Crazy Ammonia spike

[Betex]

You have done so well with the extreme opposite recommendations. Every written material we’ve ever been given justifies this concern


my pushback is only to the referees it’s not to you. It’s very hard to know what to do when about three thousand dollars is teetering on the edge, you are a darn good reefer we can see in the video.

even the crowd reinforcing the alarm is operating with your best interest in mind, they just chose this round to wholeheartedly back api no matter what.

just once more here’s a time where in harmony they agreed api could not be trusted, my search string was “is api accurate”

I completely agree about api test kits but I did Red Sea and api. Now that I think about I think those machines from lfs are api manufactured

 

[Bluefish17]

Wow great information here , yea I have the seachem ammonia badge and it seems to be pretty accurate i love it....it wouldn't hurt to put the seachem alert badge in and see what ammonia reading you get .... beautiful reef tank by the way.

 

[John A!10]

Are you sure you didn’t use any solutions lately such as ammonia neutralizers, dechlorinator or any other additives which contain similar. These could have bonded the ammonia to make it safe for livestock but present in the tests.

 

[Betex]

Are you sure you didn’t use any solutions lately such as ammonia neutralizers, dechlorinator or any other additives which contain similar. These could have bonded the ammonia to make it safe for livestock but present in the tests.

Positive and even test the mixing station in garage in case it was that one that was contaminated but mixing station, rodi all came back 0

 

[brandon429]

Rodi comes back zero due to no active conversion to over report. Among false positives we can search online, api is a third, Red Sea a third, and salifert a third.


there are also times those show zero, results are mixed. If you check my threads linked you’ll see it’s not the single point reading we use, it’s motion. Your whole thread hasn’t been about increasing ammonia, it’s been about a single point (misread)


prediction: you may have lost an sps overnite, because those are sensitive

but no fish, during your lowest oxygen period where true ammonia burn would make them seek oxygen at the top, because you have no free ammonia. Nothing else has died.

if I get two predictions right u gotta consider today that you have been misreading the entire time. Post pics when lights on
B

 

[brandon429]

 

[brandon429]

All those false positives above you can google are mixed among brands.

heres some of our tenured crew agreeing Red Sea over reports like api

Most reliable ammonia test kit?

API and Red Sea have both give false positives is there a trust worthy saltwater ammonia test kit?

www.reef2reef.com

***notice how there isn’t a universal agreement on accuracy, the accuracy claims aren’t based on test kit brand, it’s based on a thread title****

if the tests were known accurate, every search would agree

if they were bad, every search would agree.


our issue here is mighty subjective refs, the kind you don’t want calling your kids ball game

you have only one indicator of tank wide ammonia: a positive kit reading, zero tank symptoms.

@Lasse
one question I have for you: what is the mechanism whereby a totally normal tank stops being able to process ammonia, no meds were added, no top-off water has ammonia, and the tank runs normal every day. With expensive torches and fish and soft corals doing fine, ample surface area. I wanted to invite someone who routinely disagrees with me on most bacterial issues to get a fair perspective on why bacteria here just stopped per the tests, just not the video or the upcoming updates. I’m wanting a fair picture to be presented for the OP.

what is the biological mechanism that could cause this? I claim there is not one. My question isn’t if the test is misreading, we can assume it’s not for this post. I’m wanting to know the mechanism by which reef filters just stop working without cause, and Id like to see a link where it’s been proven happening in another reef if you agree the readings are correct. I was curious of your input due to your years as an aquaculture manager. You have worked with biofilters longer than I have been keeping fish tanks.
B

 

[John A!10]

I don’t think the test kits where inaccurate. I think their is something in your water harmless to livestock, but is messing up your tests. Could be in the salt or something your dosing.

 

[brandon429]

Here’s another where the crowd flops towards false reading, just because, not that the tank itself was a factor.

Ammonia at .25 PPM. Water change or wait?

Hi folks! After my water change last week, my ammonia read 0 (API). Always does. However, after yesterday's water change (approx 20%), the ammonia is reading .25PPM. Tested 3 times. The fish seem fine, but I'm freaking out! I added Microbe-Lift Nite-Out II, but this morning it is still...

www.reef2reef.com

notice how we took ten minutes to solve that one, and again, predictions came before the pics.

 

[brandon429]

When we get updates today showing a normal reef, for the second day in a row, that means our hobby thinks that animals burned by nh3 are symptom free


I wish we had a resident veterinarian to tell us what a cat or dog acts like that all of a sudden has no kidney function. And how long they take to die and become lethargic due to nh3 backup.

only reefs get carte Blanche to be symptom free on the most poisonous compound they’ll ever see.


notice how there isn’t a single link provided to reinforce claims this tank broke its cycle. All links are for the opposite.

 

[brandon429]

@Betex

dont let the passions here dissuade you none of us are mad or angry we just care about the topic since it comes down to predictability vs surprising actions in reefing.

keep posting updates along with the conflicting reads, as we go weeks with fish doing fine + kits showing an alarm, you will end up saving other people’s reefs by this example as they’ll see what misreads cause.


the reason your thread might be one of the most important we will see the whole year is because what you are experiencing affects these high dollar reefing offshoots:

moving aquariums safely to new homes or upgrades


changing out rocks and sand where wanted


combining two reefs together into one, consolidation jobs

removing sandbeds, or cleaning them without killing tanks


skip cycle starts, like what they use at MACNA to control a million dollars in instant skip cycle reefs.


or aquariums that sit in place, looking awesome, can those just lose all their bacteria without cause? if so we are all on eggshells

but if not, we are able to make a reef tank live literally in any vessel we want to reef in. Be it a giant tank, a fishbowl for twenty years, it’s all the same biology when we look objectively

 

[Betex]

Rodi comes back zero due to no active conversion to over report. Among false positives we can search online, api is a third, Red Sea a third, and salifert a third.


there are also times those show zero, results are mixed. If you check my threads linked you’ll see it’s not the single point reading we use, it’s motion. Your whole thread hasn’t been about increasing ammonia, it’s been about a single point (misread)


prediction: you may have lost an sps overnite, because those are sensitive

but no fish, during your lowest oxygen period where true ammonia burn would make them seek oxygen at the top, because you have no free ammonia. Nothing else has died.

if I get two predictions right u gotta consider today that you have been misreading the entire time. Post pics when lights on
B

So far onto day 2 -
-lost 2 sps, 3rd one has some small branches peeling
-no fish, crab, shrimp deaths found.
-ammonia still showing same thing as yesterday no real change.
-Gsp still closed up
-Duncan opened back up
-Gonis are still confused in and out.
-Alk consumption seems normal

so question for today is just leave it alone or do another water change~5g or more

 

[brandon429]

Water changes only. Dosing the extra bacteria was never helpful they use up oxygen way above normal baseline and there is no where in that tank for new bacteria to attach. Since surfaces are full, added bac floats in the water and eats up o2 or competes against it.


pull up any stn or rtn thread where they’re not chasing ammonia that’s your issue. We aren’t testing the params we should be for sps due to all the crowd leading us down the wrong path.

all those open lps corals and happy fish are new proofs for today


dangit I forgot to address lighting power, reduce power quickly like cloudy days, it’s burning the high up sps

 

[brandon429]

We need to reduce your light intensity down to about 60% of current to stop light induced tissue burning. Ramping down lights won’t harm anything.

 

[brandon429]

That turbo snail down bottom left, eating glass algae like normal, he will be first to die if ammonia ever goes above .0x hundredths ppm at any instance for the life of the tank.

 

[Betex]

Water changes only. Dosing the extra bacteria was never helpful they use up oxygen way above normal baseline and there is no where in that tank for new bacteria to attach. Since surfaces are full, added bac floats in the water and eats up o2 or competes against it.


pull up any stn or rtn thread where they’re not chasing ammonia that’s your issue. We aren’t testing the params we should be for sps due to all the crowd leading us down the wrong path.

all those open lps corals and happy fish are new proofs for today


dangit I forgot to address lighting power, reduce power quickly like cloudy days, it’s burning the high up sps

As for current params they seems pretty close to what they usually are NO3 has gone up a little since was at 10-12
NO3- 12-25
PO4- .09
Salinity - 34.5ppm
Alk - 8.2-8.3
Calc- 420-440
Mag - 1415-1430
PH Current - 8.05
TMP 77.5-78

 

[Betex]

We need to reduce your light intensity down to about 60% of current to stop light induced tissue burning. Ramping down lights won’t harm anything.

Yeah I have reduced the lights and t5s kick in for 4hrs thinking about just shutting them off for now for the next few days.

 

[brandon429]

More low o2 if we go days, best to do short photoperiod and lower levels for about a week


need some light period to keep up photosynthesis o2 production.

 

[brandon429]

Oh! You mean t5s only off yes that’s fine

I thought u meant all lights

 

[Righteous]

Have you done an actual ammonia test on your ro/di water? Maybe a chloramine contamination... that’ll give positive ammonia readings.