120g Ammonia wont go down

[joshbridges]

yes 50 lbs of live rock ,, I'm working on getting more its not easy in Canada lol

 

[zcedric]

hii Josh

Do you have some picuteres of the test devices and readings?
Do you have some pictures of your setup?
Was the sand alive or dry?
Was the rock alive or dry?

It think also that 50lb of stones are a little less for a 120g.

Hope you can fix this soon.

 

[P-Dub]

At first blush, it would appear that you are a bit light on the live rock. Even so, live rock has different densities and filtration capacities and nutrient reduction timelines as a result. Valid questions to consider, as long as your test kit is accurate: What form and type of rock did you start with? Also, your test kit may be reading relatively safe ammonium but I have no idea. You might want to bring this up in Reef Chemistry by Randy Holmes-Farley section of the forum. I'm sure that Randy will be able to help.

 

[joshbridges]

its an api saltater master test kit and the reading is so green its blue lol I'm seriously scared I just have a toxic tank of water that would even harm myself lol

 

[dimo]

I don’t know if this is applicable for saltwater, but during my freshwater days people used to say that too high of ammonia can stall a cycle. I don’t have scientific data to back it up. It was all anecdotal experiences, FYI. A water change and a bottle of bacteria may help to lower the ammonia enough to kick start that cycle again. But it sounds like that may not be an option.

I have also heard that using ammo-lock (or prime) to detox ammonia can affect ammonia test readings since it doesn’t actually remove ammonia. Just changed is chemical composition to make it non toxic.

What have you added to initially raise the ammonia? If your still adding stuff, time to stop.

 

[joshbridges]

I used 120ml of nutrafin cycle then a week later used 250ml and its been 3 weeks since and no change , and I used ammo lock 2 weeks ago and no change ,, my lfs said since I used ammo lock its most likely ammonium which is the less toxic verson ,, theyre gonna have salt Friday so I'm gonna get some then

 

[NY_Caveman]

Maybe I missed it, but where does your water come from? Tap, well, RO/DI, LFS? Have you tested the source for Ammonia?

 

[joshbridges]

well water , I'm very fortunate for that being in the contry ,, and it reads 0 :/ , I'm very confused right now

 

[joshbridges]

can barely even read tds on my meter so I think maybe I used too much cycle ?? I used enough cycle to treat 1000g instead of 120g :/

 

[joshbridges]

my nitrites are at 0 now , nitrates about 40 ppm but ammonia is still that blue color

 

[joshbridges]

if I used too much ammo-lock would that just sit unactivated in my tank until ammonia rose up and now its converting it all to ammonium and that's why I have blue ??

 

[FredsNJReef]

I say do another water change once you have the salt water available. Don't use ammo lock again for now, test with the new water and re evaluate.

 

[joshbridges]

I say do another water change once you have the salt water available. Don't use ammo lock again for now, test with the new water and re evaluate.

how big of a water change ?? 10 % ??

 

[FredsNJReef]

20% with new salt water would help if you can swing it.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I don’t know if this is applicable for saltwater, but during my freshwater days people used to say that too high of ammonia can stall a cycle. I don’t have scientific data to back it up. It was all anecdotal experiences, FYI. A water change and a bottle of bacteria may help to lower the ammonia enough to kick start that cycle again. But it sounds like that may not be an option.

I have also heard that using ammo-lock (or prime) to detox ammonia can affect ammonia test readings since it doesn’t actually remove ammonia. Just changed is chemical composition to make it non toxic.

What have you added to initially raise the ammonia? If your still adding stuff, time to stop.

+1 it has always been my understanding that too high of an ammonia level will stall your cycle.

2 ppm is plenty. I believe above 4 is where things start to slow or stall altogether

 

[Joey Merrell]

My api kit always reads ammonia through the roof, while my red sea reads it much lower. I don' trust the api kits at all.

 

[drblakjak55]

Five weeks is not very long. Live rock, live sand. Give everything a good blow while doing a 50% water change. Some Dr Tim’s. Time. Ammonia kills fish. Bacteria counts will get there. It always does

 

[tr3]

Just a dumb question but what kind of top off water? Have you tested it? I once bought bought water from a LFS that I "trusted" and they almost made me quite the hobby because I couldnt keep my parameters in line. I finally realized what was happening thank you R2R and bought my own RODI unit. I have not had the problem since.

 

[don_chuwish]

How 'live' was the live rock? If it was out of water for very long (hours/days) then a lot of things could have died off - and now are decaying. In my first tank I brought home 'damp' live rock - out of the LFS tank, into a cooler, 3 hour drive and into my tank. Massive ammonia spike after that.
I'd suggest as large a water change as you can manage. Get clean water in there and dose beneficial bacteria again. Dr. Tim's, BioSpira, any good product.

 

[joshbridges]

going to get salt today , gonna preform a 20% PWC ,and leave it alone for a bit, I know where the spike came from now -.- ,, I used enough beneficial bacteria for 1000 gallons of water :s that was my mistake on that one ,, thank you to everyone who helped me out