Problem with QT Tank cycle

[rcreations]

I decided to setup a permanent QT. I set it up about 3 weeks ago, got an amonia spike, but now I just can't get rid of the ammonia. It's been 2 weeks and there is still ammonia in the tank. It's a 10gal tank with biowheel filtration, a little powerhead, heater, thermometer and some PVC pipes on the bottom. Nothing else in there. I have no need to use it right now, but I'm just wondering how the heck I get rid of the ammonia? Would it help if I put in a small rock from my main tank?
Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[lecithin]

I believe it would help although the ammonia should at least drop with out it. What are your readings at? Ammonia, trite, trate, if any?

 

[earlybird]

You can add a cup of sand or what I did was wedge some sponges inside my PVC for added areas for bacteria to colonize. It took me about 40-50 days to fully cycle my QT. And after all that I still had a mini spike when I put my fish in there.

 

[yosemite sam]

Originally Posted by RCreations
Would it help if I put in a small rock from my main tank?
Any help greatly appreciated!
Did you seed the tank with anything to get bacterial colonies going?

 

[rcreations]

What I did was use water from my main tank. I did the shrimp thing to get my ammonia spike. Then the ammonia started going down a little but never fully went back to zero. Good idea on the sponge. I might leave a sponge in my main tank sump for a few days, then put it in the QT tank.

 

[yosemite sam]

Be careful doing this. Most regular sponges have labels on them that say not for aquarium use as they have all sorts of chemicals in them.
What are your actual ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings in the qt?

 

[m0nk]

Also, how long after your ammonia spiked did you take the shrimp out? How high did it go?

 

[rcreations]

I didn't let it go too high. I took the shrimp out when the ammonia was 0.7. Now the ammonia is at 0.2 I didn't take any nitrate and nitrie readings yet. I figure I'd wait until I get the ammonia down to zero first.
I'll use a sponge made for aquariums, like the ones used in power filters.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by RCreations
I didn't let it go too high. I took the shrimp out when the ammonia was 0.7. Now the ammonia is at 0.2 I didn't take any nitrate and nitrie readings yet. I figure I'd wait until I get the ammonia down to zero first.
I'll use a sponge made for aquariums, like the ones used in power filters.
Ah, that's not so bad, haven't done any water changes yet? If the nitrite spiked and went down you might be able to go ahead and do it. Also, are you ghost feeding too?

 

[tarball]

Just my thought, I would do a 50% water changs in QT using DT water. Then let it run for a week & retest.

 

[rcreations]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did some ghost feeding using pellet food. Unfortunately I didn't test for nitrite. I'll test tonight but it's probably down to zero by now. I can go ahead and do a water change when I do the big tank too.

 

[sac10918]

I dont mean to hijack your thread but I am in the process of setting up the exact same QT (10 gallons, used display water, biowheel filter, PVC, etc.) I add a small cocktail shrimp and left it in for about 2 days, then I went to take it out and it broke into tiny pieces....I checked ammonia last night and there was not any. Did I not leave the shrimp in there long enough or did I get too small of a shrimp? How long did you leave your cocktail shrimp in?

 

[rcreations]

You should see ammonia from the shrimp within 3 days. Make sure the shrimp you add is raw.

 

[sac10918]

Yes, I added a raw small cocktail shrimp on Friday and removed it on Monday... But still didn't see a spike....Shall I add another one?

 

[tarball]

You shouldn't needs to add another shrimp. Just ghost feed the tank a bit. The ammonia will show up soon.

 

[swalchemist]

QT tanks can take longer to cycle as there is no where for the colonizing bacteria to grow like there is in a reef system. It's normal just wait a while.