QT Ammonia Control: Water change or AmQuel?

[luckycat]

I have a 10g qt that I'm using for two false perc clownfish. They have been there for just shy of one week, ammonia is now up to 0.5 ppm. I feed once a day, they always seem hungry but they don't always catch all of the food, so I suck up remaining food on the floor nightly, at least as much as I can. I seeded a sponge filter from my main tank for 3 days or so before I introduced these fish, maybe that wasn't enough, or ammonia would have been higher without the sponge.

After testing ammonia yesterday, and finding it up to .5ppm, I did a 1g water change last night. Then I read some newsgroup forums. Some say do water changes daily, some say use chemicals such as AmQuel to control ammonia. Are both methods OK? What can ammonia go up to before I must do a water change?

[scuba_steve]

i would change the water nightly using the main tank water and add new water to the display

[luckycat]

How much water nightly? And just until the display tank water manages to bring down ammonia in the qt?

[scuba_steve]

mabe 5 gallons what i would do just cause it be easy for me due to the collection of corallife salt buckets/along with the t-shirts i have now hehehe

I would not suggest using water from the main tank. The ammonia is being fueled by wastes and nutrient. Using water from the main tank will contribute nutrient from there. Best off using well aged SW from newly mixed RO water. You cannot reduce the ammonia is you add nutrient each time.

Cheers
Steve

[scuba_steve]

what if the main tanks water lest out great?? i think it be better and get the fish to the water they will be in, in a few weeks

Originally Posted by scuba_steve

what if the main tanks water lest out great??

The filtration systems of the two set ups are usually significantly different. The DOC is the begining and the nitrates are almost the end. Alot happens in between. Adding nutrient rich water even from a healthy biosystem will still add DOC.

Cheers
Steve

[luckycat]

So geez, if I swap out 5 gal that is half of the water! And do that every day? Boy that seems like a lot of work..what have I gotten myself into?? Saltwater!!

So the idea of just using AmQuell or something like that is a bad one?

Originally Posted by luckycat

So the idea of just using AmQuell or something like that is a bad one?

The water changes is the better plan. The problem with water conditioners that bind free ammonia is they do not work with most test kits and give a false reading. I know Seachems will read past the Amquel but not many others will.

Cheers
Steve

[luckycat]

OK, thanks!