Ammonia 2 ppm

[Baileyshouse]

Help,

About a month ago I moved live rock, water, livestock and corals from one tank to another. Everything was doing fine and from one day to the next my water became Smokey/cloudy, all my corals closed up, and all my fish are hiding. I decided to test my ammonia and initially got a reading of 4ppm. I ran to the pet store and purchased AmGuard and Stability, both by sea chem. I tested my water again some 18 hours later and my ammonia was at 2ppm. Now four hours After a second dose of AmGuard and Stability the water is even cloudier and is reading 4ppm. I am using API Saltwater Master Test Kit for testing. I’ve done research and have read these test can be faulty however my water is extremely cloudy and the livestock behavior is congruent with that of high ammonia.

What can I do to lower my ammonia and what is causing this insane spike that does not want to come down?

 

[lapin]

The issue with ammonia detox products is they bind ammonia only to release it 48 to 72 hours later depending on the product. Your test kit will still show ammonia. I would first change out 50% or more of the water.

 

[vetteguy53081]

ChemiPure Blue will help conquer both issues for you.

 

[MERKEY]

Are your fish breathing hard and at the top of the water?

Or just hiding?

With amonia fish will die over a period of time with that much in the tank if I'm wrong

What test kit are you using?

I think it's an error and you have a bloom of some sort.

Moving tanks and this stuff is right up @brandon429 alley!

He has a thread he can incorporate yours into!

 

[Baileyshouse]

Are your fish breathing hard and at the top of the water?

Or just hiding?

With amonia fish will die over a period of time with that much in the tank if I'm wrong

What test kit are you using?

I think it's an error and you have a bloom of some sort.

Moving tanks and this stuff is right up @brandon429 alley!

He has a thread he can incorporate yours into!

The fish are just hiding. They’re not breathing at the top yet and their gills are not showing any redness

I am using API Master Test Kit

 

[Baileyshouse]

The issue with ammonia detox products is they bind ammonia only to release it 48 to 72 hours later depending on the product. Your test kit will still show ammonia. I would first change out 50% or more of the water.

I won’t be able to do a 50% water change because unfortunately I live in a condo and don’t have that amount of RO water immediately available until tomorrow

 

[MERKEY]

The fish are just hiding. They’re not breathing at the top yet and their gills are not showing any redness

I am using API Master Test Kit

Ok ya api is notorious for bad readings.

Until others with much more experience chime in.....

I believe one of your Rock's released something and the tank is reacting....could have been something that died in the rock and the bacteria bloomed to handle it and you are seeing the results.

However I'd wait to do anything until you get a good consensus on the problem

 

[Baileyshouse]

Just tested my Nitrites and they are up to 1ppm. Nitrates at 10ppm and my pH is very low at 7.4. I’m having a heart attack as my tank is fully stocked

 

[Baileyshouse]

Ok ya api is notorious for bad readings.

Until others with much more experience chime in.....

I believe one of your Rock's released something and the tank is reacting....could have been something that died in the rock and the bacteria bloomed to handle it and you are seeing the results.

However I'd wait to do anything until you get a good consensus on the problem

Just tested my Nitrites and they are up to 1ppm. Nitrates at 10ppm and my pH is very low at 7.4. I’m having a heart attack as my tank is fully stocked

 

[MERKEY]

Just tested my Nitrites and they are up to 1ppm. Nitrates at 10ppm and my pH is very low at 7.4. I’m having a heart attack as my tank is fully stocked

BREATH DONT WORRY

I keep my nitrates around 10-20 on a regular and a lot of reffers do....so that wont kill anything.

What equipment are you using with the tank? Anything that would be dropping PH?

 

[Baileyshouse]

BREATH DONT WORRY

I keep my nitrates around 10-20 on a regular and a lot of reffers do....so that wont kill anything.

What equipment are you using with the tank? Anything that would be dropping PH?

Well it’s a 40 gallon AquaTop AIO. So it has its standard equipment and Nano skimmer along with a regular sponge filter, activated carbon, the bio pellets, mechanical filters and the return pump along with an off brand wave maker that I added.

 

[SMSREEF]

Well it’s a 40 gallon AquaTop AIO. So it has its standard equipment and Nano skimmer along with a regular sponge filter, activated carbon, the bio pellets, mechanical filters and the return pump along with an off brand wave maker that I added.

You could go to grocery store and get distilled water to make some new saltwater. 20 gallons will be a Pain in the butt, however it will give you some peace of mind tonight.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Do you live in a city that treats the water with chloramines? If so your water will test positive for ammonia even with a top of the line 7 stage rodi. If unable to obtain rodi water till tomorrow a large water change with distilled water from any grocery store will do the trick

 

[Malifry97]

First I’d do a 50% change...then some biospira or seachem stability...then dose some prime...prime is different than AmGuard because the biological filter can still consume the ammonia form made from prime...also I would overdose the bacteria 5-10x the regular dose

 

[Baileyshouse]

First I’d do a 50% change...then some biospira or seachem stability...then dose some prime...prime is different than AmGuard because the biological filter can still consume the ammonia form made from prime...also I would overdose the bacteria 5-10x the regular dose

Should i turn off my slimmer when adding those? And what about a UV sterilizer?

 

[Baileyshouse]

Do you live in a city that treats the water with chloramines? If so your water will test positive for ammonia even with a top of the line 7 stage rodi. If unable to obtain rodi water till tomorrow a large water change with distilled water from any grocery store will do the trick

I’m not too sure what they treat the water with. I live in downtown Miami, FL. And yeah definitely doing the water change

 

[Thespammailaccount]

I’m not too sure what they treat the water with. I live in downtown Miami, FL. And yeah definitely doing the water change

Large cities are switching from chlorine to chloramines. If nothing has died in the tank you should not have an ammonia reading that high unless there is chloramines in your water. I live in Houston TX and water here is treated with chloramines which shows up in the water as ammonia. Do a large water change with distilled water

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Large cities are switching from chlorine to chloramines. If nothing has died in the tank you should not have an ammonia reading that high unless there is chloramines in your water. I live in Houston TX and water here is treated with chloramines which shows up in the water as ammonia. Do a large water change with distilled water

Test the ammonia nitrite and nitrate of your tap and rodi water you might be surprised at what you find

 

[Baileyshouse]

Test the ammonia nitrite and nitrate of your tap and rodi water you might be surprised at what you find

will do that right now

 

[Thespammailaccount]

will do that right now

I have a 70 gallon and the only water that goes in my tank is distilled water. In less than 10 gallons of product water I was already getting chloramine breakthrough with an ammonia reading of 2ppm from product water