Ammonia Levels in QT tank

[Meadowlark]

I have two clownfish in my 10 gallon qt tank. I am using a marineland biowheel 100 for filtration. My one clownfish is gasping for air and laying on its side. It appears to have some damage to at least one of his fins. The other fish looks fine swimming around energetically. I tested the water last night and found some ammonia (maybe .25 ppm). Then I noticed in my replacement water, which I use a 15 gallon rubbermaid container, the ammonia level was considerably higher ( maybe .50 ppm) and then after 14 hours with the sample in the test tube it went to something like 1 ppm. Last night I emptied and cleaned my replacement water container and then refilled it with "fresh" water. My many questions:

Why did I get ammonia levels in the replacement water? Should I have used a water conditioner? (I did not) . Should I do now a huge water change and how much? How do I know that all of the chemicals are out of the replacement water container after rinsing many times? ( I used dishwashing detergent to clean it).

[kaihonu82]

Do a water change in your QT tank to try and get the ammonia levels down. What are the readings now for both ur QT and replacement container?

Don't use detergent!!!!!! Rinse with water, water and more water. then more water. never use soaps when dealing with things for your tank. good luck!

[WaterKeeper]

First off, disregard test results that are over or under the time set by the manufacturer of the kit. The development time is important and letting samples sit produces erroneous results.

Check the ammonia level on the replacement water and, if it is zero, do a large water change on the QT. Maybe 40-50% would be good. If you still have high ammonia in the new, replacement water it may be wise to try another brand of salt mix. I'm not a fan of additives but some type of ammonia binder can come in handy when using a QT tank. Amquel is a well known brand.

Hopefully the clown will recover but a sad fact is that fish do die in quarantine. It is better they do it in isolation than in the general population of a stocked tank.

[Timinator]

Some salt mixes are higher in Ammonia than others so check on that issue and maybe change salt mixes. And does fresh water mean RODI that your using.

[wooden_reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11095929#post11095929 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Meadowlark
My many questions:

Why did I get ammonia levels in the replacement water? Should I have used a water conditioner? (I did not) . Should I do now a huge water change and how much? How do I know that all of the chemicals are out of the replacement water container after rinsing many times? ( I used dishwashing detergent to clean it).

It is unlikely that tap water has ammonia, unless it is released from chloramine (sp). I think only large cities use chloramine; small towns generally don't. If you use a "conditioner" that only breaks the chloramine into ammonia, you will have ammonia. Ask your water department if your tap water has chloramine. If so, use a cinditioner that also renders the released ammonia lless toxic.

Chances are that there were protein particles that were not removed during water change, so ammonia surged even after water change.

The fundamental problem is that you have not thoroughly cycled your QT. It is strange to me that people do not cycle QT very well.

Cycling the QT is critical. How else would you maintain the fish for the five, six, seven, eight or more weeks that are needed to rid them of ich?

There should be no ammonia in a QT, except in the unfortunate situation when you have to combact bacterial infection (with an antibiotic that would depress nitrification). Use UV and the incidents of external bacterial infection will be reduced by much.