qting and ammonia readings

[Bc chick]

i started this thread in case my new issue didnt get noticed in the other

im doing daily wster changes and treating with prime for 100g although clearly its not. daily my ammonia is up to .25 why? what more can i do than the daily wc. waiting for puigen to come in mail.

next. why do we use carbon and why do some not?

last. i have my discus qting in what will be a show tank. i want so bad to put one of my plecos in to help clean up the rock. my pleco is in my well established perfectly normal tank. is this wrong. i know we dont introduce fish until they hsve been quarantined but has my pleco not been qted? please explain. if i have to use a pleco as a hero, i will take the chance on loosing him as long as he wont hurt my discus

[Bc chick]

QUOTE=RogueDiscus;1230998]Others may correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is exactly opposite of what you want to do. Introducing any fish from another tank into your QT, runs the risk of bringing in problems. Your "hero" needs to be a fish from QT that you add to the other tank. If that one does OK, then you can think about mixing.[/QUOTE]

k go slower.

i have one tank with nothing just new discus.
i have a show tank
i have a qt tank with a couple swords.
i want to take pleco from show tank (so hes obvioulsy qted) and put in with discus
i guess what im not understanding is how a old good pleco can hurt the discus

[discuspaul]

I suspect that if, for example, you're using an API test kit, it's likely registering a relatively harmless level of ammonium @.25 ppm - not to worry, I've had similar experience with the API kit. Perhaps other test kits will reflect a similar reading.

Carbon is very seldom used in a discus tank, except occasionally in unusual circumstances if one needs to rid the water of any undesirable color or odor, or traces of medication after use. Some use it to aid water clarity (but with daily wcs, that isn't normally an issue) - however, Purigen will do an excellent job of producing clarity as well as ridding the tank of unwanted dissolved solids of various kinds, probably much better than carbon, imo.

I wouldn't advise adding the pleco to your discus QT. Your focus needs to be on protecting the discus from cross-contamination from other species of fish including plecos (and other discus stock for that matter).

If you want to eventually keep plecos with the discus, use only one of the discus as the 'hero' as the test with your pleco, not the other way around. Adding the pleco to the discus tank exposes all the discus to cross-contamination from the pleco.
You want to limit any potential losses to the discus - not worry about losing the pleco.

Hope this helps you.

[LizStreithorst]

Prime can produce a false ammonia reading. Change lots of water and you will be fine.

[Bc chick]

I suspect that if, for example, you're using an API test kit, it's likely registering a relatively harmless level of ammonium @.25 ppm - not to worry, I've had similar experience with the API kit. Perhaps other test kits will reflect a similar reading.

Carbon is very seldom used in a discus tank, except occasionally in unusual circumstances if one needs to rid the water of any undesirable color or odor, or traces of medication after use. Some use it to aid water clarity (but with daily wcs, that isn't normally an issue) - however, Purigen will do an excellent job of producing clarity as well as ridding the tank of unwanted dissolved solids of various kinds, probably much better than carbon, imo.

I wouldn't advise adding the pleco to your discus QT. Your focus needs to be on protecting the discus from cross-contamination from other species of fish including plecos (and other discus stock for that matter).

If you want to eventually keep plecos with the discus, use only one of the discus as the 'hero' as the test with your pleco, not the other way around. Adding the pleco to the discus tank exposes all the discus to cross-contamination from the pleco.
You want to limit any potential losses to the discus - not worry about losing the pleco.

Hope this helps you.

yup making sence. so do i take pleco from community tank and hero discus and put together in qt tank or do i put hero in with pleco into community tank

ok this is someone elses issue....new tank new filter. cycled sponge from breeder ammonia.25 nitrites between 2-5 nitrates 0. 7 discus in 55 barebottom. daily 50-70% wc. is she cycling?

[Bc chick]

Prime can produce a false ammonia reading. Change lots of water and you will be fine.

liz did you see my finished tank. its bb :drummer:

https://youtu.be/kLNww4ItfEU

[LizStreithorst]

good

[Bc chick]

did you look?

[LizStreithorst]

I saw it earlier.

[discuspaul]

yup making sence. so do i take pleco from community tank and hero discus and put together in qt tank or do i put hero in with pleco into community tank.

ok this is someone elses issue....new tank new filter. cycled sponge from breeder ammonia.25 nitrites between 2-5 nitrates 0. 7 discus in 55 barebottom. daily 50-70% wc. is she cycling?

Put a hero discus into the tank with the pleco for several weeks. If all ok, then the rest of the quarantined discus can be added to the main tank with the hero discus and the pleco.

[DJW]

Your friend's filter is not cycled and there is a spike in nitrite, which is toxic. She should continue with big daily water changes. Adding a little salt will block nitrite toxicity. Add a tablespoon of salt to the tank... and keep that level of salt. If you change 3/4 of the water, add back 3/4 of a tablespoon. When the nitrite level eventually gets to 0, discontinue the salt.

[Filip]

I would wait 1-2 months for discus to get acclimatized to new conditions and regain strengths and immunity before I mix them or test them for cross-contamination with other fish .
And not immediately after their arrival.

[Bc chick]

Put a hero discus into the tank with the pleco for several weeks. If all ok, then the rest of the quarantined discus can be added to the main tank with the hero discus and the pleco.

thats what is being missed. discus are qting in what will be show tank. so do i removed discus from this show tank and remove pleco from community tank and put together in the third qt tank together? or put discus directly into community tank where pleco is?

[Bc chick]

Your friend's filter is not cycled and there is a spike in nitrite, which is toxic. She should continue with big daily water changes. Adding a little salt will block nitrite toxicity. Add a tablespoon of salt to the tank... and keep that level of salt. If you change 3/4 of the water, add back 3/4 of a tablespoon. When the nitrite level eventually gets to 0, discontinue the salt.

thx what would i used for dose as i am in same boat. ammonia n nitrites up a tad. with my 100g which im gonna guess is about 75g taking the boarder into account

[Bc chick]

Your friend's filter is not cycled and there is a spike in nitrite, which is toxic. She should continue with big daily water changes. Adding a little salt will block nitrite toxicity. Add a tablespoon of salt to the tank... and keep that level of salt. If you change 3/4 of the water, add back 3/4 of a tablespoon. When the nitrite level eventually gets to 0, discontinue the salt.

i thought this is why we both got cycled sponges from breeder, so we didnt have to deal with this

[DJW]

The sponge filter will be seeded but won't necessarily have the ability to handle the load for the whole group of fish until the bacteria multiply. The bacteria that consume nitrite multiply slower than the ones that eat ammonia, and this is why there is nitrite. Anytime you add fish the filter bacteria need to grow to meet the new demand.

Change lots of water every day and use Prime, the Prime detoxifies the ammonia and the nitrite for at least 24 hours according to Seachem, but even though it has been made safer it still shows up on the test. I recommend using salt for the nitrite because its a very simple way to block nitrite toxicity and will protect the fish from any nitrite that goes above what the ordinary dose of Prime will handle. As Paul has said, ammonia at 0.25 ppm is not something to be concerned about.

One tablespoon should be enough for your tank too, unless it gets to be more than a 'tad', then make it 2 tbsp.

[Bc chick]

kk thx