How to avoid ammonia spikes while getting a fish to eat in QT

[Muffin87]

Its just difficult not to overfeed when you're trying to entice a new fish to start eating.

I won't bore you with the ammonia spike in my QT tank, but it happened just a week after adding one fish to my newly cycled 20G QT tank.
I hadn't even added copper yet.

At the moment I'm using an internal filter with a filter volume of 0.2G. It's a tunze streamfilter 3163.
I could upgrade that to a much larger seachem tidal 110, which has a filter volume of 0.85 G.

Alternatively, I could use a Newa HOB gravel cleaner.
Hoping that I have enough time to remove any uneaten food before it decays.

But maybe this is a bit over the top and I should be able to just rely on filtration?

I just don't know how much a bigger filter would help in a quarantine tank setup with no live rock and no sand.

 

[Uncle99]

I vacuumed up any left over food items and did 10% water change daily, but with bare bottom, flow, but no mechanical filter.

I’ve run into no ammonia probs this way.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its just difficult not to overfeed when you're trying to entice a new fish to start eating.

I won't bore you with the ammonia spike in my QT tank, but it happened just a week after adding one fish to my newly cycled 20G QT tank.
I hadn't even added copper yet.

At the moment I'm using an internal filter with a filter volume of 0.2G. It's a tunze streamfilter 3163.
I could upgrade that to a much larger seachem tidal 110, which has a filter volume of 0.85 G.

Alternatively, I could use a Newa HOB gravel cleaner.
Hoping that I have enough time to remove any uneaten food before it decays.

But maybe this is a bit over the top and I should be able to just rely on filtration?

I just don't know how much a bigger filter would help in a quarantine tank setup with no live rock and no sand.

Feed what fish will eat in 1-2 minutes. Its easier to add food than to remove any. Your filters are key to removing/capturing ammonia contributors as well as clean up crew which will consume left overs

 

[Muffin87]

as clean up crew which will consume left overs

It's quarantine tank, there's no clean up crew.

 

[Dan_P]

Its just difficult not to overfeed when you're trying to entice a new fish to start eating.

I won't bore you with the ammonia spike in my QT tank, but it happened just a week after adding one fish to my newly cycled 20G QT tank.
I hadn't even added copper yet.

At the moment I'm using an internal filter with a filter volume of 0.2G. It's a tunze streamfilter 3163.
I could upgrade that to a much larger seachem tidal 110, which has a filter volume of 0.85 G.

Alternatively, I could use a Newa HOB gravel cleaner.
Hoping that I have enough time to remove any uneaten food before it decays.

But maybe this is a bit over the top and I should be able to just rely on filtration?

I just don't know how much a bigger filter would help in a quarantine tank setup with no live rock and no sand.

Was the tank cycled with bottled nitrifying bacteria before using it?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Its just difficult not to overfeed when you're trying to entice a new fish to start eating.

I won't bore you with the ammonia spike in my QT tank, but it happened just a week after adding one fish to my newly cycled 20G QT tank.
I hadn't even added copper yet.

At the moment I'm using an internal filter with a filter volume of 0.2G. It's a tunze streamfilter 3163.
I could upgrade that to a much larger seachem tidal 110, which has a filter volume of 0.85 G.

Alternatively, I could use a Newa HOB gravel cleaner.
Hoping that I have enough time to remove any uneaten food before it decays.

But maybe this is a bit over the top and I should be able to just rely on filtration?

I just don't know how much a bigger filter would help in a quarantine tank setup with no live rock and no sand.

It's often helpful to buy a few cheap sponge filters and put the sponges in an established tank for a few weeks (or longer). Then when you need to qt, you can pull a sponge out, put it back on the filter, and plop it in the qt for a decent population of nitrifying bacteria.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Was the tank cycled with bottled nitrifying bacteria before using it?

Without substrate or rock, even if bottled bacteria was added, it might not adequately "cycle" the tank. However, adding some bottled bac every few days (the stuff that comes in larger bottles and doesn't need refrigeration) is not a bad idea...

 

[Muffin87]

Was the tank cycled with bottled nitrifying bacteria before using it?

yeah of course. I did a fishless cycle using ammonium chloride. Ammonia had gone down to 0. checked with the hanna marine ammonia checker

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Its just difficult not to overfeed when you're trying to entice a new fish to start eating.

I won't bore you with the ammonia spike in my QT tank, but it happened just a week after adding one fish to my newly cycled 20G QT tank.
I hadn't even added copper yet.

At the moment I'm using an internal filter with a filter volume of 0.2G. It's a tunze streamfilter 3163.
I could upgrade that to a much larger seachem tidal 110, which has a filter volume of 0.85 G.

Alternatively, I could use a Newa HOB gravel cleaner.
Hoping that I have enough time to remove any uneaten food before it decays.

But maybe this is a bit over the top and I should be able to just rely on filtration?

I just don't know how much a bigger filter would help in a quarantine tank setup with no live rock and no sand.

If it can hold more media, it might help. As long as it's something that won't absorb the meds, you can use as much media as you want to house the nitrifying bacteria.

 

[Muffin87]

It's often helpful to buy a few cheap sponge filters and put the sponges in an established tank for a few weeks (or longer). Then when you need to qt, you can pull a sponge out, put it back on the filter, and plop it in the qt for a decent population of nitrifying bacteria.

Without biomedia, is that really enough? Do you not have any other filters in your QT?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

yeah of course. I did a fishless cycle using ammonium chloride. Ammonia had gone down to 0. checked with the hanna marine ammonia checker

But, what surfaces were there for the bacteria to colonize?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Without biomedia, is that really enough? Do you not have any other filters in your QT?

Frequent water changes are often needed... And a sponge IS biomedia.

 

[Muffin87]

But, what surfaces were there for the bacteria to colonize?

Fluval Biomaxx inside the tunze streamfilter

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Fluval Biomaxx inside the tunze streamfilter

That should help too. The sponge idea is helpful for periodic use of a qt... You could also put some extra biomaxx or similar media into a few filter bags and keep those in your sump.

 

[Muffin87]

The sponge idea is helpful for periodic use of a qt

Can I put the sponge in my display tank with coral and invertebrates, even after it's been used with copper?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Can I put the sponge in my display tank with coral and invertebrates, even after it's been used with copper?

No! You'll need to use a new sponge each time...

 

[LPS Bum]

I can tell you what works for me in my 29 gal QT. I have a Marineland power filter on the back, and I stuff it full of 3 or 4 sponges plus the biowheel it came with. It stays running year round, with and without copper meds in it.

I do a 10% water change every week, sucking out the garbage on the bottom (it's a bare bottom QT). If I'm using copper power, I just add it to the new saltwater to keep the levels up. And I dose about 25 ml of Fluval Cycle bottled bacteria twice a week.

Never had an ammonia problem in all the years I've been QT'ing fish. Seems to work well.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

i am in the same boat as @LPS Bum, except for one slight modification. I bought a big bag of pillow floss/stuffing (i think that's what it's called). I out a bunch of that in my HOB Penguin 200 filter. Change it out every so often while monitoring ammonia. Trying to avoid that QT tank from cycling. This was my process when i had my last tank up and going, and will be doing the same for my new tank. Actually getting ready to set this up this weekend.