What is wrong with my quarantine tank??!

[BlueDolphin]

I have had my QT running for about two weeks now. My Regal Tang has been in for about one week. I had been regularly checking the water parameters, and when I checked yesterday the ammonia was pretty high. So, I did a 50% water change. Today I checked the chemistry again and the ammonia still isn't zero! What's going on?? I made sure there wasn't any leftover food in her tank or anything - I can't think of anything else it could be! I have a penguin mini bio-wheel filter, some pvc fittings, a heater, and a sponge from the sump of my main tank for bacteria.

Any ideas??? HELP!

 

[SquishyFish]

Well...one thing is that he is constantly urinating in the water. Any quarantine tank requires much more maintinance while there is actually a fish in it. When its fallow, it really doesnt require much more than top offs. Short version is that your gonna have to do some small water changes daily.

Squishy

 

[BlueDolphin]

Well... shouldn't the ammonia go down after I do a 50% water change? It didn't look like it went down much at all. I just did another 50 change and am retesting the chemistry once more....

 

[Atari]

Sounds like you need some more bacteria in there.. how long did you seed the sponge for?

 

[BlueDolphin]

I seeded it for a week in my main tank's sump.

 

[Atari]

The only reason I can think of for high ammonia is that there arent enough bacteria to convert it to nitrate.

 

[revhtree]

Not to hi-jack this thread but what size, and kind of sponge would I need to seed for my 20g qt?

I dont have a sump, where would I put it?

Sorry Blue Dolphin....

 

[RocketSeason]

what kinda filtration do you have in your QT?

 

[BlueDolphin]

I have a penguin mini bio-wheel filter.

 

[BlueDolphin]

Should I take out the sponge that I have in the QT and put it back in the main tank's sump for awhile? Or would it be harmful for the tang to not have it in there the entire time?

 

[revhtree]

Quote from Steve S

Any parasite may be transfered even if it was only a short time. Transfering anything btween QT and display is not advisable even if you may think it to be safe

HTH!

PS. What size sponge did you use, and what kind?

 

[BlueDolphin]

revhtree, my sponge is about 4 or 5 inches long - I got it at Pet Supermarket. It is supposed to be used as a filtering sponge of some sort I guess. Kind of like the sponge that's on the end of the pump. I wish I had kept the box to give you a better description. If I go back to the Pet store again soon I am going to get another one to keep in the sump - I'll let you know what I got if you haven't found one before then.

 

[revhtree]

Hey that explained it enough. I had an idea, and I have sponge like that. Thanks!

Hope all goes well with your qt.

 

[NJDevilsWinCup]

wat medication did u use? is it copperbased because that kills all bacteria so you would have to do much more water changes and how big is qt?

 

[BlueDolphin]

I have not used any medication in the tank. My Regal Tang has been fine so far - she's just been in the QT for a week. It's a 10 gallon. I did another 20% change today and there ammonia still isn't at zero!!!

 

[BlueDolphin]

How much ammonia can fish stand before it gets critical?? My ammonia is about 0.1 right now.

 

[brndfrb]

I would just keep doing your daily waterchanges. Regals put off alot of waste. So in a ten gallon he is going to pollute it pretty quick. Maybe even cut back oon feeding. Don't feed him alot. And just keep doing water changes. It should go down.

 

[srgetz]

Maybe even cut back oon feeding

Agreed! He does not need to eat every day, but every 2nd or 3rd day, and lightly at that. Also you may want to take a water sample to lfs to validate your readings.

 

[MarkW19]

You'll need to keep the sponge in the QT, or there'll be hardly any bacteria in there at all.

 

[BlueDolphin]

Thanks so much for everyone's replies. Do you think it would be a good idea to get a new sponge and seed it in the main tank for a week then switch that sponge with the one already in the QT?

I checked the ammonia again this morning and it's still high. I'm getting ready to do another water change. I suppose the water changes are recommended much more than using AmQuel? Or could I do both?

Thanks again!