Ammonia in INSTANT OCEAN REEF CRYSTALS

[allsite]

First off, I'll just say I'm one sad fish dad. One by one my fish and corals are dying. It's my first reef and my 5 fish were buddies for 2 years. Not a single death until this week.

INSTANT OCEAN REEF CRYSTALS crashed my reef with ammonia. I didn't believe it at first but the tests feel conclusive.

The picture with 2 tubes:
Left: RODI+salt mix (from a pitcher of water with a drop of AmmoLock)
Right: RODI+salt mix

The picture with 1 tube:
Just RODI

Is it in my bucket? Nope, I tested it with a clean pitcher, exact same result. Nothing else touches the water prior to testing.

I have 2 boxes of mix that were ordered several months apart. One brand new, the other about 4 months old. They BOTH produced the same result (as seen in the pic).

All of the tests were done to water that was tank-ready, salinity and temp on par. I'm happy I didn't dump it into the tank but that also mean I'm just letting it die until I get new salt first thing tomorrow. I really hope AmmoLock and bacteria additives can save what little is left (1 clown and a few frags).

My tank is currently testing better than the right tube and worse than the left (forgot to take a photo but it's somewhat irrelevant in this thread).

My question is, how is it possible INSTANT OCEAN REEF CRYSTALS could produce 0.7ppm ammonia seawater? They're just selling poison? Is that not the point when doing a water change, to remove bad stuff while introducing good stuff?

It was traumatic to watch it crash after enjoying it to the max, stuck in a small apartment downtown during a pandemic. However I realize other reefers have incurred much bigger losses and my heart goes out to anyone who has to go through it.

 

[TCoach]

For the first time ever in this thread or really any other I recall, TCoach's seneye data on the ammonia levels IO mixes up to:

now we have an accurate baseline for what to expect input-wise.

hopefully everything that can be searched on me says a mere hundredths-level ammonia addition is no big deal for anyone's reef.

To clarify, first bump (middle of picture), is first ~30 gallons mixed in brute #1. Second jump is mixing another ~30 gallons in brute #2. Profile change is due to going slow in #1 due to not knowing where to stop with salt add. Brute #2 got the full 10lbs at once to bring it very close to 35ppt in one dose.

 

[brandon429]

T Coach over time as you change salt mixes it will be neat to see how that digital meter reflects on them, if they mix up wildly different, some none at all etc. very nice and very helpful measurement option for this raucous thread.

 

[brandon429]

can we get a new full tank shot for this page please allsite

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

So am i on a naughty list too brandon?

I was only semi joking. Honestly curious and would prefer not to bel

 

[brandon429]

Neon no I haven't blocked anyone lol. well maybe five mins then I realized we're web forum'ing. this mud doesn't stick like if we were in a real mud pit, literally throwing logs at one another

over what ammonia does in someone's reef tank on the web. Im as guilty as anyone, im covered in digital mud to the point I cannot see correctly. and tomorrow? the same. I don't want to hang out in squeaky clean places that's boring.

 

[allsite]

Just kinda want to stir the pot at some point... Not thinking it caused the tank collapse but I am curious.

Hey @allsite did you ever test freshly mixed SW and RO immediately after mixing with the new test kit? Hows the clown doing?

Yes, RedSea test detected ammonia in fresh mix. I’m not sure what crashed the tank, probably a cascade of events, but I’ll share the test results for conversation. The clown is doing better but everything else is dying aside from maybe a couple corals.

 

[ehealy13]

Yes, RedSea test detected ammonia in fresh mix. I’m not sure what crashed the tank, probably a cascade of events, but I’ll share the test results for conversation. The clown is doing better but everything else is dying aside from maybe a couple corals.

Sorry about the losses; glad the clown is improving!

 

[allsite]

Here’s an update. I’m in gentle mode, just waiting it out. Any recommendations are appreciated.
(lights turned up for photos)

 

[ehealy13]

Here’s an update. I’m in gentle mode, just waiting it out. Any recommendations are appreciated.
(lights turned up for photos)

Hard for me to see, but is that a thermometer reading 90F in the first picture?

 

[Garf]

Yes, RedSea test detected ammonia in fresh mix. I’m not sure what crashed the tank, probably a cascade of events, but I’ll share the test results for conversation. The clown is doing better but everything else is dying aside from maybe a couple corals.

Convert that to free ammonia and it’s prob something like nowt.

Here’s an update. I’m in gentle mode, just waiting it out. Any recommendations are appreciated.

You keep drawing my attention to the water temperature. 200w seems a lot, how much water is in the tank? Have you got a cheap way of confirming it’s about right?

 

[brandon429]

if that turns out to be a huge missing detail here then you are awared a thousand clue detection points, im preparing for it. was this tank at ninety degrees for a long time yes or no lol

 

[Cell]

36 gallon tank with a 200W heater is probably a bit excessive depending on ambient temp.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

..look closely and it clearly says 80. Part of the bottom left section of the 8 is blocked but you can still see it.

 

[allsite]

It's at 80 and this is a new heater. I broke my inline heater while doing maintenance. The cheapo heater you may have seen in other pictures got me by while waiting for the new heater. I saw the current heater dip to 79 briefly and it hasn't spiked to 81. It seems to be working well.

 

[Garf]

It's at 80 and this is a new heater. I broke my inline heater while doing maintenance. I saw it dip to 79 briefly and it hasn't spiked to 81. It seems to be working well.

Ah, things are becoming clear. That’s a different heater to the one you said was the replacement for the broken one, when I asked previously. I thought it was odd you wanted the thread put to bed. Guess the cause has been identified then, over and out

 

[brandon429]

well we cant pounce on eighty but it was fun to gear up for it

 

[allsite]

Well folks, went out and bought 5 new fish...nah I'm kidding. But I am wondering how long I should wait. The damage seems done and the clown is lonely but looking fierce, doing its attacking surface bubbles game and getting excited at dinner time. She looks better each day.

Maybe wait a couple weeks? I've never crashed a tank before so I don't really know.

PS. I'm also building a 12 gallon long coral tank, very excited. This will help me keep my mitts off my main tank while I learn the coral craft. It will also be the first tank I get community input on vs going straight yolo style. Just maybe I'll get it right

 

[Brew12]

Yes, RedSea test detected ammonia in fresh mix. I’m not sure what crashed the tank, probably a cascade of events, but I’ll share the test results for conversation. The clown is doing better but everything else is dying aside from maybe a couple corals.

I mentioned it on Friday, but haven't seen a response. Have you checked to see if you have a chloramine issue? If you aren't on a well and your local utility uses chloramine it can make it through a RODI system, still show as 0 conductivity, and manifests itself as ammonia in our supposedly pure water.

 

[brandon429]

Any fish added here will die in a few mos due to skipping disease qt and fallow, and that is still a viable initial cause here. Fish disease prevention, research and customized fit for this tank is not occurring.

 

[Brew12]

Any fish added here will die in a few mos due to skipping disease qt and fallow, and that is still a viable initial cause here. Fish disease prevention, research and customized fit for this tank is not occurring.

I'm going to disagree with this. Since I stopped QT'ing new fish my success rate has skyrocketed. Last week I realized I haven't lost a fish since 2019 despite adding fish early in 2020 that came from a system known to have both velvet and ich. I actually added another fish that had a few spots of what looked to be ich this past weekend. I'm not worried. But I'm sure if I pulled the fish from my system, treated them, and held them in a QT for a few months then I would suffer some losses.