i moved the fish back the lfs told me to...how can i quickly cycle the water?

 

[CaptainAhab]

First question is why did you water down your DT water for the QT?

You need some filter material or an existing bacteria source from somewhere. Most of us keep something in our sumps to transfer over. I have a bag of those ceramic filter dohickies sitting in a filter bag in my sump. I've used small pieces of live rock (which will either need to be bleached/dried out or thrown away) after treatment. You can also just resort to many water changes (which I think is the last choice)

When you added the RO water you lowered your SG unless that was your intention as the start of hyposalinity treatment. If it was, IMO you are lowering it too fast.

 

[Joelle2149]

i had to do a water change in my dt it was about that time so i added the 2 gallons....

is there anything i can do or should i basically just start over its only a ten gallon tank.... i need to get the fish back in there ....

 

[melosu58]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php

This link will tell you what you need. Scroll down to the bottom and you`ll see it.

 

[austinsdad]

Got any liverock in the main you can put in the QT? Or are you tring to treat fish for illness in the QT?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

In reading your other post Joelle (http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f16/set-up-my-qt-125700.html), it sounds like this is the tank that you are treating your 2 fish in for ich, using Coppersafe? If so, a few things...

The reason you're seeing ammonia and nitrites is because the tank was never cycled. Putting water from the display tank in the quarantine tank does not cycle it. The bacteria that convert the ammonia are not in the water. A quarantine tank needs to be cycled just like a display tank.

HOWEVER... since you're using Coppersafe in the tank, most likely the bacteria would end up dieing off anyway. Frequent water changes will be necessary to keep the ammonia levels down to a reasonable level, if not zero. Not sure what your levels are (3rd color down?) but just guessing from your nitrite levels, your ammonia levels are probably a tad high.

When doing water changes, you'll need to make sure the copper concentration stays at the level that is required for the stuff to work. This will most likely be noted on the instructions somewhere, and also means you should equip yourself with a copper test kit.

Like others have mentioned, not sure why you diluted your 8g of tank water with 2g of fresh RO water, but yeah... I imagine your salinity took a drop pretty quick there. In addition, if you're treating for ich, it's probably not best to use the display tank water in your quarantine tank. You're just bringing in more ich. Use new saltwater for the QT.

 

[cmor1701d]

In your other post I told you to expext to do daily water changes. That is the only way you can maintain water quality as there is no bilogical filtration. I also stated that by doing 2x day PWC's it would be very hard to maintain the level of Coppersafe which is why I recommeneed you switch to a hyposalinity treatment. You will still need to do 2x/day partial water changes until you can get a bilogical filter going. You will need someting (HOB filter?) that can bacteria can start colonizing so you don't have to maintain the 2x/day PWC's.

Start the QT over using freshly mixed SW (aged 12-24 hours) and try treating with hyposalinity. Have enough prepared SW mixed up for the 2x/day PWC's.

Place all the fish in the QT tank after it's set up and start brringing the SG down.

You can beat this parasite, but it takes time, determination, and following a plan.

 

[Krypt]

Another product you can try using in the QT is ammo-carb. It's like activated carbon but with the ability to absorb ammonia. It's especially useful for the copper treatment because the copper treatment kills your bacteria. Just use it in a HOB filter and it should help.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Ammo-carb only works in freshwater aquariums.

 

[Krypt]

Ammo-carb only works in freshwater aquariums.

That I did not know, learn something new everyday. I used it in my old freshy and figured like activated carbon it could be used on SW.