QT Failure - Help

[two11devan]

I set up a QT tank a few months ago for my 130 gal tank. I have a 10 gal tank and bought a "Biowheel" type filter rated for the 10 Gal tank. I ran the filter off of my sump for four or five weeks then filled my QT tank up with water from my main tank (the main had properly cycled). I put the filter on my QT tank, got a heater and put some pvc elbows in the bottom. All levels tested ok. I bought three small chromis and put them into the QT tank. After a week or so, the ammonia shot up and I had lost one of the chromis. I had to get the other 2 out of the tank and put them in the main.

Are three chromis too much for a 10 gal QT tank? I ws careful not to over feed them. If it is too many, would you have to get a larger QT tank or get 1 at a time. I just lost another chromis in my main tank tonight after it had been in there for approximately a month. I now have 2 chromis 1 goby and 1 skunk cleaner (snails and hermits also). The tank levels tested fine and everything else looks great.

I want to QT because I know its the right thing to do, but I lost 2 fish because of it (although I know I was the one who screwed it up somehow). I still want to add a yellow tang, 2 true percs and maybe a 6 line to the tank. I want to QT them but now I'm worried I'm gonna kill em! I would QT the tang and the 6 line alone obviously but could the 2 clowns go in a 10 gal?

Please, what did I do wrong and how can I fix it. The qt tank has since been sitting with water in it for the last month...nothing on. I have to clean it and start all over. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[melosu58]

What are your water parameters in the QT. You said you have water in it for a month . Have you done any PWC`s?

 

[two11devan]

Once I took the fish out, I turned everything off and let it sit there. The QT tank has water in it but nothing is running. Was the biowheel sufficient for filtration? Should I have put some food in the QT tank to "cycle" it? I have heard that mentioned before. What are some of the other filtration techniques for a QT?

 

[melosu58]

If it was just sitting there then it probably does not have much aeration. It needs to have a PH pointed to the surface to create proper aeration. If you need it now then you dont have time to cycle it. You`ll need to monitor and do PWC`s to keep it where they will be OK. In the future it would be good to keep it running and have it ready when you need it.

 

[two11devan]

Yea, I just turned it off and left it when the ammonia spiked and I took the fish out. My question is what did I do wrong to cause an ammonia spike? Was it because there were too many fish or some other reason. Is a biowheel sufficient to use on a 10 gal QT tank. My main water parameters seem to be ok.

This is what happened, Bought 3 chromis and QT'd them. 1 died in the QT so I put the other 2 in the main. A week later I purchased 3 more Chromis and put them in the main (I did not QT because of the problem I had with ammonia). I lost 1 shortly after adding the 3 additional ones to the tank. I lost 1 tonight and I just saw the other one and he he does not look like he is doing well. The one with the sore on its side is chasing him around and nipping at him. He is the only one that is actively swimming around and looks good besides the sore on his side. What they heck is going on?

I just tested ammonia and its 0, PH is at 8.0 and Nitrite is at <0.3 (its a Tetra kit) ... I have one Chromis with a sore on its side and it is swimming around like nothings wrong. My goby appears fine and so does the skunk shrimp and the other inverts. The chromis have been in the main for about a month. Could I be in danger of losing the Goby???

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I put the filter on my QT tank, got a heater and put some pvc elbows in the bottom. All levels tested ok. I bought three small chromis and put them into the QT tank.

All levels would test OK because there was nothing in the tank to create any waste to start with! Technically, if your biowheel was seeded as you'd intended, then you shouldn't need to cycle the QT before adding fish. It should be good to go. However, you added 3 fish and I *think* that maybe it was just too much for the biowheel to handle? That's the only thing I can think of. Maybe the bacterial colony on the biowheel just wasn't enough for 3 fish and you ended up with a mini cycle.

It sound like you're just starting to stock the 130 gallon, so I'd just go ahead and actually cycle the QT (watch for ammonia, then nitrites, then finally nitrates) and leave it running during the time you're adding stock.

Technically, what you did should've been OK - but since you detected ammonia something went amiss there somewhere. I've got a biowheel on my 10g QT and once properly cycled, it'll take care of the ammonia.

 

[fishman]

two11devan
I feel your pain. I have not had good luck with QT either. Heres my take as I have a 30 gallon QT with 2 biowheels, (both seeded in my sump for THREE months), water from the QT is from my main, and a small baggie of LS from a friend of mines tank. I STILL have ammonia even after all of this AND putting a large raw shrimp in there to rot. It stayed in there, ammonia shot up after 5-6 days, so I took it out and watched the levels fall.
SO with all of this being said, I dont know that a single biowheel can be trusted. I was told with certainty that my 2 biowheels would be more than enough for 1 fish...well guess not. I even have put 2 peices of LR from my sump in the QT and am still having issues. ALthough its only .3, its still there. I let my QT run for 7 weeks with the above mentioned and also fed it. I said all of that to say, I would get a larger QT tank, less fish per shot, and also throw a large shrimp in the tank to spike the ammonia next time. In this hobby if your not patient and slow, then its a lot of trouble for sure!

 

[two11devan]

Just lost another Chromis this morning. I am down to one and its the one with a sore or something on its side (I'll try to get a pic). Im not sure if its an infection. Whats killing my chromis? My watchman goby looks healthy and my levels are all at zero. I am planning on doing a 15 gal water change this morning but I have no idea why the chromis dropped dead without any signs of illness. The only one that is still alive was the "bully" of all of them but I highly doubt he killed the other two (or could I be wrong?). I have lost 4 Chromis since I started this tank! The first three I would think died because of the ammonia spike in the QT. I have no clue why these last 2 died! Water seems great and they had been eating fine. They were in the tank for approximately a month. Any ideas on what could be going on?

 

[roka64]

How are you acclimating them?
Are they fresh from shipping to your LFE? Could be they were recently shipped and still stressed.
How long did it take for the ammonia spike, in your QT? I'm not sure if 3 in a 10G is good or not...Hopefully some one else can tell us.

 

[Andari]

I think I read that fish get Ammonia burn if the Ammonia was the reason they died.
Did the ones you lost during the High Ammonia levels show any discoloration or have a whitish film on their bodies??

 

[two11devan]

I float the bag for 30 min or so and then drip acclimate for approximately one hour. I'm not sure if they were new to the LFS. I thought they were there for a little while but I could be wrong.

The ammonia spiked after a week or two. I was at petclub today and was thinking about getting a 20gal high to use instead of the 10 gal.

I did not locate any discoloration on the dead fish. The one thing I did notice was the mouth of two of them were wide open when they were dead. I had never seen that before, the third one who died looked "normal" with its mouth closed. The only one thats alive has what looks like a sore or a vertical cut on the side of its body. It looks a little white but it does not appear fuzzy or anything like that. Not sure what it is. I will try to get a pic but he wont hold still on that side for very long.

 

[ellisz]

You can do water changes in the QT to help battle the ammonia spikes.Without a substrate and/or LR, you won't get a completely stable environment. Water changes are used to help with this.

QT is tough sometimes. The fish could be sick before you bring them home. A QT environment is not as good as your display but you don't want to introduce a unwanted parasite to the display if you can help it. A 10 gal can be good in a pinch but the more water volume the easier it is to keep stable.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Ironically... I posted on this thread previously. I now have personal experience!

I have a 10g QT, running a Biowheel 100 - just like the original poster. The only difference is that the Biowheel wasn't seeded from my main, but I'd cycled the QT previously. It'd been about a month since there'd been a fish in it, but I'd been "feeding" it with food to keep the bacteria levels up.

10 days ago, I bought three chromis and put in the 10g QT - just like the original poster! The next day, ammonia readings were at 0.25ppm. Surprised, I did a 50% water change, and added a bag Purigen to filter. Each evening, I was getting 0.25-0.50ppm ammonia readings, so I'd do a 50% water change. After 3 days of this, I put about 2 cups of sand from my main into a mesh bag, and put that in my QT. Ammonia levels didn't drop. In a nutshell, I did 50% water changes for 7 days. On the eighth day, my ammonia finally disappeared. I've now gone two days without doing any water changes, and have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites. Phew...

All through this, the fish have seemed healthy and happy, eating like pigs. They're really nice colored fish, so I didn't want to lose them, so I was scrambling to try and keep the ammonia levels down.

The funny thing is that when I first had the ammonia spike, I searched the forum looking for advice. I found this post. With my own comments.

I guess I'll have to revise my comments: with 3 chromis (3/4 to 1" or so) in a 10g qt with a Biowheel100, you might see a little ammonia spike before things "catch up". I was afraid I'd never catch up and end up doing 5g water changes for a month! Luckily, things finally settled down and everyone seems happy.

(And yes... I've also learned that a 10g QT is on the small side. I remember a few folks tried to tell me that when I was first starting out. )