Ammonia spiked out of nowhere

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Dans75G

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Messages
14
Location
Queens, ny
Hello everyone. Up to jan 25 my ammonia and nitrate levels were fine. Today jan 27 they're off significantly. Amm is 2.0ppm and nitrates are 40ppm.
I do 20% water changes every 2 weeks and things have always went well.
On jan 14- 15 I added a few more inhabitants. 1 spotted sweetlips, 1 yellow tang, 2 coral beauty angels, 1 sea hare, pin cushion urchin, and 1 red ridge coral. Earlier in the month I've added two anemones and one them split and moved further away from the other. My tank is very clear and there's no smell.
I also added a seaweed clip and add seaweed to it often.
For added nutrition I added saltwater plants called Halimeda.
My tank and fish never looked so beautiful. None of my fish are missing and my anemones look healthier than ever. One of them finally came out of hiding.
I'm preparing my water to do a 50% water change right now.

Is there anything I'm missing from diagnosing the problem with the ammonia and nitrate spike?

I appreciate any help.
 
Looks like you added too many fish too quick....! That's a hefty bioload for 2 days. You need to slow down and let your system catch up when you add fish. You are going to have to do frequent water changes to keep the ammo down, or else you can watch all those fish breathe heavy and face an uncertain future 8-(
 
I'm not sure but I think 20% weekly is the smallest you should go, not 20% every two weeks

Some people comfortably do 10% weekly, myself included. As long as the amount you change keeps your parameters in check, whatever percentage you do will be fine.
 
Ok sorry, just what I've been seeing most people doing! And I agree about the bio load size of te fish you introduced being too much for the filter and al to handle right away,
 
Ok sorry, just what I've been seeing most people doing! And I agree about the bio load size of te fish you introduced being too much for the filter and al to handle right away,

No need to be sorry about anything... That's the crazy thing about salt water. There's no black and white methods. There's so many ways of doing things with this hobby!
 
Thank you guys for responding so quickly.
I wanted to go at a slow pace adding livestock, but being that is such an attractive hobby, even my niece and nephew love it. The last few fish added were purchased by them because my sister brought them to see fish at a supply store and she ended up buying the ones the kids liked so much. Being a good uncle I accepted them and added them immediately.
Now I'm in a frenzy to save them.
I don't mind the extra work, I just hope I can get this under control in time.
 
I think you'll be ok... Buy some Seachem Stability to help with the extra ammo. Add some every time you do a water change to get it under control. And oh yea good luck, and dont worry too much! These things happen :cool:
 
And btw you may encounter aggression issues with 2 coral beauties...
 
That Spotted Swwetlips requires a huge tank (500 gallons) and is considered an "expert only" fish...you are going to run into problems with that. They grow fast and can be picky eaters at first. The yellow tang needs a six foot tank. Smaller will likely cause stress and stress lowers immunity, which a opens them up to things like Ich. As already stated, two dwarf angels will likely lead to aggression.

It's great when other people buy fish, but saltwater is best done with a gameplan of what fish you want and then add them slowly from least aggressive, to most aggressive. Just buying whatever looks good and throwing it in a tank without research first is begging for problems. Ask here or check out sites like liveaquaria.com for info on fish, tank requirements, compatability, etc. take what your LFS says with a grain of salt as I frequently hear places tell people that a fish "could work for now" and people take that as " this WILL work". The " for now" is generally a red flag to not do it.
 
I agree with you about those fish. I didn't want them at all. I couldn't say no to my niece and nephew. I have a place for them to go already anyway. At the moment there are no signs of stress. I'm optimistic they'll be ok.
 
What size tank?

I'm not trying to be mean here, but being optimistic that a fish that needs a huge tank with an expert keeper is not smart. Optimism does not chance science and reality. That fish story is going to end poorly. Same goes with having two dwarf angels (of any kind, but certainly the same exact kind). The yellow tang will likely be a future "My Tang has Ich" story.
 
Take it easy chief. The fish are in no harm. If my buddies 1000 gallon isn't good enough and being he's been in the hobby for a very long time, I'll just make the East River his new home.
 
It's all good my dudes! The OP seems like he's
got it covered, we are here to help with ammo spike and he's got lots of feedback... I hope it works out Dan, please keep us/me posted!
 
Take it easy chief. The fish are in no harm. If my buddies 1000 gallon isn't good enough and being he's been in the hobby for a very long time, I'll just make the East River his new home.

Sorry...I didn't see anything about a 1000 gallon tank or someone with expert experience. I honestly wasn't trying to be negative, just trying to give some advice so the fish are okay. Sounds like this will all work out okay if this is the situation.
 
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