280g FOWLR Tank Diary
- Thread starter kylev
- Start date
kylev
Member
Need ammonia help. I havn't been able to get the ammonia in my qt below .5 for the past several days. The nitrates and nitrites and both testing at 0. I've been doing 10-15 gallon w/c's nightly and vacuuming any food or poop off the bottom. I also dose with amquel nightly. The tank has been getting a very light feeding every other day. I have recently changed out the carbon in the filter and change out some polyfiber that soaks in the DT. Does anyone have any ideas?
My flame angel is eating great and is very active. The coral beauty is eating ok, but they both seem to be doing good inside the QT.
My flame angel is eating great and is very active. The coral beauty is eating ok, but they both seem to be doing good inside the QT.
R
rcreations
Guest
It's been my experience the few times I used it on my QT that Amquel can give false readings. So sometimes it shows you have ammonia when you don't.
So when did the ammonia show up? It seems unusual for it to show up with two small angels, when you had bigger fish in there.
So when did the ammonia show up? It seems unusual for it to show up with two small angels, when you had bigger fish in there.
kylev
Member
It showed up a little over a week ago. The tank was testing good then it showed a little bit of ammonia right before the first angel arrived so I did a water change and dosed with amquel and its been around since. So I've probably done a total of 60-70 gallons in w/c's plus amquel nightly since. With the 0 readings on the rest I am leaning to say that it is the amquel causing a false reading. I even bought a new test kit cause the other one was over a year old.
R
rcreations
Guest
Cool! How's the QT? You want to make sure it's in order before the crosshatch pair arrives. Triggers can be messy, especially two of them and I imagine they're both 5" or bigger.
kylev
Member
The QT still has a flame angel in it thats going to need to be in there for a couple more weeks. So I'm pondering the idea of trusting aqua touchs qt process and adding them straight to the DT. Because of how much waste they produce and I'm worried about the qt staying stable and i've heard very good things about their qt process.
R
rcreations
Guest
I don't want to give you bad advice. BUT... personally when I buy a trigger from a place I trust, I put it straight in the DT. Triggers don't usually get ich as much as some of the other fish due to their thick skin, at least from personal experience. No proof to back this up, just my own opinion.
R
rcreations
Guest
No the same but my racoon butterfly hasn't touched my mushrooms so far.
bgbdwlf2500
Member
The only ammonia test i have heard that wont give false reading no matter what water treatment you use is the one made by Seachem... I use Prime as my water treatment and was told it can lead to false readings as well.
As far as your ammonia spike, check the ph... From an earlier post it already seems you have water with not a lot of hardness, just like i have here in SC. The ph in my freshwater fell to below 5 and the ammonia went to over 8ppm but because the ph was low it was not toxic. The ph was so low the bacteria had gone dormant and was not removing ammonia so thats why i say keep an eye on your ph if you get weird ammonia spikes. I had to add crushed coral to my filter in that tank to stabilize the ph. It wouldnt be a bad idea if you have room in your setup to put a bag of crushed coral as it will hold your ph steady and will stop you from having to dose for hardness... It worked like a charm in my freshwater tank. My brother had to use it as substrate in his african cichlid tank to maintain it and he hasnt had a problem since, doesnt dose anything for it and neither do i just having it in the filter
As far as your ammonia spike, check the ph... From an earlier post it already seems you have water with not a lot of hardness, just like i have here in SC. The ph in my freshwater fell to below 5 and the ammonia went to over 8ppm but because the ph was low it was not toxic. The ph was so low the bacteria had gone dormant and was not removing ammonia so thats why i say keep an eye on your ph if you get weird ammonia spikes. I had to add crushed coral to my filter in that tank to stabilize the ph. It wouldnt be a bad idea if you have room in your setup to put a bag of crushed coral as it will hold your ph steady and will stop you from having to dose for hardness... It worked like a charm in my freshwater tank. My brother had to use it as substrate in his african cichlid tank to maintain it and he hasnt had a problem since, doesnt dose anything for it and neither do i just having it in the filter
bgbdwlf2500
Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kylev http:///forum/thread/374812/280g-fowlr-tank-diary/420#post_3344091
My PH in that tank usually test around 8.0. I check it a lot since I'm always doing w/c's. I do like the crushed coral idea, thanks
8.0 shouldnt be a problem at all, just wanted to throw it out there because it took me forever to figure out what to do with my tank when i had 8+ ppm of ammonia and no dead fish (discus at that)... the crushed coral works great, if ph is a problem for you like it is for me id find a spot for it
Originally Posted by Kylev http:///forum/thread/374812/280g-fowlr-tank-diary/420#post_3344091
My PH in that tank usually test around 8.0. I check it a lot since I'm always doing w/c's. I do like the crushed coral idea, thanks
8.0 shouldnt be a problem at all, just wanted to throw it out there because it took me forever to figure out what to do with my tank when i had 8+ ppm of ammonia and no dead fish (discus at that)... the crushed coral works great, if ph is a problem for you like it is for me id find a spot for it
kylev
Member
Time for a little update.
The crosshatches are about 1-2 weeks out
The cb and flame angel that I had in the QT are no longer. The QT came down with ich pretty badly. I have now moved the QT to a different room because I was concerned with the possibility of cross contamination into my DT sump. I'd never really thought much of it before but now want to be as cautious with that as possible. I know a few drops of water have made it from the QT to the sump so I have my fingers crossed and am hoping for the best. It is nice though because now I have a nice work bench where the QT was setup and have pondered with the idea of filtering a 75g off the DT sump and setting up a tank for a dragon moray in there eventually.
I've re-thought my fish list a little bit and am settled with this and will probably add in this order also
Hippo-in the dt
clowns-in the dt
starry blenny-in the dt
Crosshatch pair
flame angel/lemonpeel angel
saddleback butterfly
1 male pink square anthias and 2-3 females
Queen angel/blue face angel
Achilles tang
Red dragonet
How does this list sound? If it's over stocked the butterfly or blue face would be the first to go but I'd like to keep it as is. I know i've asked before but I had a little agression in the QT with the two dwarfs and is QTing the dwarfs/large angels together the best way to get good results?
I also got my finish wood from a buddy that veneer and pressed it all in his dads wood shop. It's all mahogony and is looking very nice. He hooked all the wood up for 200 bucks so I'm pretty happy with it. The two sides are velcroed on so that way I can remove them if I ever need to access my plumbing or power head controls, so far its working out real well.
Here's some pics
The crosshatches are about 1-2 weeks out
The cb and flame angel that I had in the QT are no longer. The QT came down with ich pretty badly. I have now moved the QT to a different room because I was concerned with the possibility of cross contamination into my DT sump. I'd never really thought much of it before but now want to be as cautious with that as possible. I know a few drops of water have made it from the QT to the sump so I have my fingers crossed and am hoping for the best. It is nice though because now I have a nice work bench where the QT was setup and have pondered with the idea of filtering a 75g off the DT sump and setting up a tank for a dragon moray in there eventually.
I've re-thought my fish list a little bit and am settled with this and will probably add in this order also
Hippo-in the dt
clowns-in the dt
starry blenny-in the dt
Crosshatch pair
flame angel/lemonpeel angel
saddleback butterfly
1 male pink square anthias and 2-3 females
Queen angel/blue face angel
Achilles tang
Red dragonet
How does this list sound? If it's over stocked the butterfly or blue face would be the first to go but I'd like to keep it as is. I know i've asked before but I had a little agression in the QT with the two dwarfs and is QTing the dwarfs/large angels together the best way to get good results?
I also got my finish wood from a buddy that veneer and pressed it all in his dads wood shop. It's all mahogony and is looking very nice. He hooked all the wood up for 200 bucks so I'm pretty happy with it. The two sides are velcroed on so that way I can remove them if I ever need to access my plumbing or power head controls, so far its working out real well.
Here's some pics
kylev
Member
Thanks Remmy
I now have another flame and a lemonpeel inside the QT and I'm in the process of bringing the salinity down for hypo. Going to play it safe with these additions. So far they are eating well and doing great.
I'm starting to think my stocklist is too much and have thought about leaving the saddleback out and possibly the anthias's. I would prefer to keep the anthias's though. Would appreciate some input here. Look above for the latest list
I now have another flame and a lemonpeel inside the QT and I'm in the process of bringing the salinity down for hypo. Going to play it safe with these additions. So far they are eating well and doing great.
I'm starting to think my stocklist is too much and have thought about leaving the saddleback out and possibly the anthias's. I would prefer to keep the anthias's though. Would appreciate some input here. Look above for the latest list
R
rcreations
Guest
What are the dimensions of the tank? I don't think your list is too much for a 280gal.