help with level spikes

[ernie]

Hello all and thanks for any replies. I have a 55 gallon FOWLR. I have 3 clown, 3 firefish, 1 chromis, 1 foxface, 1 mimic saddler. 2 choc. star and some hermits and nasarius snails. Tank has been up and running for about 6 months after a month and a half cycle period. Levels have been fine until a week ago eveything spike and week off the charts. Did about a 35 to 40 % water change with ready water from store and a week later all levels spiked again. Any one have any ideas what the cause may be. I am also running a marieland c-360 filter. The only think different in tank is that the mimic is killing the snails but i would expect that to be the cause. Also could someone spraying cleaning agents near tank cause these spikes. Thanks again happy holidays to all.

 

[Sergie]

Well to start off with, what is spiking specifically? You're foxface and filefish have large bioloads to begin with, and with the filefish killing off snails, if he were to leave any bit of snail and the snail decays then that could easily cause some sort if spike. And yes, if an aerosol spray contains any sort of ammonia it could cause a spike. Generally speaking you should avoid any aerosols near your tank.