Amonia And Nitrite Removal Fron Sick Tank

[Don Trinko]

Normaly my sick tank has nothing in it and I change the water after a fish has been cured so the tank has not gone thru a cycle. I do have a corner filter with floss and gravel in it but it appearently has not built up a sufishent (sp) bacteria colony so..... What do you do to remove the amonia that accumulates if you have fish in for a significant lenth of time?? I realise there are various water adatives but I am not sure if they will interfere with the treatment chemicals. Don T.

 

[rdd1952]

Best thing to do is add some filter media from your existing tank to the filter in the hospital tank. It will have enough seed bacteria to quickly get the tank cycled unless the medication you are using is the type that wipes out the bacteria. Other than that, the only 2 ways to lower i are with chemicals that neutralize them or with water changes which probably isn't the best idea since that will also dilute the medication.

 

[Bignose]

well, you do a large water change, then add the chemical. Most chemicals aren't active for more than 24 hours anyway, so you have to redose every day anyway. It should also be noted that a lot of the chemicals that are great for neutralizing ammonia & nitrite also neutralize many of the medications. I dont keep my quarantine tank cycled, I just use a daily dose of Amquel+ to neutralize the ammonia and nitrite and large water changes. But, Amquel+ does neutralize a lot of medications, so if the quaratined fish become sick, it is a 100% water change at first and like 80% water changes every day after that. Maybe more often if the readings are bad. It is some extra work, but worth it too keep the fish healthy.