best course of action

[ItzJustinN]

for my quarantine tank. i has 2 clown fish with no biological filter and ammonia levels are up. i did 50% water change last night and im preparing more water for a change later today. i picked up some prime to nuetralize the ammonia between water changes. i am currently trying to track down some kind of seeded sponge with no luck yet. what about adding a product like seachem stability?

will this help or should i look for other course of action...

there is no rock in the tank... so if i get the stability will i need some kind of filter medium for the bacteria to colonize?

would it be better to get something from a local reefer? a rock or a sponge?

these clowns are supposedly tank bred and im thinking more about a rock or something... let me know before i !@#$ everything up.

[Sk8r]

Sounds like overfeeding, no fault to you: they're constant beggars, but should not be indulged. Once a day, as much as would fill each mouth. Your Prime or Amquel will convert ammonia to ammonium, which is harmless---but the ammonium will go on reading as ammonia, I believe, on ammonia tests. I don't think the Stability would hurt. A non-cycled qt MUST have a robust floss filter with carbon, not those wimpy carbon filled things that come in typical small pumps. Get some pillow-stuffing or regular bagged floss, wrap a tablespoon of activated carbon in it, and be ready to change that filter out an hour after each feeding, ie, at least once a day and more often than that if you see ANY stain on it.
Just plunking a rock or sponge into a tank won't help enough. You have to hold back on feeding during qt---I can't think of a convenient measure per inch of fish, but say a 3" fish should get no more than a match-head sized piece of food a day. And a one-inch fish should get a third of that. In dim light and wish nothing in particular to do, they should rest a lot, and they won't be needing as much food as normal, so reduced feeding will keep their environment nicer and safer for them. Right now, because you have a problem, get some salt water prepared, completely dissolved, crystal clear, and warmed to their temperature, and do a 50% water change. Do another 20% tomorrow if need be. The Prime, as aforesaid, will convert ammonia to ammonium, and it will read as ammonia on most tests. This from SeaChem's site: "To avoid false readings of ammonia, use Seachem's MultiTest Ammonia kit (item #901231). It uses a gas exchange sensor system that is not affected by the presence of Prime or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (which is both the free and ionized forms of ammonia (the ionized form is not toxic). "

[ItzJustinN]

thank you for such a fast response.

im sure i overfed them. i added food and they didnt eat it so i ended up netting it out 20-30 mins later, then fed them again later that night i gave them as much as they could eat until they started to spit it back out which i also netted out later but i probably wasnt fast enough. i will probably skip feeding today and feed again tomorrow. or should i give them a little bit of food today?

i have already done 50% change as recommended. my ammonia levels are cut in half down to .5 with a dose of prime mixed in with the newly added water. i put carbon in filter as advised. i didnt have any because i read somewhere that carbon shouldnt be used in qt becuz it can absorb medication but i guess i would have to be medicating in the first place for that to be a problem? either way carbon added.

yeah i read the prime before i bought it. it will still read a false positive however it will be converted to a non toxic form as u stated above. this isnt a problem for me as i WANT to stay on top of water changes. i was thinking another 50% change tonight. what would you recommend?


lastly about the stability.. will this add needed bacteria to establish a biological filter ? i was looking at this at petco while i was there and picked up the prime instead. would u recommend i get this also and start adding per instructions?

[jerseygurl]

Yes you do need nitrofying bacteria. Yes you could find a seeded sponge or buy some killer live rock (either of which will take to long unfortunately). OR you could just buy some Dr. Tim's One and Only immediately and you'll be fine.

It will cycle the tank amazingly quickly. If you order it today you'll have it tomorrow.

[ItzJustinN]

bump

[Sk8r]

If you keep the tank clean and don't overfeed you will not have the nitrate/ammonia problem, and frankly, if it were mine, I wouldn't add the bacteria, just the carbon/floss and keep it sparkling white: if it stains, out it goes. Carbon in a qt is good; in a HOSPITAL tank when you are running copper or antibiotics it is not good. But never treat a well fish. You're doing ok. You're onto it. Hopefully you caught the ammonia in time, and if you used the Prime, any ammonia you're now measuring is ammonium, which is no problem. I would not feed today. Feed as I described tomorrow. Understanding you have already done one water change today, I'd postpone a change until tomorrow, and then just relax. Fish that will demise of ammonia usually do so on the third day, so if you pass that day ok, you caught it in time and they'll be fine. All bacteria in your water would do is stain the floss hourly and drive you crazy with cleaning, so I'd just ride through it with minimal feeding and filter changes. These fish come in stressed, and often don't want to eat immediately. The appetite should pick up after a day or so. You should also try to get food they recognize: ask your fish source what they were feeding, and use that. Clowns usually go for frozen mysis shrimp, but again, only a fraction of fraction of a frozen cube,---in fact, thaw that portion of a cube in water, use an eyedropper to pick up a single shrimp, and let it loose. Watch to see if they eat it. If they don't, don't try again: they're not ready. Net it out. But try to intervene in the tank as little as possible with nets and other scary things.

[ItzJustinN]

alright thanks. i will pass on the lr / stability for now. i will do another 50% change tomorrow to cut down on the readings of ammonia/ammonium. i will also try to do minimal feeding tomorrow, the only problem is one of them likes to eat all of the food before the other can get a fair share.

on a side note, to my understanding these were tank bred, i dont know if that matters, but i would think they would be less stressed since they were not wild caught or atleast not recently caught. correct me if im wrong.

either way, they seem to be doing alright. they are swimming around alot and no signs of heavy breathing or bloody gills yet. i will keep watching them and the ammonia levels in qt. will change out filter floss as it stains. one thing with the carbon. i added it and so far it seems to be staying in place but 1 piece popped out of the floss and is at the bottom of the qt. ive seen the clowns bite at it then spit it back out. i havnt netted it yet becuz im trying to avoid the use of nets as u stated and they dont seem too interested.

also, i have this instant ocean seaweed blend gel food which came with. it has a picture of a clown on it and contains some stuff like fish meal and algae meal. does anyone have any experience with this? i was gonna give it a try because i would like to keep my clowns on a more diverse diet. would this help at all on the ammonia levels since it doesnt contain dead shrimp and krill? just wondering.

much thanks sk8r. i appreciate your help today, and feel alot better now about the safety of my clowns.

[SKurj]

I have a qt running now for the first time for SW and just have a sponge filter in there with an air pump powering it. Should I consider next time around tossing the sponge filter and instead using a small hob filter which can house a sponge and carbon?

Any carbon i add with the current sponge filter is going to be pretty useless.