Ammonia still high in quarantine tank after 100% water change

[ngiovas]

I knew that I wouldn't be able to add fish for a while due to travel for work, so I started by setting up my new display tank (20 gallon Waterbox AIO) and cycling it while I was waiting (it has now been 8 weeks and ammonia has been zero since about week 3 with the help of Turbostart 900).

I also setup a 10 gallon quarantine tank. It is glass with no sand or rock. It has a PVC pipe for a hiding place. It also has a hang on back filter with floss and Fluval ceramic media that was recommended because it would not absorb copper. Lastly, there is a large foam filter that I was hoping would help control some of the ammonia by growing bacteria. I also used the Turbostart 900 starter in this tank. After running it with no fish for about 4 weeks, I still noticed that there were about 0.09ppm ammonia. I decided to go ahead and do a 100% water change so I could get fish soon. After the water change, the ammonia dropped to around 0.01ppm (I assume from some residual water in the filters).

I added two very small clownfish to the quarantine tank last Tuesday. On Thursday I did a water change because the ammonia was getting up to 0.10 and the ammonia went back down to about 0.02ppm. It was still below 0.05ppm on Saturday, but I noticed today it was back up to 0.10ppm this morning, so I did a 100% water change to get it back down since I am leaving this afternoon and won't be back until Wednesday night. I just checked it again 4 hours later and it is at 0.09ppm.

I would assume that a 100% water change would take it down further than that. Are the filters holding that much water with ammonia? Even if they are, I would assume that they would be diluted a lot more with a massive water change. Is the foam filter worth it in a quarantine tank? Is it really doing anything? I thought with two filters I would be able to go at least 4 days between water changes. Am I doing something wrong? Does anyone have any suggestions?

thanks in advance,
Nick

 

[jhadaway117]

Did you ghost feed the QT tank in order to populate bacteria, or just add the turbo start and let it cycle? If you didn't add any food or livestock, then the cycle more than likely never completed. I would add another bottle of turbo start now that the clowns are in there to get it kick started. Also, buy a seachem ammonia badge and put it in the qt tank. Apparently it will let you know whether the ammonia is the harmful variety. I'm still new to this saltwater thing, so maybe someone else can chime in if I am incorrect.

 

[drolmaeye]

There will be some uncertainty with the test. Depending on the type of test, you may get readings from 0.00 to 0.1 and it is always basically zero. It's possible your water changes are not doing much, and are not needed.

Also, maybe mention the specific brand of tester you are using (Hanna HC HI784?) and how/where you source your water. This info may provide additional insight.

 

[ngiovas]

Did you ghost feed the QT tank in order to populate bacteria, or just add the turbo start and let it cycle? If you didn't add any food or livestock, then the cycle more than likely never completed. I would add another bottle of turbo start now that the clowns are in there to get it kick started. Also, buy a seachem ammonia badge and put it in the qt tank. Apparently it will let you know whether the ammonia is the harmful variety. I'm still new to this saltwater thing, so maybe someone else can chime in if I am incorrect.

I added some drops of ammonia solution to get it started. That seemed to work on my display tank. I didn't mention it, but I have an ammonia badge on my quarantine tank to keep an eye on things, but I tested it with a Hanna tester.

 

[redfishbluefish]

No matter what brand of salt you use, all salts contain ammonia. To quote from SeaChem, "Consequently, most, if not all, brands of salt contain ammonia, usually enough to yield between 0.1–0.8 mg/L in a freshly prepared batch of saltwater......"

 

[ngiovas]

There will be some uncertainty with the test. Depending on the type of test, you may get readings from 0.00 to 0.1 and it is always basically zero. It's possible your water changes are not doing much, and are not needed.

Also, maybe mention the specific brand of tester you are using (Hanna HC HI784?) and how/where you source your water. This info may provide additional insight.

Thanks for the reply. I am using a Hanna tester. I am using RODI water that I am producing which consistently measures at 0.0ppm. The source of the water is a well, so there is no chlorine prior to starting the filter process.

How high do you feel I can let the ammonia levels get before doing a water change? The ammonia badge says "alert" at 0.05ppm, so I just assumed the levels are getting elevated. Maybe I am just over analyzing things at this early stage

 

[ngiovas]

No matter what brand of salt you use, all salts contain ammonia. To quote from SeaChem, "Consequently, most, if not all, brands of salt contain ammonia, usually enough to yield between 0.1–0.8 mg/L in a freshly prepared batch of saltwater......"

Thanks, that is very useful information.

 

[drolmaeye]

I added some drops of ammonia solution to get it started. That seemed to work on my display tank. I didn't mention it, but I have an ammonia badge on my quarantine tank to keep an eye on things, but I tested it with a Hanna tester.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Hanna measures Total Ammonia Nitrogen (NH3/NH4+) whereas the Seachem Alert Badge only measures toxic ammonia (NH3). Depending on the pH and temperature of your water, the toxic level of ammonia is likely 1/10th to 1/20th of the Hanna reading. In short, I don't think your ammonia level is high/dangerous. Sounds like you are doing things carefully and the water quality is good.

ETA (after seeing your message above). If your Hanna test measures 1.00 ppm (Total Ammonia Nitrogen), and your pH is ~8 and your temperature is ~78 F, then the Seachem badge should give you a reading between 0.05 and 0.1 (NH3, toxic ammonia).