Bad levels

[joe&rae]

My ammonia is at .50 and my nitrate is at 40 or so. what do i need to do to fix my problem. my ph is at 7.8 a little low but not bad??

I have two clowns and three damsels a few crabs and frags.

We have had the water cycling for about a year and a half .

 

[pat8you]

Is your tank still cycling? How long has it been set up and are there any animals in the tank yet? Ph is usually around 8.2 or 8.3 so its a little low but its more important to keep a consistent PH. Increasing surface agitation and good air circulation over the water usually helps raise PH i believe.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Agree... need a little more info about your tank and inhabitants to really give useful advice. But the "short answer" is water changes.

 

[melosu58]

Agree... need a little more info about your tank and inhabitants to really give useful advice. But the "short answer" is water changes.

Could not have said it better

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Hmm... either that post was edited, or I was blind as a bat!

OK - first thing... water doesn't "cycle" for a year and a half. Cycles seem to last forever, but not that long! Did you mean your tank has been set up for a year and a half?

How big is the tank and did you just recently add any of those fish? A sudden increase in bioload (adding more than one fish at a time) could've caused a little spike in ammonia while the beneficial bacteria play catch up and increase their population.

pH will normally drop during a cycle due to all the biological activity going on in a tank, so I'd guess that for whatever reason, you're seeing a mini cycle. When the cycle is over, and after water changes, the pH will normally go back up to where it should be.

{Edit: Looking over your previous posts, looks like this is the 56g tank? And also, sounds like you were thinking about adding more live rock, as mentioned here...http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/live-rock-108111.html . Did you end up adding any rock? If you did, and it wasn't fully cured, that could be the source of your ammonia and the mini cycle. Adding uncured live rock to an existing tank will often cause another cycle due to the stuff on the rock dieing off.}

 

[austinsdad]

Yep. Something is wrong.8-O

 

[pat8you]

I would do a couple water changes to try and get that ammonia down or it will kill your fish. Your filtration should catch up in a week or two. Until then frequent water changes and it can't hurt to soak your food in garlic to get the fish a little boost and encourage them to keep eating.

 

[joe&rae]

live rock

i did add rock but it was not live and i have not added anything else but i did change the tank could that have caused this problem and what can i do to fix it

 

[roka64]

The rock you added could have had some die-off causing the ammonia spike. PWCs will help.

 

[austinsdad]

Get plenty of mixed salt water to do water changes. your crabs and corals are having a tuff time and could be casualties.

If the ammonia goes up any higher or stays the same after a water change I'd comsider removing the new rock and curing it in another sw container. A bucket'll do. Can you do that water change in the next 24hrs? Now is preferred if at all possible.

How long ago did you put the rock in?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

i did add rock but it was not live and i have not added anything else but i did change the tank ...

You changed the tank? You mean you transferred everything from one tank to a different one?

If the rock wasn't cured, then that alone probably would cause a mini cycle. But if you actually switched to a different tank, and moved the sand bed with it, then that will cause a cycle also. When switching tanks, it's best to leave the old sand alone so that you won't stir up all the nasty stuff thats buried down deep.

 

[joe&rae]

No it was all new sand! but there is new unlive rock!! i got some PRIME to try and stable the levels a little

 

[austinsdad]

Prime?? What happened to the suggested water changes?

 

[melosu58]

I agree forget the Prime stick with every other day PWC`s.

 

[joe&rae]

i did a 10% change last night before i put the prime in !! everything but the ammonia is where it should be at noon when i tested. 8.2 ph, 0 nitrate, but ammonia is still .50 i will do a water change tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

You will still measure ammonia when using Prime, even though the Prime has converted it to a non-toxic compound. With those ammonia levels I'd suggest larger water changes on the order of 25-30% - but it's kind of a mute point since you're using Prime.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree with Kurt. Have you been using Prime for a while now? Did something die in the tank?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I agree with Kurt. Have you been using Prime for a while now? Did something die in the tank?

They added more rock, changed tanks, and now are experiencing an ammonia spike.

 

[Ziggy953]

I saw that they had added more rock, I was just looking for another possible cause of the ammonia. If nothing has died then I agree it was probably something that re-hydrated and rotted in the tank.

 

[joe&rae]

well i have not lost any fish in this tank but about 3mo ago a goby went missing never saw anything of he he just vanished!! but that was in old tank (same water and some of same rock) and the levels were normal in the old tank!!