29G BioCube Ammonia issue

[Evan L]

Recently I just setup my first saltwater tank. In fact it's a FOWLR. I have 2 clowns in there right now. The fish them selves have only been in there for about 4 days now. I consulted my lfs and they told me to do a water change and then add purigen to one of my chambers.

Currently the nylon bag of purigen is in the 3rd chamber with the pump. (Asked the lfs if that was alright.)

The purigen only helped clear up my water. It did not help with ammonia levels at all. I went back again and they said to add some penn plax Pro-Carb to the 2nd chamber where the bioballs are housed. He told me I could just remove some bioballs if I wanted and stick the nylon bag of pro carb under the filter pad housing along with the bio balls.

So I did all of that and still I'm getting readings of 4.0 ppm. Right now I would just like some advice on what I can do.

I've tried a lot to help get this down. I know over feeding can be an issue. I stopped that before the water changes and now only give a flake per fish. They are rather small clowns.

I always use Seachem Prime when changing water.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Nem4]

My advice would be to figure out the source rather than throwing this and that at it. Those are bandaids. Go slow, one thing at a time. Wait for the tank to respond. Itll tell you. So will your livestock.
How longs it been set up?
There is a foam pad at the bottom of chamber 3. Its where chamber 2 flows into 3 and has a tendency to collect organic junk. You may just want to get rid of it all together.
Being a new tank, you should focus on bacteria population. Live rock? Sand?
Seachem makes a bacteria culture called "seed" maybe look into that.

In other words, get a biological filter established!

 

[Evan L]

My advice would be to figure out the source rather than throwing this and that at it. Those are bandaids. Go slow, one thing at a time. Wait for the tank to respond. Itll tell you. So will your livestock.
How longs it been set up?
There is a foam pad at the bottom of chamber 3. Its where chamber 2 flows into 3 and has a tendency to collect organic junk. You may just want to get rid of it all together.
Being a new tank, you should focus on bacteria population. Live rock? Sand?
Seachem makes a bacteria culture called "seed" maybe look into that.

In other words, get a biological filter established!

So take the sponge out? And did you see the bristle worm?

 

[Evan L]

My advice would be to figure out the source rather than throwing this and that at it. Those are bandaids. Go slow, one thing at a time. Wait for the tank to respond. Itll tell you. So will your livestock.
How longs it been set up?
There is a foam pad at the bottom of chamber 3. Its where chamber 2 flows into 3 and has a tendency to collect organic junk. You may just want to get rid of it all together.
Being a new tank, you should focus on bacteria population. Live rock? Sand?
Seachem makes a bacteria culture called "seed" maybe look into that.

In other words, get a biological filter established!

What should I do with the live rock and sand? It's been about 3 days without fish and 4 with fish.

 

[Tahoe61]

Hi and Welcome.

Are the fish eating, and acting otherwise normally?

Proceed with small water changes daily a gallon or two. Add some bacteria in a bottle, such as Dr.Tims, Microbactor7, or other products readily available at petsmart, petco.....

As advised above try the addition of a piece of live cured rock.

Beware of the local fish store that wants to sell you products. They know that a 4 day old 29 gallon tank with two clowns is going to show an ammonia level because the tank was not cycled.

Ideally live stock is not added until the system has had a chance to grow a bacterial filter/biological filter. If you add bacteria in a bottle, with live cured rock you can accelerated the rate of growth of the biological filter.

 

[Evan L]

I have live rock and sand

 

[Evan L]

Hi and Welcome.

Are the fish eating, and acting otherwise normally?

Proceed with small water changes daily a gallon or two. Add some bacteria in a bottle, such as Dr.Tims, Microbactor7, or other products readily available at petsmart, petco.....

As advised above try the addition of a piece of live cured rock.

Beware of the local fish store that wants to sell you products. They know that a 4 day old 29 gallon tank with two clowns is going to show an ammonia level because the tank was not cycled.

Ideally live stock is not added until the system has had a chance to grow a bacterial filter/biological filter. If you add bacteria in a bottle, with live cured rock you can accelerated the rate of growth of the biological filter.

I have live rock in the tank as well as live sand. The fish are eating perfectly normal. Not rejecting it unless it floats to far from them. So go pick some bacteria up? Would you say remove the foam pad as well?

 

[Tahoe61]

You already have live rock as evidenced by the image.

Get some Prime from the LFS and add as directed, buy some premixed sw and do small water changes.

The best advice I can give you is to bounce issues off the forum, and go to the local fish store as informed consumer.

See links below for reference.


https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-to-the-hobby-and-have-questions.9412/

It's a lot of information I know but just keep asking questions and do not get frustrated.

 

[Evan L]

You already have live rock as evidenced by the image.

Get some Prime from the LFS and add as directed, buy some premixed sw and do small water changes.

The best advice I can give you is to bounce issues off the forum, and go to the local fish store as informed consumer.

See links below for reference.


https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-to-the-hobby-and-have-questions.9412/

It's a lot of information I know but just keep asking questions and do not get frustrated.

I already have prime and have been using it.

 

[Tahoe61]

I would not worry about the purigen or the foam pad or the bio media right now, just leave them in place. Right now they are not going to make a difference one way or another. As the tank develops a biological filter the beneficial bacteria will use those as growth mediums.

 

[Evan L]

I would not worry about the purigen or the foam pad or the bio media right now, just leave them in place. Right now they are not going to make a difference one way or another. As the tank develops a biological filter the beneficial bacteria will use those as growth mediums.

Would this work ?
Top fin readistart, or Api marine QuickStart

http://m.petsmart.com/h5/hub?id=/WF...-0?green=2607DB8B-23E0-5B9A-A2AA-643FEC7C296F

http://m.petsmart.com/h5/hub?id=fis...quick-start-zid36-5220046/cat-36-catid-300012

Don't know if links are allowed. Sorry

 

[Tahoe61]

The links are fine.

Yup those would work. I would wait however for the tank to cycle for 3-4 weeks before adding any other fish.

Excellent time to research what direction you want to take the tank in.

 

[Evan L]

The links are fine.

Yup those would work. I would wait however for the tank to cycle for 3-4 weeks before adding any other fish.

Excellent time to research what direction you want to take the tank in.[

I went ahead and bought a thing called start smart. Supposedly it starts cycling immediately.

Not sure what else I want in it. I might have to avoid corals for a while. Now when it comes to fish I'm not sure what I want in it with the 2 clowns.

It's be greatly appreciated if you'd give me any recommendations.

Thanks ,

 

[Evan L]

The links are fine.

Yup those would work. I would wait however for the tank to cycle for 3-4 weeks before adding any other fish.

Excellent time to research what direction you want to take the tank in.

I added the start smart a couple of hours ago and so far not even the slightest difference in ammonia. I'm really starting to get frustrated. I've put in nearly $800 in this so far and almost an additional $100 trying to correct this ammonia issue. I don't want my clowns to die.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

What condition was the "live" rock in when you got it? was it transported properly without letting anything in it die? ie: too hot, too cold, dried out.

You should have experienced an ammonia spike that high if the rock was still live, without die off.

 

[bigroost]

Doesn't prime throw off the ammonia test kit?

 

[Evan L]

What condition was the "live" rock in when you got it? was it transported properly without letting anything in it die? ie: too hot, too cold, dried out.

You should have experienced an ammonia spike that high if the rock was still live, without die off.

Did a partial water change and it then read 1ppm. It could always change

 

[clownfish chris]

It has been a couple of days now. How is it going?

Prime will still show ammonia. The way it works is it binds with the ammonia making it non toxic. It still shows up on test kits.

Any bottled bacteria will work almost the same way. Nothing is ever instant in this hobby. Also, I have learned some very expensive lessons my self and you should be prepared for more including the possible death of your fish. Ammonia causes kidney damage in fish so if the damage has been done, you may not know for a while. Most people kill fish. I don't know of anyone who hasn't and I know a lot of people. Learn from it and move on with your newly acquired knowledge. They do have a great chance of surviving though.

As mentioned above, always research before going into a LFS. We have no vested interest in weather you succeed or fail. The LFS profits if you fail because you have to "correct" the "problem." We want your livestock to thrive and you to love the hobby.

If you have not solved the issue at this point, I would just leave everything alone with the exception of adding Prime as per the printed instructions and testing. Test every day. Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. Cheep tests are okay for this but I do recommend getting some decent tests. I like Red Sea. If you can, get the tests for Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium. Those aren't necessary until you have coral but it is good to learn to use them ahead of time. Test all parameters daily and record your results. When you show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and elevated nitrates, your tank is said to be "cycled." What this really means is that the bacteria population has grown to a large enough population to handle the current ammonia load.

Once this initial cycle is complete, I would next add your clean up crew. Continue to test and monitor.

Each time anything is done to the tank such as moving a rock or adding a fish, you will cause a change to this balance. There will be a mini cycle. That is why it is important not to add too much at one time.

Keep us posted!