High Ammonia? Dosing Vinegar?

Jay1661 · Mar 7, 2018

Hey all! Made a post the other day concerning water quality and stated that my ammonia levels are at .25ppm, in BOTH of my tanks. 10g and a 29g. I was told that it could be an issue. Lo and behold I believe I may have lost my diamond goby today to ammonia burn. Im in search of ways to lower my ammonia levels.

I am extremely stingy with food in fear of over feeding and spiking my ammonia. So I know that is not the issue.

Both tanks are filtered by filter floss that are changed once a week. Followed by passive filtration of some ceramic media in a mesh bag. I do 15-20% water changes weekly. Temperatures are consistently
77.5. PH is always between 8.0-8.1.

What are my options as far as lowering my ammonia? After a little research I found I can lower my ammonia by lowering my temperature and increasing my PH. Should I consider dosing vinegar? What are some pros and cons? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

EDIT: As far as bioload. My 10g has a larger bioload than my 29g.
handful of crabs snails in each
10g - 2 tiny ocellaris clowns and a red cap goby
29g- 2 ocellarris clowns

Brew12 · Mar 7, 2018

Jay1661 said:
Hey all! Made a post the other day concerning water quality and stated that my ammonia levels are at .25ppm, in BOTH of my tanks. 10g and a 29g. I was told that it could be an issue. Lo and behold I believe I may have lost my diamond goby today to ammonia burn. Im in search of ways to lower my ammonia levels.

I am extremely stingy with food in fear of over feeding and spiking my ammonia. So I know that is not the issue.

Both tanks are filtered by filter floss that are changed once a week. Followed by passive filtration of some ceramic media in a mesh bag. I do 15-20% water changes weekly. Temperatures are consistently
77.5. PH is always between 8.0-8.1.

What are my options as far as lowering my ammonia? After a little research I found I can lower my ammonia by lowering my temperature and increasing my PH. Should I consider dosing vinegar? What are some pros and cons? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

EDIT: As far as bioload. My 10g has a larger bioload than my 29g.
handful of crabs snails in each
10g - 2 tiny ocellaris clowns and a red cap goby
29g- 2 ocellarris clowns

If you are using API test kits you can consider 0.25 ammonia to be effectively zero. Not sure if it is some test kits or some tanks, but it is a commonly observed issue.

Unfortunately, it is likely some other reason that caused the loss of the cute little guy.

Jay1661 · Mar 7, 2018

Brew12 said:
If you are using API test kits you can consider 0.25 ammonia to be effectively zero. Not sure if it is some test kits or some tanks, but it is a commonly observed issue.

Unfortunately, it is likely some other reason that caused the loss of the cute little guy.

Yes that is the kit I use to test my ammonia. Bitter sweet knowing I may not have an ammonia issue. But not knowing what happened to my goby.

Brew12 · Mar 7, 2018

Jay1661 said:
Yes that is the kit I use to test my ammonia. Bitter sweet knowing I may not have an ammonia issue. But not knowing what happened to my goby.

Are these display tanks or are the quarantine systems? Maybe a better question is if they have rock in them with plenty of flow?

Jay1661 · Mar 7, 2018

Brew12 said:
Are these display tanks or are the quarantine systems? Maybe a better question is if they have rock in them with plenty of flow?

yes, both display tanks. 1lb of rock for each gallon. We dont have a powerhead in the 10g.

Brew12 · Mar 7, 2018

Jay1661 said:
yes, both display tanks. 1lb of rock for each gallon. We dont have a powerhead in the 10g.

And how long have they been set up? It's possible you are under feeding them. If the fish have been in there over a month I wouldn't worry about over feeding so much.

Jay1661 · Mar 7, 2018

Brew12 said:
And how long have they been set up? It's possible you are under feeding them. If the fish have been in there over a month I wouldn't worry about over feeding so much.

29g has been up for 5 months. 10g just a little over a month old. You could tell the last few weeks that by goby had stopped sifting sand for whatever reason. He began to get noticeably thinner, which is why I started "hand" feeding him awhile back. Do you have any tips for feeding? My older pair of clownfish seem like they will eat until they explode. I have seen people say "feed your fish no more than what they can eat in 30 seconds" but they eat incredibly fast, i'd be feeding them an entire cube of brine shrimp a day.

Brew12 · Mar 7, 2018

Jay1661 said:
29g has been up for 5 months. 10g just a little over a month old. You could tell the last few weeks that by goby had stopped sifting sand for whatever reason. He began to get noticeably thinner, which is why I started "hand" feeding him awhile back. Do you have any tips for feeding? My older pair of clownfish seem like they will eat until they explode. I have seen people say "feed your fish no more than what they can eat in 30 seconds" but they eat incredibly fast, i'd be feeding them an entire cube of brine shrimp a day.

I'm probably not the best person to ask. I'm a very heavy feeder. I have a fuge with fast growing chaeto to help keep nutrients in check. I try to feed my fish a lot of high quality frozen foods.

There is a Nutrition section of the forums which would be a great place to get feeding advice.