QT tank with 0.2-1 ppm ammonia

[cww81]

My QT tank still has around 0.2 (red sea)-1(api) ammonia in it. Ordered a foxface that was supposed to come in next thursday at LFS and it somehow came today. Luckily added bio spira yesterday and it has already halved my ammonia in 24 hours. Should I add ammo-lock or buy some turbostart 900 or both? Just don’t want the fish to die from ammonia while in QT.

 

[Miami Reef]

My QT tank still has around 0.2 (red sea)-1(api) ammonia in it. Ordered a foxface that was supposed to come in next thursday at LFS and it somehow came today. Luckily added bio spira yesterday and it has already halved my ammonia in 24 hours. Should I add ammo-lock or buy some turbostart 900 or both? Just don’t want the fish to die from ammonia while in QT.

Water change. At least 50% with matching temp and salinity. Then dose more bacteria.

Do not start copper until you get 0 ammonia.

Wait…are you going to use copper? Wondering as test kits will not work with copper in water.

 

[cww81]

Water change. At least 50% with matching temp and salinity. Then dose more bacteria.

Do not start copper until you get 0 ammonia.

Wait…are you going to use copper? Wondering as test kits will not work with copper in water.

Not going to start copper until the QT is more stable. Will the fish be able to go in after the water change and dose of bacteria? Never had a QT before but I want to be a better reefer, I just got a little unlucky with the early arrival of the foxface

 

[Quietman]

Polyfilters are nice to have on hand. So is a handful of macro...just until things stabilize. No dosing meds of course until then. Good luck.

 

[cww81]

Polyfilters are nice to have on hand. So is a handful of macro...just until things stabilize. No dosing meds of course until then. Good luck.

Will the polyfilter allow the fish to go in with ammonia already present? Going to do a water change up to 100% if I have enough premixed water on hand.

 

[Quietman]

Will the polyfilter allow the fish to go in with ammonia already present? Going to do a water change up to 100% if I have enough premixed water on hand.

Depends how much you can use. I usually cut it down to half size if I need a quick QT. Last time needed it I had a nearly full grown YWG and a firefish. Suspect the foxface will produce at least as much waste. But the polyfilter did get me through the first week until the established media I had from main tank took over. Not exactly cheap though.

 

[cww81]

Depends how much you can use. I usually cut it down to half size if I need a quick QT. Last time needed it I had a nearly full grown YWG and a firefish. Suspect the foxface will produce at least as much waste. But the polyfilter did get me through the first week until the established media I had from main tank took over. Not exactly cheap though.

Thank you for the replies. I also forgot to mention I took out a bag of bio balls from my main tank yesterday and added it along with the bio spira. I think that i'm going to do a water change and pick him up in a hour or two and add more bacteria. Any input on the ammo-lock or if I should skip on it?

 

[Quietman]

Thank you for the replies. I also forgot to mention I took out a bag of bio balls from my main tank yesterday and added it along with the bio spira. I think that i'm going to do a water change and pick him up in a hour or two and add more bacteria. Any input on the ammo-lock or if I should skip on it?

Never used it so hesitant to comment. If it's a stop gap to control ammonia then sure why not? Like my Poly-Filter keep it in the "break glass in case of emergency" cabinet.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I feel ammo-lock or something like that will be much better tolerated by the fish than any amount of ammonia. Also don’t forget about nitrite.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Just rememeber, some copper treatments do not react well with prime or amo-lock. It can turn the water into a lethal mix for the fish. @Jay Hemdal should be able to let you know about the details of that.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

My QT tank still has around 0.2 (red sea)-1(api) ammonia in it. Ordered a foxface that was supposed to come in next thursday at LFS and it somehow came today. Luckily added bio spira yesterday and it has already halved my ammonia in 24 hours. Should I add ammo-lock or buy some turbostart 900 or both? Just don’t want the fish to die from ammonia while in QT.

What copper product are you using? The three common copper products all are amine-based, and will give a positive ammonia reading of up to 0.50 ppm when first dosed. "Bacteria in a bottle" is one way to mitigate that - as mentioned, using chemical ammonia binders can be dangerous, especially with Cupramine - they can release free copper at toxic levels. Another way to fix this is to move some media from an established tank to your QT - siporax, filter media, anything that would have bacteria growing on it (but that isn't calcium based) can help.

Jay