QT high Nitrite

Great advice thanks. I checked the Nitrate and Nitrite this morning and still high Nitrite - 1.0 which has come down a lot and still no Nitrate. Unfortunately this was the only tank we had but will look at a bigger one next time if required. Fish are all really happy Eating and playing. I am going to do another water change 50% today and keep doing this daily until they can go back into the DT which is another 3 weeks! as we know we need to keep the DT fish free for 6 weeks after Ich.

 

Ok. I'd still look into a conditioner, though. One other thing....6 weeks isn't quite enough time to be certain your DT is ich-free. 8 is generally considered to be the minimum (I did 9 myself). Another tip I got from dr fragenstein on this forum is that once your QT is fully free of ich and medication, add some water from your QT to your DT. Apparently this water contains some fish pheremones (or some such) that rouse any dormant ich in your DT and prevent them from long-term hibernation. Good luck!

 

Dip strips should not be depended upon, but can be used as a starting point. I have a 2" yellow tang, a 2"tonomi tang, 4 blue green chromis, and a long nose hawk fish in my 180 gal. My water pharms are stable/perfect. I am very careful to not over feed. IME the test strips have always read higher; I have never had a false neg reading. Since I chose to only test twice a week, the strips alert me to test sooner if needed. If Aussiejodi isn't testing dly this would help.

 

Thanks but I am not using test strips. I am using API marine test which is a combination of 2 liquids added into a test tube with water. Today still at 5 but fish are still happy. No ammonia or Nitrate and still doing 20% water change morning and night and cleaning all glass of any living matter.

Thanks for your input.

 

Do you have substrate in the QT? How long has the filter been running and when was it first introduced to any sort of bacteria>i.e fish, food, deitrus, or other decaying matter?

Go to the LFS and have THEM test for you. Also, if there are no falter cations and the water truly is full of nitrites, the only thing keeping your fish alive is your water changes....and since nitrite is pretty serious I would clean out the QT....start fresh with no substrate and a new filter.

QT tanks are not supposed to be cycled. (pretty sure) They are supposed to be able to be broken apart right after you put the fish back in the DT. Everything in a QT should be able to be bleached and thoroughly cleaned after use, since each and every disease requires new medications and a sterile environment.

I would do larger water changes right now. It seems natural that the QT would start to cycle when you put fish into it. So the less surface area that the bacteria have to grow on the better. Less filter media, less substrate, and a heavy hand at cleaning and water changes will probably deter any bacterial growth. Basically I would buy a new filter cartridge and clean clean clean. Usually at the spike of nitrites the nitRATES will spike high as well. The levels that are necessary for a cycle are way too high for survival so I wonder what's going on with your QT? lol

Oh, and you don't really need to worry about the filtration system in the QT tank unless you are trying to get RID of toxins or bad stuff in the water. You really only need a device that will create oxygen in the water for the fish. The reason being is that since you are able to closely observe the QT and change the water so frequently, the change of water is constantly introducing new oxygen. Water change is your most important tool for an un-cycled tank to prevent cycling.

I don't know, I think I am rambling on but in reality who knows what the best step is? If your nitrites are showing that means there is living bacteria inside your filter that is working to rid the water of ammonia...but if you get rid of this bacteria, then in a 5gallon tank, any ammonia spike from the onset will kill off the inhabitants.