ammonia

[chris stevens]

experiencing a few deaths in my new tank (stocked too quickly, rushed), and i have discovered that my ammonia is at about 0.35 (i was thinking it was 0 for weeks because i wasn't giving the test enough time to fully develop). should i go ahead with a massive water change? how much for my 55 gallon? i want to do everything i can to help the survivors (button and leather polyps and a few vertebrates, all acting normal and looking healthy). could carcass decay of contributed to the ammonia level? 90 lbs liverock, RO/DI water, 80F, pH 8.5. thanks

 

[greenmaji]

NO2? NO3? PO4?
I would go with 5-10% changes every day or couple of days.. untill the NH3 came down.. JMO
massive changes might be stressfull.. if you have any visible remnants of decaying matter try to sypon it out it will add to the nutrient load.. HTH

 

[Hara]

I would actually do about a 20 gallon water change as soon as your salt is ready. Please make sure temp and ph are the same as the tank....and the fresh mixed water is well aerated and aged a bit. Then I would follow up with a 10% change every other day until everything is back in shape.

 

[Hara]

I would actually do about a 20 gallon water change as soon as your salt is ready. Please make sure temp and ph are the same as the tank....and the fresh mixed water is well aerated and aged a bit. Then I would follow up with a 10% change every other day until everything is back in shape.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I agree with greenmaji and hara. You need to get ammonia down quickly. A good sized water change, about 20% at first is a good idead. Then follow up with a 10% change every few days after that.

And yes, decaying fish is a wonderful source for ammonia.

Best of luck.

 

[chris stevens]

alright - did a 15 gallon water change, ammonia still at about .25. will succesive smaller changes likely fix the problem?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Yes. It will. How long after the water change did you wait before you tested? I would do them everyday until you see your level going down more significantly. When you do a water change, are you vaccuming your sand as well?

 

[chris stevens]

waited about an hour to test - i'm scared to vacuum my sand because it is so fine, i don't want to kick it up everywhere (or even actually suck the stuff up). i had cloudy silt like issues with it before. is vacuming it a pivotal thing to do? thanks again

 

[seaham358]

No need to vac the sand bed It will not help remove ammonia. Yes, on the dead fish if left in the tank can cause a amm spike so take them out. Like the others say WC is the way to deal with the problem. Remember not to rush the time you need to cure your water and bring it up to temp and matching the slainity.

How many is a few deaths?? 2-4-6? large fish?

 

[Brenden]

I would not vacuum the whole sand bed. Just hit the spots where debris gathers. Once your sand has a bacteria on it you should not have cloudiness issues. If you do stir up some " dust" it should settle in 2-3 hours. The best thing you can do is daily water changes. If you can get poly or pura filter pads they will help.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Do whatever size bring the ammonia down to zero. As long as the new water has been mixed with the proper protocol mentioned above, no size change will be as stressful as the ammonia in the existing water (and large changes in general are not stressful).

If you think more fish are in imminent danger, you could also use a product such as Amquel that detoxifies ammonia but does not remove it...and thus does not hurt your biofilter.

 

[chris stevens]

i lost a kole tang, ocellaris clown, lawnmower blenny, fire shrimp, and yellow tailed damsel (!) quite the catasrophe, i'm pretty bummed about it because i'm generally the type of person who prides myself in doing things with a minimal amount of ignorance. about curing the water and bringing it up to temp - could anyone tell me their process for doing this? i'm using a kent maxxima ro/di so atleast i got that part right.

 

[Brenden]

I use 35 gallon rubbermaid trash cans. I throw a heater and a mag pump in to get the water moving. Bring up the SG to the correct level and let it stir for at least 24 hours.

 

[HoopsGuru]

I do the same thing, although for the first few changes of each new bucket of salt I also test the PH, Alk, and Calcium to verify the consistency.

 

[Hara]

Do whatever size bring the ammonia down to zero. As long as the new water has been mixed with the proper protocol mentioned above, no size change will be as stressful as the ammonia in the existing water (and large changes in general are not stressful).

I agree, that is why I suggested a much larger water change.

 

[chris stevens]

thanks for the input everyone, where would i be without this forum. I'm going to continue with water changes, and keep my fingers crossed. BUT today, I tested my mix water (rodi) and i couldn't believe it but I got about 0.25 ammonia in that water too. tested three times, the water was mixed last night, and I added salt last night as well. It was cold, so I warmed the sample up by running the test tube under hot water for a bit, and retested. still 0.25. the filter is not that old - used it for the first time this summer. water was sitting in the filter for a couple months between uses (tested it when i purchased it, before setup of aquarium) - could this have done something? tested tap water - 0 ammonia. could a poor filter cause ammonia? AHHH

 

[seaham358]

Sounds like your test kit may be bad.. Have a LFS test it... What brand of test kit.
I use the salifert kits and they are great.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Interesting, the fact that out of your RO/DI shows ammonia but your tap doesn't shows your test kit is picking up something, but it is definitely odd. I would definitely take a sample to the LFS for verification.

You may want to take the Amquel route until you figure out if you are actually putting ammonia right back into the tank or not.

 

[greenmaji]

Is there a slight chance that the NH3 was in the salt mix guys?
In other words did you test for ammonia before you put the salt in your RO/DI water?