High Ammonia in QT = not good

kwirky · #1 02-07-2008, 01:42 AM

if you use prime to condition your water you could dose some of that. it has an ammonia neutralizing agent in it because when chloramine is broken down, part of the stage it's converted to ammonia.

has anyone used those "ammo-alert" strips you stick on the tank? How reliable are they?

christyf5 · #2 02-07-2008, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwirky

if you use prime to condition your water you could dose some of that. it has an ammonia neutralizing agent in it because when chloramine is broken down, part of the stage it's converted to ammonia.

However, Prime will also mess with your ammonia test kit, I'm not sure how it does that (whether it reports more or less ammonia when using it).

hawk · #3 02-07-2008, 03:28 AM

In a 10g qt with no filtration, daily water changes will be needed. Don't overfeed, siphon waste and un-eaten food whenever you see it. In such a small tank a turkey baster makes it pretty simple. Keep the lights off, which will help keep the ph on the low side. A lower ph will reduce the toxicity of the ammonia. Good chance the cloudy eye is a result of poor water quality. Frayed or white cloudy fins are another sign. Is this a new fish?. For next time try keeping a couple of cheap sponge filters in the sump, they can be used for emergency filtration when needed (the sponges need to be in the sump a few weeks or longer to be effective)

saltyrockbox · #4 02-07-2008, 03:37 AM

wow so its basically impossible to treat a fish with antibiotics. b/c water quality goes way down if there is no biological filtration.

I good chemical ammoina remover might be helpful but I cant think of one and it might in turn make the medication useless.

Seems the best thing would have been to keep it in the main tank and imporve water quality there.

Shoot. I don't think I'll be removing a fish for medication again...

(I was changing the water like crazy and getting all the detritus and old food out ASAP yet ammonia stayed high)

hawk · #5 02-07-2008, 04:03 AM

What medication are you using? The ones I have used in the past all recommend only removing carbon which will absorb the meds as does rock, sand and porous tank decorations, but otherwise definitely continue normal filtration. If this fish has already been in your main tank and it's only symptoms are the cloudy eye and frayed tail, returning it to the DT maybe the best option at this point. That being said, don't give-up on qt'ing or treating fish, as both are a major part of long-term success in this hobby.