QT - water changes or chemicals

[danelam]

Hi guys,

I've had my fishes in quarantine for 2 days now (1 small hippo tang and 2 tiny false perculas.) They seem to be doing ok, though the tang is still really shy and doesn't come out alot but she's started picking at nori which is a good sign.

Anyway, ammonia levels are hovering around 0.25. I've been doing water changes from my display tank whose ammonia is 0 but still hasn't brought the QT ammonia down. I've noticed some people use Amquel or Kent Detox - would you recommend this? Or stick to water changes every day or every other day? Or both?

At the moment I've got a sponge filter in QT that has been sitting in display for 2 weeks and a piece of live rock - but the bacteria doesn't seem to have established itself in the QT yet.

Any suggestions appreciated.

PS. For those of you following my maroon clown saga, I found her a new home yesterday with a local hobbyist. So these new fishies can go into their new home without feeling bullied

 

[mr_X]

don't get excited if the hippo tang doesn't bother with the nori too much. mine doesn't eat it ever. he likes meaty foods and flake only.
what is in your display right now?
i am probably an unnecessary risk taker, but i'd put them in the best water i had(the display), and hope for the best

 

[danelam]

Well actually now the maroon's gone there's no other fish to infect in display. I'm just concerned about this sally lightfoot in the display that I plan to catch before I introduce more fish (especially those tiny false percs.)

The sally's already taken the arm of my coral banded shrimp!!

However, if I did put the hippo in an she it did develop ich, then my whole display would be permenantly affected right? Yesterday I noticed one white dot between her eyes. It's still there, but haven't noticed anything else. So I'm not sure if it's the beginning's of ich or not. I wanna be sure before I start to medicate.

 

[mr_X]

well, i don't know.
i have ich present in my tank. i don't stress the fish out, and i never see it. i guess it's still there somewhere.
i'm not sure about permanent infection though. how long can you go without seeing ich on your fish before you are in the clear?
i haven't seen ich in my tank in about 3 months (since i evicted a terribly aggressive clown tang). am i safe to say that the ich is gone?

i agree about the sally lightfoot though. they will eat fish.

 

[danelam]

any tips on catching it?

 

[mr_X]

ugh. remove the rock it's on/in quickly before he jjumps out of it. :?

 

[Anonymous]

I would keep the fishes in the quarantine, it's really foolhardy to move to the display when they're otherwise doing alright. You do need to get that ammonia level down, get some fresh saltwater mixed up, enough for two or three full changes.

Oh.. I recollect that certain test reagents can cause false positive readings when used in conjunction with particular dechlorinators. I don't recollect the type of the reagent or which dechlorinators can cause this, but it's something to search on because it could be the reason for the ammonia reading. However, large and frequent water changes with aged saltwater (or real seawater if you have access) never hurts!

I'm glad to know the maroon has a good home, they are beautiful fish.

 

[danelam]

I think the test kit is reading ok. The display tank's reading is 0 whereas the QT is somewhere between 0 - .25. Haven't seen it go higher than that thankfully!

Iwas sad to see the maroon go, but now at least I can populate the tank the way I want to. I love my new fish, they're beautiful. Hope they survive :?

Will water changes twice daily be too stressful??

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, but are you using Amquel in the display tank as well?

Twice daily will not be stressful as long as the mixed water is aged and the same temperature.

 

[mr_X]

I it's really foolhardy to move to the display when they're otherwise doing alright. )

if there's ammonia in the water, they are not doing alright.

 

[Anonymous]

Nessler's reagent! That's what it is. And I do believe that Amquel is one of the products that can cause that false reading.

Mr. X, I will still maintain that as long as the fish are behaving normally and not showing distress that it is foolhardy to shorten quarantine to anything less than 30 days. I've had at least a little experience with this. Do a search, you'll find that Amquel specifically cannot be used in conjunction with a kit that utilizes Nessler's reagent.

Water changes are my best recommendation based upon my experience.