Ammonia in qt

[jeff williams]

I have 3 fish I'm getting ready to qt for ick (treating with cupramine) and I don't have any seeded media to add to the qt to control ammonia. So I'm trying to estimate about how often I will need to do water changes. I have a Seachem ammonia alert but I don't want any surprises. Does anyone that has Qt'ed fish have a suggested water change interval to stay one step ahead of the ammonia? Fish I'm QTing 1.75" Mollie, 1.75-2" coral beauty,and a 1.5" goby in a 10 gal tank with 8.5 gallons of water

 

[Smo]

A lot of variables there so tough to predict. Here is a single data point. I recently completed a TTM process on three somewhat smaller fish using 10 gallon tanks (roughly 9.5 gallons of water). They received two light feedings per day. I was good about syphoning out uneaten food and fish waste. At the end of each 72 hour period I did not see but a hint of ammonia using a Red Sea test kit.
So in your case if you are able to complete 100% of effective water change every 3 days, i. e., 25-50% every day...you could stay ahead of an ammonia spike. I would probably test twice a day until I got comfortable.
Begs the question, if you are convinced you are dealing with ICH why not perform TTM, since it is virtually 100% effective while 30 days of Cu is something less? Yes you need two of everything including another tank but a simple plastic container would work. You do need another heater but you only need a disposable airstone to move and aerate the water.

 

[jeff williams]

The reason i did not choose ttm is because of the amout of time and 50 gallons of saltwater that two 10 gal tanks would require. However I did over look the advantages the ttm would have in regards to ammonia control.

 

[Smo]

You are going to use on the order of 50 gallons of water either way. Yes, TTM is a bit time consuming. It was my first attempt. I got the setup, transfer, cleaning and drying process down to a little over an hour. On my last transfer the fish went into a 20 gallon HT seeded with BIO Spira.