Ammonia Control in a Hospital Tank

jeff williams

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You can’t overdose biospira, I usuall squeeze out the sponge and pour the bio on the sponge also I’ve never had trouble with copper killing the bacteria that convert ammonia but I have had the cu kill the bacteria that coverts nitrite. Ammonia will read good on the seachem badge but nitrite will shoot up. This is less of a problem in a tank due to the chloride blocking the absorption of the nitrite by the fish
 

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I couldn't get a biofilter to really establish well while dosing CP. I tried Dr. Tim, Stability, Bio-spira, and Fuel. I added the Bio-spira and Fuel towards the tail end. After I added carbon (to remove CP) the filter quickly established.

I also use one of these foam filters. It won't absorb medication, has a ton of surface area, and aerates the water.

Bio Fish Aquarium Medium Cylinder Soft Sponge Water Filter, Black by XINYOU https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009UY519M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_opynzb80XNP1Q
I keep one of these in my DT sump for a month prior to using .Always ready to go At a moment's notice. At five bucks it's cheap enough to pitch after QT or HT use
 

Kevinkmk

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When is it safe to dosed copper with prime treated water? Do I have to do water change before dosing copper? My qt has been up 1 week and half. Dosed dr Tim to get started and dosing Seachem seed everyday now. It still have ammonia, and the fish is already in there with prime everyday to detox the ammonia. The fish does not seem to have any disease.
 
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Brew12

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When is it safe to dosed copper with prime treated water? Do I have to do water change before dosing copper? My qt has been up 1 week and half. Dosed dr Tim to get started and dosing Seachem seed everyday now. It still have ammonia, and the fish is already in there with prime everyday to detox the ammonia. The fish does not seem to have any disease.
It should be safe 3 days after the last dose of Prime.
 

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You can’t overdose biospira, I usuall squeeze out the sponge and pour the bio on the sponge also I’ve never had trouble with copper killing the bacteria that convert ammonia but I have had the cu kill the bacteria that coverts nitrite. Ammonia will read good on the seachem badge but nitrite will shoot up. This is less of a problem in a tank due to the chloride blocking the absorption of the nitrite by the fish
Can you expound on this nitrite not being absorbed by fish because of the chloride? I think Brew said this earlier too and I've never heard that before.. I waited an extra week when my ammonia was 0 but nitrites were high,, did I not have to wait a week as long as ammonia was 0?
 
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Brew12

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Can you expound on this nitrite not being absorbed by fish because of the chloride? I think Brew said this earlier too and I've never heard that before.. I waited an extra week when my ammonia was 0 but nitrites were high,, did I not have to wait a week as long as ammonia was 0?
It's never bad to wait in the interest of fish health. I can't find any of the better studies that are free to read, but this one talks about it a little if you want to learn more.
http://vri.cz/docs/vetmed/50-11-461.pdf
Here is the most relevant part. Again, this isn't one of the main studies, it only references their conclusions.

"Freshwater fish and crustaceans are hyperosmotic to their environment and require an active uptake of ions across the gills to compensate for ions lost with urine and via passive efflux across the gills. Fish gain ions through their diet, and most fish are also able to accumulate ions through active uptake mechanisms associated with the chloride cells of gills (Maetz, 1971). In fresh water, these cells can give off ammonium or hydrogen ions in exchange for an equal number of sodium ions and can give off bicarbonate ions in exchange for an equivalent number of chloride ions (Love, 1980). Problems with nitrite in freshwater animals stem from the fact that NO2 – has an affinity for the branchial Cl– uptake mechanism, presumably the Cl–/HCO3 – exchanger; thus, whenever nitrite is present in the ambient water, a part of the Cl– uptake will be shifted to NO2 – uptake (Jensen, 2003). A shared uptake route for nitrite and chloride is also supported by the fact that fish with high branchial Cl– uptake rates (e.g. rainbow trout, perch, pike) are more sensitive to nitrite than species with low uptake rates (eel, carp, tench) (Williams and Eddy, 1986)".
 

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One quick question Can i just use fresh saltwater in the qt and do wc everytime the ammonia cycles begin is only 10 gallon so i do t think thats going to hurt my wallet also only planning medicate the fish for about 7 days , thanks in advance for the input
 
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One quick question Can i just use fresh saltwater in the qt and do wc everytime the ammonia cycles begin is only 10 gallon so i do t think thats going to hurt my wallet also only planning medicate the fish for about 7 days , thanks in advance for the input
That is an option. It can be a lot of work but nothing wrong with it if you are keeping a close eye on ammonia.

7 days is a very short treatment. I'm not sure what you are treating or your method but good luck!
 

maxter

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That is an option. It can be a lot of work but nothing wrong with it if you are keeping a close eye on ammonia.

7 days is a very short treatment. I'm not sure what you are treating or your method but good luck!
Thanks i create a post here , im treating a marine betta with a open wound
 

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Regarding the seachem ammonia alert,, can these be reused?
Meaning, can I tear my QT down, wash everything and let air dry a couple days including the ammonia alert and then put back in new QT tank to be used again? It comes with a piece of plastic on the monitor point so didn't know if it couldn't be exposed to air for a long time or needed submerged the entire time to read correctly..
 
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Regarding the seachem ammonia alert,, can these be reused?
Meaning, can I tear my QT down, wash everything and let air dry a couple days including the ammonia alert and then put back in new QT tank to be used again? It comes with a piece of plastic on the monitor point so didn't know if it couldn't be exposed to air for a long time or needed submerged the entire time to read correctly..
I reuse mine. After cleaning it and letting it dry, I put them in a baggie with just a little RODI to keep in damp. Then I tuck it into a drawer to keep it dark so stuff doesn't grow.
 

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I am having issues controlling ammonia in my qt tank. I first started the tank using water from my main tank and put into qt tank. 2 days prior I had soaked some bio spira in a bucket with ceramic media. I already had a sponge in my sump. I then placed sponge from sump into hob filter along with the bio spira and put in the rest of the bottle of bio spira. For 2 almost 3 days I had no ammonia. Then I noticed ammonia had went up to 5 during the day. I immediately did a 90-95% water change. I also added a live rock from sump area and placed into qt tank. I also had a bag of siporax that has been in my sump for months that I placed into qt tank. I also dosed prime and later that night started stability. Ammonia was 0 for a day and a half. Tested yesterday and ammonia was at 0.25. I didn't have a chance to change water so I dosed prime as directed and did 2nd dose of stability since it says for first 7 days. My question is is there something else I can do or use to keep ammonia levels down or am I having to wait for however long its gonna take for qt tank to cycle? I failed to mention there are 5 fish inside qt 2 small fish less than a inch. 2 medium size fish possibly 3 inches and a larger fish at maybe 5 inches. Sounds like I may possibly have more fish than what my qt tank can handle. I thought with me adding the live rock and siporax I would have enough bacteria to possibly complete. Help and suggestion gretly needed
 
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I am having issues controlling ammonia in my qt tank. I first started the tank using water from my main tank and put into qt tank. 2 days prior I had soaked some bio spira in a bucket with ceramic media. I already had a sponge in my sump. I then placed sponge from sump into hob filter along with the bio spira and put in the rest of the bottle of bio spira. For 2 almost 3 days I had no ammonia. Then I noticed ammonia had went up to 5 during the day. I immediately did a 90-95% water change. I also added a live rock from sump area and placed into qt tank. I also had a bag of siporax that has been in my sump for months that I placed into qt tank. I also dosed prime and later that night started stability. Ammonia was 0 for a day and a half. Tested yesterday and ammonia was at 0.25. I didn't have a chance to change water so I dosed prime as directed and did 2nd dose of stability since it says for first 7 days. My question is is there something else I can do or use to keep ammonia levels down or am I having to wait for however long its gonna take for qt tank to cycle? I failed to mention there are 5 fish inside qt 2 small fish less than a inch. 2 medium size fish possibly 3 inches and a larger fish at maybe 5 inches. Sounds like I may possibly have more fish than what my qt tank can handle. I thought with me adding the live rock and siporax I would have enough bacteria to possibly complete. Help and suggestion gretly needed
It sounds like you are doing everything right.

Do you have much flow in your QT? You may not have enough flow over the media and siporax. Make sure you have good flow through and around the media. I haven't found a sponge in a sump to be effective at seeding it either. All the flow seems to go around the sponge and it doesn't work well for me.
Also, with the API ammonia test you can consider the 0.25ppm to be zero. They often give false positive readings. I wish I could offer more help!
 

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Thanks for your feedback. I had a powerhead in the tank. I think it was too much for my 20 gallon long. Pump is rated for 796 gph. Not sure how big/small I would need for tank that size.
How would you suggest I place powerhead so it can flow through siporax? Right now siporax is in a mesh bag just sitting on bottom of the tank. Thought between that and a nice big piece of live rock that would of helped
 
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Thanks for your feedback. I had a powerhead in the tank. I think it was too much for my 20 gallon long. Pump is rated for 796 gph. Not sure how big/small I would need for tank that size.
How would you suggest I place powerhead so it can flow through siporax? Right now siporax is in a mesh bag just sitting on bottom of the tank. Thought between that and a nice big piece of live rock that would of helped
I would have thought it would be enough, too, although that is a high fish load for such a small tank. Try reflecting the flow off the front wall from the side. The siporax sitting on the bottom should work as long as water is moving through the system.
 

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I'm always surprise how such a small foam block stuck over the intake of a small pump Can house enough bacteria. seems so small to my eyes.
 

ReefWithCare

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If you have a big emergency like say 10 small to medium sized fish to Hospitalize - how big of a tank do you need to be able to manage the ammonia levels?
 
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