Ammonia spike

[SillyBeast67]

Hello, my 65g tank has been up and running for about a year now. I have inverts corals liverock and a clown fish and also a small sailfin tang that recently died of unknown causes. I pulled it out of the system within an hour of its death so no decomposition occured. I recently checked my ammonia and it is at .25 ppm. Do y'all think this could've caused the sailfin tangs death? Will this spike correct itself? And is this ammonia level harmful to my corals? Thanks.

 

[tankstudy]

Do y'all think this could've caused the sailfin tangs death?

Hard to say, without a long documentation of water parameters, it would be just a guess but it possibly could be.

Will this spike correct itself?

It depends on how much bacteria you have. If you have a lot, it should correct itself fairly quickly but if you don't the 0.25 ppm may stick around. To be safe, I would recommend buying a bottle of bacteria and dumping it in to the tank or doing a good size water change.

And is this ammonia level harmful to my corals? Thanks.

Hardier corals maybe tolerant to 0.25 ppm for a small time but some of the more pickier species will start showing signs of stress or even start dying.

 

[SandJ]

What test kit did you use? The API are notorious for giving false positives. May check some fresh saltwater and see what color the test registers as a control.

 

[SillyBeast67]

Hard to say, without a long documentation of water parameters, it would be just a guess but it possibly could be.



It depends on how much bacteria you have. If you have a lot, it should correct itself fairly quickly but if you don't the 0.25 ppm may stick around. To be safe, I would recommend buying a bottle of bacteria and dumping it in to the tank or doing a good size water change.



Hardier corals maybe tolerant to 0.25 ppm for a small time but some of the more pickier species will start showing signs of stress or even start dying.

Thanks for the reply! I have plenty of bacteria in the tank. I'm gonna monitor it every couple days and see if it gets worse or goes down. I'm using an API kit so not sure how reliable the results are. All my corals are very hardy. Sps are Montis and lps are euphilias and softies are zoa's and leather Kenya trees and cabbage coral.

 

[SillyBeast67]

What test kit did you use? The API are notorious for giving false positives. May check some fresh saltwater and see what color the test registers as a control.

I used API. I just tested it again and got a reading of zero. So who knows. Freaking inconsistency. I'll keep monitoring it closely and see what it does. I figured that the ammonia was the cause of the sailfin death, but maybe not. That thing was seriously healthy and happy the night before and the next day it was sucked up against a powerhead and got its fins shredded up and died an hour later... Who knows.

 

[SillyBeast67]

What test kit did you use? The API are notorious for giving false positives. May check some fresh saltwater and see what color the test registers as a control.

I used API. I just tested it again and got a reading of zero. So who knows. Freaking inconsistency. I'll keep monitoring it closely and see what it does. I figured that the ammonia was the cause of the sailfin death, but maybe not. That thing was seriously healthy and happy the night before and the next day it was sucked up against a powerhead and got its fins shredded up and died an hour later... Who knows.

 

[john.m.cole3]

I used API. I just tested it again and got a reading of zero. So who knows. Freaking inconsistency. I'll keep monitoring it closely and see what it does. I figured that the ammonia was the cause of the sailfin death, but maybe not. That thing was seriously healthy and happy the night before and the next day it was sucked up against a powerhead and got its fins shredded up and died an hour later... Who knows.

Get some prime and keep it on hand in the event that you suspect ammonia being present.

 

[john.m.cole3]

Good to see you over here, Adam! Here's a link for the prime.

 

[john.m.cole3]

You might want to try hardier fish for a while before you jump into tangs. Another clown would be a good start and you could get a different color pattern to add variety. A yellow coris wrasse is a good pest control fish, and I think every tank should have a blenny. the starry one would compliment the color of the yellow coris wraswse well, IMO.

 

[SillyBeast67]

You might want to try hardier fish for a while before you jump into tangs. Another clown would be a good start and you could get a different color pattern to add variety. A yellow coris wrasse is a good pest control fish, and I think every tank should have a blenny. the starry one would compliment the color of the yellow coris wraswse well, IMO.

Thanks for the advice! I'm thinking it was a false reading because I've tested 3 times since then and it keeps coming back as 0ppm. I'll keep monitoring it closely. Also, what was that red-ish fish in your tank that just sits on the corals and Rockwork? That thing was awesome. How hardy are they?

 

[john.m.cole3]

Longnose hawkfish. It eats shrimp and sometimes snails so I don't have any shrimp, but he hasn't touched my snails. Mr. A sells them for $40

 

[SillyBeast67]

Longnose hawkfish. It eats shrimp and sometimes snails so I don't have any shrimp, but he hasn't touched my snails. Mr. A sells them for $40

Awesome! I was gonna pull the trigger on a red hawk fish at my LFS. Do you think the long nose ones are better?

 

[john.m.cole3]

i like the looks of the red or flame hawkfish but they are bad swimmers. the longnose are much better swimmers and now that i haver mine, I like it very much

 

[SillyBeast67]

Well that's something to consider... I'll have to do more research. My LFS can order one for me of I request and have it in with their next shipment... We'll see

 

[john.m.cole3]

these only get to be 2 inches long and look pretty cool also
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+20+1917&pcatid=1917

 

[john.m.cole3]

here's a pic

 

[Jason mack]

Thanks for the advice! I'm thinking it was a false reading because I've tested 3 times since then and it keeps coming back as 0ppm. I'll keep monitoring it closely. Also, what was that red-ish fish in your tank that just sits on the corals and Rockwork? That thing was awesome. How hardy are they?

It could also be that the test was correct and after that your bacteria has taken care of the ammonia, so testing after that would show 0

 

[Jason mack]

here's a pic

what a gorgeous looking fish !!

 

[SillyBeast67]

It could also be that the test was correct and after that your bacteria has taken care of the ammonia, so testing after that would show 0

That could possibly be correct. I've been checking it daily and haven't had any readings so I'm happy lol

 

[SillyBeast67]

here's a pic

Dude that thing is awesome looking! Not a bad price either.. do you know how hardy they are?