acceptable limit of ammonia in QT

[jedimaster1138]

I set up a 10g quarantine tank for new arrivals. Note I said new arrivals - this is not a hospital tank and I am not treating with meds to cure anything as preventative measure.

In the QT are currently 2 blue/green (Chromis viridis) and 1 firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica). They arrived Friday the 17th from LiveAquaria.

There are also a few pieces of a PVC pipe for hidey spots, heater, UV sterilizer (which is OFF), light and an HOB 3 stage power filter. I had soaked the filter sponge and bio media (small ceramic balls) in my display tank sump for 2 weeks prior to moving them into the QT.

Ammonia is between .25 and .5 ppm depending on when I do water changes. On Sunday night I noticed it hit .50, so I pulled a few pieces of LR rubble and put them right in the QT itself. Monday night I did a 50% water change. Ammonia as of this morning was between .25 and .50.

So my question is...what is too high on the ammonia level? I'm worried I'm harming my new arrivals. They look fine...all active and swimming about and eating like they've never eaten before. But I still worry about the long term effects of the ammonia level, low as it may be, or it spiking up. I turkey baster out as much of the poop/uneaten food from the (bare) bottom as I can but there's no way I get it all (and when I do it the firefish bolts around enough to make me nervous he's going to floor surf). I've considered moving the FireFish into the display now as of the group, I assume he's the most delicate (chromis being damsels can probably tolerate a little ammonia better than a firefish can, right?) Or should I just be patient and not worry and test ammonia 3x a day? (may be problematic this weekend)

In hindsight I would have soaked my bio media in the DT sump for longer...I guess 2 weeks wasn't enough time to populate them with nitrifying bacteria.

TIA

[Reefmedic79]

What brand test kit are you using? If your using a colormetric test kit they can be a little subjective with the results when they are really low.

If the fish where having issues I'd be concerned, so I wouldn't worry to much. Keep up on the water changes and limit the amount of food your feeding, and they should be fine.

[jedimaster1138]

API. The same kit I used when I cycled my DT in October/November. Basically...cloudy yellow - 0 ammonia. Slightly green, a tad of ammonia. The more deep the green and less yellow, the more ammonia. I could make an analogy to sinus infections, but I won't :-D

I guess I'll just keep an eye on things...for now. I do want to QT for at least 10 days...

[Reefmedic79]

Things like residue from past tests and from the water you use to clean the test vials can skew the results.

[sporto0]

To answer your question, .25-.50 ammonia is not necessarily in the danger zone, like reefmedic said, fish will exhibit signs such as rapid breathing & frayed fins if there was an issue, I would not let it reach 1ppm range though, so if you can keep up the water changes you should be fine, one thing to note, if you use any type of ammonia neutralizer such as Amquell or the like, your water will still test for ammonia, but it's been renedered harmless, that's why I don't like using it because then you can't be sure what the harmful ammonia levels really are. The only way to truly keep a QT cycled is by keeping fish in it permanently, it is impossible to to know how much bacteria are colonized on sponges & rubble & media from the DT so that hardly ever works as far as being able to handle a QT bio-load with more than 1 fish, water changes & minimal feeding is the best way to go always in my opinion.

[Playa-1]

If I'm not using an ammonia binder then I will keep 0 - .25 range. I still do regular water changes a couple times per week regardless. That's just how I roll

[jedimaster1138]

Ammonia is staying in the .25-.50 range. I did a bigger water change tonight, probably in the 2/3rds to 3/4 range. Before that change I also observed measurable nitrite...just a hair above the 0 range, but definitely higher than in previous days. With my kit, pale blue is 0. As it turns more purple, more nitrite. Until today it was always completely pale blue. Tonight I saw just the slightest hint of purple. So there's a small cycle happening.

The 3 fish are still eating quite well and are active and look OK. Still leaning towards moving the FireFish into the display this weekend though. That is, assuming I can catch him. He's SO FAST when he spooks and darts. I have literally no clue how I'm going to catch him for transport.

[sporto0]

It sounds like the fish are doing ok, I would not worry about nitrite, it's toxicity in sea water is almost nill, only the ammonia will cause immediate issues & your levels are still hovering in the acceptable range.