0.1 ammonia after adding Prime during TTM

[Shilpan Patel]

Hey guys doing TTM currently for first time. Wrasse has been In first bucket for 48hrs. Water is water change water from DT. Wrasse was gasping for air, I put air stone in deeper and it stopped and went to hide. I added some prime as a prévention mesure and then thought I should probably just test my ammonia. I waited an hour and then Ammonia on SeaChem multi test, total = 0.1 and free = 0.

does this pick up the ammonia neutralized by prime? Or am I reading fresh ammonia meaning I need to add more prime?
Transfer is in 24 more hours

 

[huckjai]

How big is the bucket? FYI, prime will give you false positives for ammonia. I QT my fish with TTM in 5 gallon tanks and never had ammonia issues and I never bother to test for ammonia during QT.

 

[Shilpan Patel]

40 gallon bucket with 15 gallons of water In it. Also have a hiding place, a heater and an air stone. That’s it. And one 5cm wrasse.

you reckon as long as free ammonia reads 0 I shouldn’t panic and just wait the 24hrs for the next transfer? I checked the fish again it’s notdoing that gasping thing anymore.

 

[huckjai]

I wouldn't panic. I run a hob filter in my ttm tanks. But 15 gallons of water is quite plenty that ammonia shouldn't be a concern if transferring every 72 hours. To be safe you can just dose Prime after 48 hours. Testing for ammonia is not necessary imo for ttm. Unless you are doing a lot of fish at once. I currently have a yellow wrasse about 2 inches, 2 pajama cardinals and a clown goby in a 5 gallon tank, since Thursday. Didn't dose Prime, but I siphon out detritus and extra food with a turkey baster daily. Also have a 4 inch purple tang in a other 5 gallon QT. Will be transferring them to a new tank tonight. I've done this with all my fish so far. Currently have 14 in my DT. No issues.

 

[Shilpan Patel]

Sorry wrong measurements

it’s a 20 gallon bucket with 7 gallons of water in it. I get confused with metric/imperial sometimes.
But ok after reading your story I feel more reassured

thank you very much I’ll continue monitoring for now