hi guys so my test kit was going all good n stuff testing everyday n today I woke up with brown stuff all over my tank I think it's diatoms cuz I'm still cycling but my Amonia n nitrite just shot up through the roof today n I'm upset because last night ammonia finally went down to 1ppm it's been 1 month total BS I didn't add anything n now I can't go n add inverts to clean my tank help anyone? Also I live in Utah salt lake if a fellow reefer can come n help
Ammonia out of nowhere
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What size tank? Filtration type? Live/dry/dead rock?
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Also, what method did you use to cycle tank?
I have about 100lb of live rock in my 45 gallon tank it's been cycling for a month and a half now the meathod I used was ammonia drops and a little bit of fish food to decay slowly and I added dr t 1n only live nitrifying bacteria
Something probably died within the LR. Give it two more days, do not add any organics to the tank or ammonia, if you still see a detectable ammonia do a water change and retest the day after the water change.
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the chances of it being zero ammonia, and a full misread, is about 99%. post tank pics we can show why. 1% chance the test is right. ammonia is the easiest molecule to predict even without testing, above all. you have to have wasteful sand beds that cause it, or a dead organism. topoff water rarely.
No idea why, starvation?????? If you use LR there will be some die off is the rock if not cured. Ammonia comes from decay, if you have not added any organics or ammonia then there had to be some decay somewhere.
I am confused at to the time line now, 1 month and 1/2 is 45 days? Where did the 86 days come from?
Have you retested, are you sure you're not seeing a testing error.
I am confused at to the time line now, 1 month and 1/2 is 45 days? Where did the 86 days come from?
Have you retested, are you sure you're not seeing a testing error.
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no I wouldn't associate diatoms at all with ammonia, so far the chances you have no free ammonia is likely due to live rock + months time. need pics.
is this api ammonia test kit
it takes a meaty item to decay and overcome the natural filtration abilities already there.
is this api ammonia test kit
it takes a meaty item to decay and overcome the natural filtration abilities already there.
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Sorry no I mean 49 days 37 other days were I spent 2 weeks because I bought the tank used I poured vinegar in it and scrubbed it washed it out next day and left it to dry then washed it went and bought the rocks from someone's tank and put them in the same day before using dr T I waited a week because I was waiting for my sand to come in the mail my sand bed is aragonite sand all they had was fine sugar sand in the shops but while I was waiting my rocks where in the tank with water to start the cycle
So should I remove my sand bed I bought the sugar fine sand just in case
Yeah it's api saltwater master test kit
So should I remove my sand bed I bought the sugar fine sand just in case
Yeah it's api saltwater master test kit
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the test cannot be used to measure ammonia reliably in a reef tank, take no action. to move forward, we only need tank pics now and that'll let us see where the details are. everything you were thinking about ammonia is now in question, along with the cycle details but we can at least know where you are actually at with pics.
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http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/
literally every cycling question you have is covered there, that should fix ya~
dieoff and true ammonia from mixed cycling done incorrectly is for sure possible, but we wont know until pics now.
literally every cycling question you have is covered there, that should fix ya~
dieoff and true ammonia from mixed cycling done incorrectly is for sure possible, but we wont know until pics now.
api test kits are prone to error, and will show a low level ammonia level in error. Test again.
I hate sugar fine sand, hate it. It blows all over, easily over taken by cyanbacteria in low flow areas.
Personally I will take aragonite over sugar grade any day.
Were the rocks dried or still moist?
I hate sugar fine sand, hate it. It blows all over, easily over taken by cyanbacteria in low flow areas.
Personally I will take aragonite over sugar grade any day.
Were the rocks dried or still moist?
FishLover01
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I'm confused but want to help if I can. Personally, I think that since you already have an ammonia presence and nitrates are at 80ppm. I would do a 50% water change and then retest. How high was the ammonia level during the cycling process? It is very possible that if ammonia was over 4ppm that good bacteria was killed off as well causing the tank to still have an ammonia presence. But...since you have a nitrate reading of 80ppm should mean that the tank has cycled. Doing a 50% water change will only get nitrates down to 40ppm. That's still way too high for marine fish and especially invertibrates. Ideally, it should be 20% or below. The lower the better for inverts. Good Luck.
