Ammonia Spike in 9 month old tank

[Hanzelyclan]

Lost my lawnmower blenny this morning checked parameters, ammonia spike! Added prime immediately, should I wait a bit and do water charge then more prime today? Of course, I'm going out of town for 3 days tomorrow. Tank is 125 gallon, 9 months old. Only thing different I did was add 14 nudibrach last night to help with aptisea outbreak?! My phosphate and calcium have been going up for about a month too. Last 10% water change was 6 days ago. Help me please

 

[Hanzelyclan]

 

[exnisstech]

If in fact that ammonia reading is correct I seriously doubt a dead lawnmower blenny would be the cause in a tank that large. I have lost too many fish to count and have never encountered an ammonia spike. I also rarely even find the bodies.

 

[Hanzelyclan]

If in fact that ammonia reading is correct I seriously doubt a dead lawnmower blenny would be the cause in a tank that large. I have lost too many fish to count and have never encountered an ammonia spike. I also rarely even find the bodies.

I literally watched the guy pass this morning and removed immediately so he wasn't gone long. I saw tang starting to nip at him and he didn't move so I took him out before any other fish decided to snack on him.

 

[exnisstech]

I literally watched the guy pass this morning and removed immediately so he wasn't gone long. I saw tang starting to nip at him and he didn't move so I took him out before any other fish decided to snack on him.

If that's the case it is most likely not the cause. Are you experiencing any other issues except the one fish death?

 

[Hanzelyclan]

If that's the case it is most likely not the cause. Are you experiencing any other issues except the one fish death?

No not that I'm noticing. All fish seem happy. I don't have a ton of coral but they all look fine. No algea on rocks or sand. Do have the aptisa outbreak at the moment. Would adding a sand sifting goby a week ago cause parameter fluctuations with stirring sandbed?

 

[Garf]

Even if accurate, that combination of (NH3 + NH4 I’m assuming) and pH, wouldn’t kill stuff like that.
Prime won’t help unless you’ve got chlorine in the tank somehow.

adding a sand sifting goby a week ago

This could be a problem if not quarantined.

 

[Hanzelyclan]

Even if accurate, that combination of (NH3 + NH4 I’m assuming) and pH, wouldn’t kill stuff like that.
Prime won’t help unless you’ve got chlorine in the tank somehow.

This could be a problem if not quarantined.

I did not quarantine

 

[brandon429]

I absolutely love ammonia alert posts, because mis testing causes them or misinterpretation of the test.

rule of updated cycling science: at no time can a 9 month old reef tank running normally have an ammonia spike that kills a fish.

let's test the theory: please add a video or a pic of this tank so we can assess surface area, placement in the pic of other fish (are they hovering near death or acting normally) and we'll look for other sensitive creatures that would be dead if indeed this tank lost the ability to control ammonia.

how to avoid this issue using updated cycling science: after cycle is done, simply never run an ammonia test or a nitrite test on a display reef tank ever again, because they can't drift out of control.

 

[Hanzelyclan]

Kinda gave me a little chuckle because I literally have not checked ammonia or nitrite for the past 6 months. I have Hanna checked for everything but ammonia and nitrite so I just don't check. I thought it was odd too see my lawnmower blenny pass so quickly so I decided to check those parameters just in case.

 

[brandon429]

there are things in reefing that can cause an ammonia spike, but the key is you can see them with your eyes and no guess-testing is needed. such as: power loss to home causes tank to shut off while fish still live in the tank, rising up ammonia because no current is moving wastewater across surfaces. no ammonia test can help, we'd either instate motion somehow as backup or begin water changes.

or, a child dumps six months of feed into the tank all at once. we can see the pile of feed in the tank, remove it before it rots. etc

*prime does nothing for ammonia control in reefing, search out chemistry forum reviews on the fakeness of prime. it did nothing here other than confound future testing of the water which is why stopping ammonia testing on a cycled reef is the wisest move. don't run the test at all/

the fish loss will come from something other than ammonia nor will the single dead fish actually spike it in a reef tank as mentioned above (if a non digital test said it did, the test is wrong)

 

[Jekyl]

What ammonia test are you using?

 

[Hanzelyclan]

Doing a 30% water change right now

What ammonia test are you using?

Only one I have is API and I know it's not great but before water looked lemonade color, today was definitely like green color. Tried to attach photo but was too big

 

[brandon429]

Prime messed up future testing don't waste time factoring it and don't use the test on this tank = new cycling science

Prime was never needed

Post a tank pic vs the test kit pic

 

[Dburr1014]

Doing a 30% water change right now

Only one I have is API and I know it's not great but before water looked lemonade color, today was definitely like green color. Tried to attach photo but was too big

Full tank picture in white light please.

The tank should not be yellow turning green. Something is amiss here.

If you must, link it to you tube.

 

[Hanzelyclan]

 

[Hanzelyclan]

 

[Hanzelyclan]

 

[Dburr1014]

You are having a bacteria bloom for some reason.

 

[Hanzelyclan]

You are having a bacteria bloom for some reason.

That is aptisa