Stressful QT Problem

[Jahalu]

ok, so I have 2 anthias (Bartlett and lyretail) and a clown in my 25g qt system. There's prazipro in there now and fish have been in for 1 week-eating well, no sign of disease thus far. I have an ammonia badge in there and tonight I found myself staring at it, debating if it was truly yellow or if it had the slightest green tinge. To ease my mind, I ran my api test- I almost fell over- the api test is reading like .5 !! Who do I believe? Should I do a massive water change, or risk it and move the fish into dt? I thought my qt was fully cycled- I even threw in some sponge media from my dt when I added the fish. I have been feeding the anthias heavily though. Any advice appreciated. I think if it is truly .5, no water change will be sufficient in a timely manner. If it is only .02, like the badge reads, then I will just do the water change. Who do I believe?

 

[justingraham]

Ok I would do 1/2 water change if ur fish are acting fine.
With the amonia badge u have to shine a light thru it to see its true color I have heard

 

[melypr1985]

Some medications can make the API kits unreliable. I would stick with the badge. make sure your pointing a white light behind the badge to read it properly. It can be difficult to tell if it's green or yellow in dim rooms. Oh, and if your ever in doubt, do a water change. That never hurts.

If the prazi has been in the water for 24 hours, then it has done it's thing already and it can be removed. It will be inert after only 48 hours anyway so doing the water change won't effect that either, providing it's been 24 hours of course.

 

[Jahalu]

I also have prime handy, if it's ok to mix with prazipro?

 

[bknapp]

To correctly read the ammonia badge you need a white light (cell phone flashlight works great,) if you have a blue light over your QT it'll make it appear more green. However, I'd you're reading ANY ammonia on the badge get a WC ready. You use an ammonia badge in a QT because meds can cause issues with regular test kits.

 

[bknapp]

I wouldn't use Prime with any meds. Look into a bacteria in a bottle such as MB7 or Dr. Tim's.

 

[Jahalu]

Ok, when I shine the light through, the badge looks more yellow than green. Fish seem fine, swimming normally, no heavy breathing. just can't believe the api test is so far off. I will change out 10 gallons just to be extra safe. No prime.

 

[melypr1985]

I agree. I wouldn't use prime with any meds present. Some it's safe to use it with and some not. It's not worth the risk IMO.

 

[Humblefish]

^^ All great advice above.

 

[Jahalu]

Thanks so much everyone! WC complete- fish seem fine. While the water level was low, I shined my flashlight through the back of the badge and it was yellow. No hint of green. Had no idea the api test could be so far off with meds.