How long for ammonia spike?

[mattleycrue76]

I was just wondering what the critical time frame is from when you introduce 1 or more new fish into a given tank until they would cause ammonia issues if the bacteria population turned out to be insufficient. So far except for the very beginning when i had a small spike i have never had any ammonia or nitrite readings. I'm just wondering when do I know that "I'm out of the woods"?

I also have a 20gl QT tank running at at the moment and am only using a HOB sponge filter which I had in my sump for about 2 weeks for filtration.

 

[SeaMonster]

I usually have nothing but a small early spike.

 

[warforged]

im no expert myself but I have set up 3 salt tanks recently. It seems the smallest tank has the shortest cycle but its also the most sensitive chemically. Its like spitting in a cup vs a pond...the simple change can be dramatic in the smaller tanks.

The amonia spike is dependent on how many fish pooping and food you put in...vs living rock also and or sand. (plus your filtration if it has bio on it.

If you have sufficient amount of rock (1lb per gallon) and that sponge filter (nitrate bed fyi)... you may have a bigger issue with a Nitrate spike vs amonia.... if you have this setup with rocks.... your amonia "probably" wont have time to linger and be toxic and convert over to the Nitrate (no3)....

If you already noticed a comming and going of Amonia spike ... and nothing has died...I think you are ok... keep an eye on nitrates and phospates.... those should be next up on going up.... It might be time for a water change if Nitrates are over 20ppm.

I dont want to say you are out of the woods...but if you are wanting to take one more step to ensuring the amonia isnt toxic...drop in some "Prime".

 

[mattleycrue76]

the hob sponge filter is on my qt tank. in this tank there is no substrate or live rock as i dont want to nuke it if i have to medicate. i was under the impression that somewhat elevated nitrate levels aren't too bad for fish but rather bad for corals.

In my main system I have a 15 gal sump, skimmer, aprox 80lbs of live rock, phosban reactor, macro algae

In this tank i have

ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 0
ph 8.0
alk 10dkh
calc 425 ppm
salinity 1.025
temp 77-79

basically i am wondering how long after i have added a fish or two do i know that the biological filtration has adapted to the new bioload. I feel pretty good about the display tank but I'm a little concerned about getting an ammonia spike in the qt tank when i put fish in there

 

[warforged]

basically i am wondering how long after i have added a fish or two do i know that the biological filtration has adapted to the new bioload. I feel pretty good about the display tank but I'm a little concerned about getting an ammonia spike in the qt tank when i put fish in there

OH...

Thats something I wish I could answer for you. The only way to tell in my view is testing it out. Test the water...add a fish... and test the amonia daily and see what happens ... if nothing..add another fishy =) and test again....

Wouldn't that be best if you want to test the system?