high ammonia & Nitrate

[rkadach]

Suggestions Please, I travel for work and can only do a water change 1 time per month. I keep loosing coral, talking with others and testing my best guess its due to ammonia and nitrate rising between water changes. Ammonia will usually get to .25 - .5, Nitrate around 10 and sometimes 20 on a rare month. Phosphate 0-.25, nitrite 0, PH 8-8.2. water temp 77
I am looking to add filtration to keep it stable between water changes. I have a large bio load for the tank is the reason for the ammonia issue. I have a total of about 30 fish in my 180, some are large, 4 tangs, fox face, malenarus wrasse.

I use chemi pure elite
considering adding carbon and gfo reactors, someone recommended a sulfer denitrate reactor
should I add all? other suggestions.

Thank you in advance!
tank
180 gal
175 lbs live rock
6 bulb ati
gyre 250
2 hydra power heads
curve 7 protein skimmer
fuge is only about 20 gal's

 

[EmdeReef]

Your tank doesn’t seem to be cycled if ammonia reaches 0.5. It could be a testing error as well. Nitrates at 20 shouldn’t cause issues.

You can add more bacteria in a bottle and more rocks or biomedia for bacteria to colonize.

 

[Malifry97]

Bump! also, what size tank, how much rock and what filter. Also what is the stocking. Full tank shot also.

 

[KrisReef]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Tell us more about your tank, pictures and parameters would help figure out what is happening.

 

[Malifry97]

also welcome!

 

[rkadach]

Your tank doesn’t seem to be cycled if ammonia reaches 0.5. It could be a testing error as well. Nitrates at 20 shouldn’t cause issues.

You can add more bacteria in a bottle and more rocks or biomedia for bacteria to colonize.

the tank is 3 years old, it has been cycled for a long time, I didn't have any issues until I fully stocked with fish, once I added the tangs and they grew larger is when I started having the issues

 

[rkadach]

pics

 

[rkadach]

Bump! also, what size tank, how much rock and what filter. Also what is the stocking. Full tank shot also.

tank
180 gal
175 lbs live rock
6 bulb ati
gyre 250
2 hydra power heads
curve 7 protein skimmer
fuge is only about 20 gal's

6 anthias
1 McCoskers Wrasse
1 tomini tang
1 Blonde Naso
1 Blue Hippo
1 Purple Tang
1 cleaner wrasse
1 malenarus wrasse
4 fire fish
3 gobies
1 tail spot blenny
2 clown fish
1 manderin
1 flame angel
1 copper band butterfly
1 foxface

 

[rkadach]

I had an achilies Tang and Orange Shoulder until recently a return pump failure overnight caused a lack of oxygen and I lost a few fish, I won't be adding the 2 tangs back since the other 4 have been in there for 1.5years

 

[EBNewbie]

0.5 seems (too?) high for a 3 year old tank. Can you try a different test kit?

lack of oxygen

I use a battery-powered air-stone on standby. As soon as it detects a power failure, it starts bubbling.

 

[rkadach]

.5 ammonia has only occurred once typically its .25 when I come home I do a 40 gal water change and drop the ammonia back to 0, that's why I'm thinking additional filtration of some sort may be the answer to avoid it from creeping up while I'm gone, right now its 0 I can try a different test kit once I travel next month but was hoping to take some additional precautions while I'm home for a month to watch it closer and if I add equipment I can watch to make sure no leaks happen at the start of install, My wife feeds the fish, empties the skimmer and cleans the glass but won't do water changes while I'm traveling

 

[Malifry97]

For a tank that old, it has to be a failed test. What test are you using, try using multiple test kits to ensure it is accurate. I think it’s a false test. If it isn’t, I’d add a block of marine pure or another biomedia to add surface area, you may not have enough if it is an accurate test

 

[rkadach]

For a tank that old, it has to be a failed test. What test are you using, try using multiple test kits to ensure it is accurate. I think it’s a false test. If it isn’t, I’d add a block of marine pure or another biomedia to add surface area, you may not have enough if it is an accurate test

I understand that tests especially API can go bad or give false readings, but not only are the tests reading high I have lost most of my coral, all different types, also if you look at the coral line it has bleached out, something has to be causing the coral to die off and coral line to bleach out, so if not the ammonia what else could it be? I have been talking to my LFS and that is the only thing they can attribute to the coral loss

 

[Malifry97]

I understand that tests especially API can go bad or give false readings, but not only are the tests reading high I have lost most of my coral, all different types, also if you look at the coral line it has bleached out, something has to be causing the coral to die off and coral line to bleach out, so if not the ammonia what else could it be? I have been talking to my LFS and that is the only thing they can attribute to the coral loss

I don’t know. I’d up surface area with a marine pure block or two, then dose a whole small bottle of turbo start. Overkill, i know, but it more than likely will work amazing and FAST