Help With Stubborn QT Ammonia...REALLY...really...stubborn

[DanielJameS]

Just thought I would update. I stopped dosing prime and relied on waterchanges and added bacteria daily. Ammonia did get high (1) one day but tank finally appears to have cycled. Ammonia and nitrite 0 and nitrate 5-10. I am now doing e/o 8g waterchanges. I really don't know why took so long. Now that I know (I sincerely hope!!!) that the tank is cycled I will use prime only if badge goes above yellow.

Good to hear you’re back on track. My New Years is not so happy this year, lost my cardinal and my flame in the last 36 hours. Essentially my tank went back to a full blown cycle, and no amount of water changed (min of 50% sometimes as high as 70%) would keep things at bay. Prime “appeared” to do its job but clearly not enough. I’m guessing the changeover from my 20L to 29 somehow nuked my bacteria (although I used all the same filter media, equipment, etc) AND added two additional bottles of bacteria.

It took adding some sand from my DT (as suggested) and a full large bottle of Bio Spira to get things rolling again. I’m currently at 0 ammonia with high nitrites. I’ve decided to keep dosing prime until the nitrites begin to fall because I’ve read that they are not as toxic to marine fish as opposed to fresh and if I keep changing out mass amounts of water, I’m just delaying things further.

Interesting throughout ALL of this, my Seachem badge never got above “alert” or .02 ppm Ammonia, so in future rounds of QT I will be acquiring a test kit capable of measuring free and total ammonia, even if skewed from meds at least it’ll give me a better idea and also dosing some ammonium chloride pre-fish to be sure whatever I “seeded” is actually working. I’m no longer going to rely on time frame in the sump for any seeded media only to find out when it’s too late it wasn’t enough.

This has been a QT session from hell and I’ve done countless others, some that were far more “lax” than this and with way more fish. I’ve never lost a fish to ammonia swings in QT it’s always been something else parasitic.

You win some...you lose some.

 

[cycled123]

I'm not out of the woods as far as QT yet just the Ammonia. 2 of my anthias in QT appear to have a bacterial infection or possibly uronema

 

[DanielJameS]

I'm not out of the woods as far as QT yet just the Ammonia. 2 of my anthias in QT appear to have a bacterial infection or possibly uronema

Yikes Uronema!? I certainly hope not. Luckily I’ve never had to deal with that, but ALWAYS see it on Chromis’ at your friendly neighborhood parasite infested chain store retailer (to remain nameless.)

I’m happy to report I’m finally out of the woods with parameters, finally beat the re-cycle.

I know Uronema is quite the beast to battle. Check out Reefaholic’s YouTube channel (I believe he’s also a member here) if I recall correctly he had a video on battling Uronema with a clownfish that was a nightmare. I’ll throw a couple prayers up to the fish god’s for ya in hopes that’s not what you’re dealing with, good luck!

 

[cycled123]

Yikes Uronema!? I certainly hope not. Luckily I’ve never had to deal with that, but ALWAYS see it on Chromis’ at your friendly neighborhood parasite infested chain store retailer (to remain nameless.)

I’m happy to report I’m finally out of the woods with parameters, finally beat the re-cycle.

I know Uronema is quite the beast to battle. Check out Reefaholic’s YouTube channel (I believe he’s also a member here) if I recall correctly he had a video on battling Uronema with a clownfish that was a nightmare. I’ll throw a couple prayers up to the fish god’s for ya in hopes that’s not what you’re dealing with, good luck!

All fish in QT have passed. Pretty sure was Uronema but didn't have a good enough microscope to check. I have watched/read about 10 hours worth of stuff on Uronema and tried all the things I could but fish were still dead within 24-30hrs. QT has been dismantled and bleached. Just filled up with saltwater and once heated will be starting the cycle process all over again with bacteria in a bottle Hopefully cycle goes a lot smoother this time!

 

[DanielJameS]

Sorry to hear that [emoji58] best of luck to you [emoji1360]

 

[cycled123]

Sorry to hear that [emoji58] best of luck to you [emoji1360]

Thanks!

 

[DanielJameS]

The replacement Swallowtail Angel my LFS was nice enough to replace for me (since the first was riddled with velvet, flukes and a bacterial infection) doesn’t know what to do with itself as it’s graduated to the Taj Mahal (finally) eventually you catch a good streak of luck, and healthy fish make it much much easier [emoji1360]

 

[cycled123]

The replacement Swallowtail Angel my LFS was nice enough to replace for me (since the first was riddled with velvet, flukes and a bacterial infection) doesn’t know what to do with itself as it’s graduated to the Taj Mahal (finally) eventually you catch a good streak of luck, and healthy fish make it much much easier [emoji1360]

Glad you got a good one and finally got it out of QT!

 

[CanadianReefer]

Hey all, quick call for help here. I have QT’d countless times using “seeded” media, sponges etc, but have always still had ammonia issues. I have tried the following:

- Aquaclear 70 sponge In DT sump for 30 days
- Aquaclear 110 sponge - in DT sump for 30-45 days
- Aquaclear 110 sponge for 60 days (several times)

This most recent time, before I had any intentions of quarantine, I dropped a mesh net bag fillled with at least 1lb (enough to fill 1/3 of an auquaclear 110) of ceramic bio rings Into my DT’s sump for over 2 months. At one point it was covered with all kinds of “funk” i figured, when needed, I’ll have so much bacteria I’ll have no issue whatsoever “I’m prepared this time.” Not only that, I set up the 20L Quarantine and added a small bottle of Seachem stability over a period of 1.5 weeks and still had ammonia issues. Needless to say I’ve done a TON of water changes and am blowing through salt. I continued to do WC’s and just last week upgraded the 20L to a 29 I got for a good price. I used the same media, equipment, PVC/decor, I even wiped the sides of the 20L with a sponge cleaner and wrung it out into the new 29 thinking whatever may have been on the glass would only help, used the same water (but added 10 additional gallons) AND added a full bottle of Dr. Tim’s (for 30 gallons) and I am STILL having ammonia issues. The QT has been set up since 11.15.17 and today is the 22nd of December.

I ask restfully, WHAT ON GODS GREEN EARTH IS GOING ON HERE!???

This has to be one of those main issues that causes people to freak out and throw fish into their DT early. Despite doing everything I “think” is right the thought of killing fish from user error is far worse to me than them dying from parasitic devastation.

Here are some shots of my backlit ammonia badge, different light = different colors (also frustrating as all get out)

CFL gooseneck lamp

Standard bulb - bathroom vanity

LED flashlight

And here is a pic of my API ammonia vial:

Now I’ve had medications in the water. Most recently prior to this API test was general cure. I also added a small bit of Prime yesterday (pre-medication then carbon filtered)I have had CP in the water as well and knowing API measures total ammonia (not just toxic) it’s always been a struggle which to trust.

I’m currently taking measures to strip out everything I can to “reset” the tank...YET AGAIN...so I can protect my fish, but I have to ask...

What am i doing wrong here? What’s the deal? I consider myself fairly experienced and knowledgeable (mostly thanks to this forum) and have had more fish in quarantine than this, in a smaller QT...and never a month out have I battled ammonia like this.

Here are some additional details:

29G QT
AQ 110 (w/ sponge and seeded bio media)
1 small bottle stability and 1 small bottle Dr Tim’s from 11.15.17-present
QT up and running 11.15.17
WC’s every 2-5 days (more in beginning when 20L was Main QT) and never immediately after adding bacteria

FISH:
1 - tiny bangai cardinal
1 - small Fiji BD damsel
1 - 3” flame angel (came from display 15 days ago...misfit)
1 - 3.5-4” Swallowtail Angel (replacement from LFS 1 week ago)

I’m in no rush to get these fish to my display, my initial rounds of WC’s were a result of API tests being too high (despite possibly false positives)

What could be the issue here? I don’t overfeed, I keep things clean, monitor and WC regularly, I’m assuming the “cycle” has been delayed but why am I having this issue with all the effort made to use seeded media and additional bacteria?

Needless to say, it’s frustrating.

All advice appreciated
Sincerely,
P.T.S
(Plowing through salt)

Copper and copper based medications throw off ammonia readings making them look sky high. Not sure what's in general cure but if you've had copper based medications in the tank at any point and haven't cleaned the tank properly, that's likely the issue. That's why they recommend using the seachem badge - it doesn't get affected like the regular ammonia tests.

Do your fish look like they are suffering? Heavy breathing? Issues with their scales? If not, one would assume that it's a false positive.

 

[CanadianReefer]

Copper and copper based medications throw off ammonia readings making them look sky high. Not sure what's in general cure but if you've had copper based medications in the tank at any point and haven't cleaned the tank properly, that's likely the issue. That's why they recommend using the seachem badge - it doesn't get affected like the regular ammonia tests.

Do your fish look like they are suffering? Heavy breathing? Issues with their scales? If not, one would assume that it's a false positive.

Sorry - just saw the rest of the thread. Disregard my answer