Ammonia will not go away !!!

[sal16cal1]

I have two tidal 110 hob filters for my 75 gallon tank. I have four fish. One 5 inch trigger one 5 inch fox one 2 inch sail fin and lastly a blue spotted puffer. So I am over filtrated and under stocked. Three weeks ago I noticed my water smell. I have no invertebrates.!NOTHING a changed. My tank is a year old. I’ve been testing since and my ammonia is constantly between .08 and .20. I did a 60% water change Monday and I’m measuring at .14 today. What is going on

 

[Spare time]

Probably just testing error. If you have 0 nitrite, then I wouldn't be worried. If you have both elevated then I would actually be concerned. What ammonia test kit is it?

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

I have two tidal 110 hob filters for my 75 gallon tank. I have four fish. One 5 inch trigger one 5 inch fox one 2 inch sail fin and lastly a blue spotted puffer. So I am over filtrated and under stocked. Three weeks ago I noticed my water smell. I have no invertebrates.!NOTHING a changed. My tank is a year old. I’ve been testing since and my ammonia is constantly between .08 and .20. I did a 60% water change Monday and I’m measuring at .14 today. What is going on

That sounds like an overstocked system. Adding that much new water might restart the cycle and cause the ammonia to spike, if you don't have much rock. (@Randy Holmes-Farley is that correct?) Also WAY too many big fish. Upgrade to a 120! If not more!

 

[Spare time]

What does the smell smell like?

 

[KrisReef]

I have two tidal 110 hob filters for my 75 gallon tank. I have four fish. One 5 inch trigger one 5 inch fox one 2 inch sail fin and lastly a blue spotted puffer. So I am over filtrated and under stocked. Three weeks ago I noticed my water smell. I have no invertebrates.!NOTHING a changed. My tank is a year old. I’ve been testing since and my ammonia is constantly between .08 and .20. I did a 60% water change Monday and I’m measuring at .14 today. What is going on

Do you have gravel and do you vacuum it out to remove buildup of detritus?

Do you have any rocks in the tank?

Are you using API test kits? How old are they?

 

[sal16cal1]

Do you have gravel and do you vacuum it out to remove buildup of detritus?

Do you have any rocks in the tank?

Are you using API test kits? How old are they?

It’s fine sand so not I’m not going to vacuum it.

Really 4 fish two of them being 2-3 inches and the two others 4-5 this is an overstocked tank? Really??? Am I nuts 4 in 75 gallon?

 

[KrisReef]

Depends on how a

It’s fine sand so not I’m not going to vacuum it.

Really 4 fish two of them being 2-3 inches and the two others 4-5 this is an overstocked tank? Really??? Am I nuts 4 in 75 gallon?

Depends on how much and what you are feeding them. Excess ammonia suggests that the biological filter is overwhelmed.

Picture of the tank would help with solutions from the gallery

 

[KrisReef]

Still possible that your test results are bogus and things are fine with 4 fishes. No arguing that 4 isn’t many.

 

[KrisReef]

I’m going back to work now, if the fish are not struggling or showing symptoms of distress then I hope nothing is wrong with the fish, but I don’t want to guess wrong and give you false hope. Gl!

 

[jda]

People dose .1 ammonium to their reef tanks to get nitrogen to their corals. Those ranges are fine.

If you are feeding a 5 inch trigger correctly (which is a lot) having a trace of ammonia might just be a normal thing.

Anecdotally, film on the rocks, sand and surfaces will have more ammonia oxidizing bacteria than those tidal filters will. I have Tidal on a tank since I like the surface skim, but it moves water more than it filters it. If you have a bunch of bio material in the basket, then that could be different.

 

[sal16cal1]

Depends on how a


Depends on how much and what you are feeding them. Excess ammonia suggests that the biological filter is overwhelmed.

Picture of the tank would help with solutions from the gallery

 

[sal16cal1]

People dose .1 ammonium to their reef tanks to get nitrogen to their corals. Those ranges are fine.

If you are feeding a 5 inch trigger correctly (which is a lot) having a trace of ammonia might just be a normal thing.

Anecdotally, film on the rocks, sand and surfaces will have more ammonia oxidizing bacteria than those tidal filters will. I have Tidal on a tank since I like the surface skim, but it moves water more than it filters it. If you have a bunch of bio material in the basket, then that could be different.

I am not feeding correctly because I’m too scared this is messed up. I have polyfilter pads and carbon along with the pad it comes with in the tidal basket

 

[sal16cal1]

I’m going back to work now, if the fish are not struggling or showing symptoms of distress then I hope nothing is wrong with the fish, but I don’t want to guess wrong and give you false hope. Gl!

They had cloudy eyes for a couple days and just got done with a fluke treatment but they have been ok for the past two weeks.

 

[jda]

You are probably OK. Unless you post the test kits that you are using and they are know to be dead-on-balls-accurate* for ammonia, you likely have nothing to worry about. When you change that poly, change one at a time.

 

[Sleepingtiger]

I would get a second opinion on your ammonia readings. Take a water sample to your LFS and get a reading.