Need Help Ammonia In Qt Tank Freshwater

Hello, I've had a problem with my goldfish tank. While away from home the nitrates went through the roof. One of my fish (a comet) is a little more sensitive to nitrate than my other two. He had bloody streaks in his tail fin.

I've been working on getting a 20 gallon long QT tank cycled for the last 2 months but because it's usually void of fish, I don't think its had enough ammonia constantly added to help build up a strong cycle.

I'm running a nano canister filter on the QT tank that I loaded with pre cycled bio media from my main tanks big canister filter but it hasn't been enough.

anyway, I'm currently treating the comet with api. e.m. erythromycin. The problem is that the ammonia is constantly rising.

I've been adding prime to the QT tank and changing the water daily. However, whenever I change the water it takes out the medicine so I have to dose again with the medicine and prime.

I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything right. It just freaks me out that my fish is in the tank with ammonia, despite the fact the toxicity of the ammonia should be neutralized because of the prime. I'm planning to do another 50% water change and treatment with the em erythromycin and prime. I think the medicine is working as it looks like the redness is fading. it just needs time to kill the infection in his tail.

any other suggestions?

oh, I'm working on the original issue of nitrates in my main tank. my main tank is a 72 bowfront with three single tail goldfish. the goldfish have gotten very big so I'm looking into an irrigation water change solution so I won't have to worry about falling behind on water changes. actually the 72 bowfront hasnt been the ideal tank for these fish. I sorta knew that getting into this but it has been good for a while. I have a 125 gallon in the works with the aforementioned irrigation system. even then I'd prefer a pond. I tell ya, these single tails are a pain.

thanks

 

HI there. What is the exact ammonia reading in the QT, and the nitrate reading in the main tank?

 

Not great I'm affraid. Looks like the ammonia is up around .50 to 1.0 ppm.

The nitrate on the main tank at about 40. Perhaps between the 40 and 80 somewhere. This is a little disappointing as I just did a 70% water change two days ago.

I'm doing water changes. Had that in mind anyway. What about the ammonia. Can the fish stay in there at those levels even though I hit it with prime?

Those levels are about to drop those.

 

Yes, those levels are fine with prime. Prime detoxifies up to 1ppm ammonia, so should be all safe. Any chance you can take a small bit of filter media from the main tank and move it to the QT?
40 nitrates isn't that bad, especially for a goldfish tank. Was it higher before? If so, what was it at?

 

Thankyou. I did not know how much ammonia the prime could handle.

I sure can move some media into the canister. I already have but I'll try again. I'm doing canister maintenance tonight anyway.

As far as the nitrates before. They were pretty bad. Off the charts at 160 ppm or above. I had a nasty dark red vial. My test kit only goes to 160ppm. I work away from home and normally I can get some help from friends or relatives to do a water change for me but I couldn't get help last time.

I am going to have a solution soon enough for the nitrate problem with the diy irrigation system.

 

You could also try doing an above tank planted nitrate remover. The King of DIY has a video on how to make a filter like that, but you would want something to remove nitrates. You'd want a plastic windowsill planter, ($7-8 at home Depot or Lowe's), a water pump ($10-15), something to drill, I think you'd need a spade shaped drill bit, some aquarium safe tubing, some sort of substrate, PetSmart had this super cheap aquaponics substrate for 2.99, some bulkheads, and some pothos.
Basically, drill holes in opposite ends of the planter, place that either above or below the tank (above would be better, because if the pump fails it's fine, but if the pump fails and it's below the tank, it'll siphon out all the water). Place the media and pothos roots in the planter, position the bulkheads on the holes so you don't get drips. Put the water pump in the aquarium with tubing going into one of the holes so water flows across the pothos roots and out the other hole, you can put tubing there to position where it goes out.
You can also get a lot of anacharis, I find it extremely useful. I have a 60 gallon with one common goldfish, and I get about 1-2 nitrates a week and I only do 5 gallon changes. I actually just went 3 weeks without a water change, but I was out of town so someone ate all of the anacharis, and the sitter overfed an extreme amount despite me leaving detailed directions and food alotted for each day, so I have record high nitrates at 5ppm. I don't have an above tank planter, just enough anacharis to cover the top of the aquarium. It grows faster floating, but does fine planted.

But does your fish have longer fins like a commet or normal like a common?

 

Well, I've already tried the diy algae scrubber. That sounds amazing that it could keep the nitrates so low. It may be easier to do than the irrigation system I had planned.

I haven't tried the above tank planted scrubber. That sounds interesting for sure.

My comet has long fins and long single tail fin. My other two fish are common.

I a big fan of kig of diy as well. Also made his auto top-off. I gotta buy that guys book. He's saved me tons of money.

 

Nice, I'll see if I can find the link...
Here it is

So basically do that, but instead of filter media, do gravel or plant stuff and pothos

 

Thank you what are pothos?

 

Pothos is a type of plant that can have it's roots grown in the water. It's a sort of vine, and apparently grows very quickly. However, like most house plants, it is toxic to dogs and cats. Chinese evergreen is supposed to be a good Nitrate remover too. Pothos should be $3-4 for a decent sized amount. The leaves can't go underwater because they'll rot, but the roots can, and those take it nitrates.

 

Aha.. I'll look into this for sure.

Thanks for the link as well. This looks easy to make. I suppose I'll just have to rig some overhead lighting for the plants.