Hospital Tank / Ich / Nitrate and Nitrite Spike

[MarkDarnell]

I am about 4 weeks into a 55gal Hypo Tank setup for Ich. Today I found my Kole Tang dead. I have been changing water every 2 or 3 days religiously. After finding my tang dead, I checked parameters. Amonia, Nitrates, and Nitrites were all high, very high. Did a 35 gallon water change immediately with room temp RODI water.

So my question is, my parameters are still high, but not as high as before. Should I do another water change immediately with my well water, which I have used before? Should I wait till morning and use RODI that is making now?

All advice is requested and welcomed.

 

[Saltgator]

Any more fish in the qt? Ammonia imo was the culprit. I'd use Rodi before straight well. My qt is always set up using my DT water and replacing that with top off in the main. If your running a sump, keep a sponge filter floating in there. When you set up a qt, pull dt water and throw the sponge in there. The sponge has the right bacteria to help (not prevent) the breakdown process of the big 3 (ammonia nitrite ammon nitrates). Water change once a week or so.

 

[MarkDarnell]

There are more fish in the tank. It's a Hypo Tank setup for Ich so I can't use DT water.

 

[Saltgator]

Got ya. Yep, done hypo twice with great results (I missed the hypo you specified so my bad). I'd use Rodi if possible.

 

[MarkDarnell]

I'm going to pray for the night and use RODI in the morning.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Moved to current location.

 

[Humblefish]

It's best to have some sort of biological filtration going in QT. Having to constantly test for and do WCs to control ammonia just turns into an unsustainable situation. As Saltgator mentioned, keeping a sponge that can absorb nitrifying bacteria down in the sump is your best option. I personally use an Aquaclear HOB power filter, utilizing the “foam insert” i.e. sponge it comes with. I “seed” the sponge (or multiples) in a high flow area of my DT’s sump (or you can put it behind your rocks) for at least one month prior to QT. This one month allows time for enough beneficial bacteria to transfer onto the sponge, so that it may be used as biological filtration once placed back in the power filter and used in QT. However, I have no idea what percentage of bacteria will die-off once placed in hypo conditions. I'm not a big fan of hypo for this reason, and many others.

I also would suggest using a Seachem Ammonia Alert badge in your QT for active ammonia monitoring. You don't need to test for nitrites/nitrates. But when doing hypo, you do need to test pH and usually buffer that often.

I am currently writing a similar article for reef2reef, but in the meantime you might find this one I wrote for my local online club to be useful: How to Quarantine : Fish Diseases - Diagnosis & Treatment - Louisiana Reef Club