High ammonia

[Mrod91]

Hey guys
I have a Fluval 13.5
Discovered yesterday I have ammonia in my tank
I did a 20% water change last night...
Would it be safe to do another one today or do it tomorrow?

what other steps can I take to get rid of it.

 

[Reefer5640]

How long has the tank been up and cycling?

 

[tuco2018]

I have same tank
Cycled it using dry rock , and a piece of shrimp aswell as one and only

I have never detected ammonia

Just nitrites and nitrates

 

[Mrod91]

How long has the tank been up and cycling?

tank has been up for 8 months now

 

[Reefer5640]

Wow! What inhabitants do you have? What source of fresh water are you using to top off your tank? Is it possible it’s a bad test kit?

 

[Mrod91]

Wow! What inhabitants do you have? What source of fresh water are you using to top off your tank? Is it possible it’s a bad test kit?

i have 2 clown fish and a wrasse
Like 4 torch corals, a lot of zoas that won’t open up. I’m worried honestly but I know my tank will pull through.
I think it’s because I’ve been over feeding the fish, so that built up the ammonia

I have a RODI water filtration system so that’s how I mix my salt water and top offs

 

[Ksull72487]

i have 2 clown fish and a wrasse
Like 4 torch corals, a lot of zoas that won’t open up. I’m worried honestly but I know my tank will pull through.
I think it’s because I’ve been over feeding the fish, so that built up the ammonia

I have a RODI water filtration system so that’s how I mix my salt water and top offs

20% water change is out of the question in this tank sometimes. No more than 40%. But on the next round change out more. 10-20% is what I call routine maintenance but that’s not guranteed. I have done 40% in a biocube. Go a little more next time maybe something died off. Your not working with a whole lot of water volume either. Probably 10-12 gallons tops. Change weekly 10-20% go biweekly change more. Do I large water change next go around and see if that corrects the issue. No more than 30-40%

 

[CrazyCrab]

Get prime to neutralize it otherwise its toxic.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’d like to know the measured value and the kit used before making any recommendation.

real elevated ammonia is fairly unlikely.

 

[Mrod91]

I’d like to know the measured value and the kit used before making any recommendation.

real elevated ammonia is fairly unlikely.

Used the API test kit.
5ml water in the tube

 

[Reefer5640]

Just out of curiosity, what level of ammonia did it show and what made you want to test for ammonia at 8 months in? If it’s hard to distinguish it’s likely there’s no ammonia. If it’s super high there may be an issue. I’ve found ammonia test kits to not be very reliable and I usually watch my inhabitants for stress rather than rely on the hobby grade test kits. In fact I don’t test for ammonia ever again once the tank is cycled (unless a large amount of die off or accidental overfeed like when my 4 year old fed the fish a whole jar of pellets). They’re great for initial cycling and determining if there’s a lot of ammonia in the tank but once the levels start to drop I keep an eye on nitrates.

 

[Mrod91]

Just out of curiosity, what level of ammonia did it show and what made you want to test for ammonia at 8 months in? If it’s hard to distinguish it’s likely there’s no ammonia. If it’s super high there may be an issue. I’ve found ammonia test kits to not be very reliable and I usually watch my inhabitants for stress rather than rely on the hobby grade test kits. In fact I don’t test for ammonia ever again once the tank is cycled (unless a large amount of die off or accidental overfeed like when my 4 year old fed the fish a whole jar of pellets). They’re great for initial cycling and determining if there’s a lot of ammonia in the tank but once the levels start to drop I keep an eye on nitrates.

my corals seem upset. My zoas won’t open, some melted, gsps won’t open and an Acan lord I have is falling apart.
took my water to test at the lfs, they told me I had ammonia.

 

[Reefer5640]

What’s your temp? Did they say what the level of ammonia was? I’d say another water change isn’t going to hurt. If you’re concerned about changing too much water I’ll say this, I’ve moved a lot of tanks and that is a 99% water change. The only time I’ve ever had a problem moving a tank is when I reused the original water. Your beneficial bacteria resides in and on the rock so as long the salt you’re using has relatively close parameters to your tank you should be fine. However, if your salt mix has elevated levels of alk, Ca, and mag then maybe don’t do a huge water change. Rather, do multiple over the course of the next couple of days so you don’t shock your corals with too much of a swing. Keep in mind not to adjust your alk, Ca, and mag too much in a 24 hr period.

 

[Spieg]

Seems unlikely that over feeding would spike Ammonia that much in an 8 month old. May be another problem is killing stuff off and decomposition is raising the Ammonia level as a result?

 

[Reefer5640]

Also what are your nitrate, pH, SG, phosphate, and might as well throw in alk, Ca, and mag if you’ve got em handy. Like @Spieg just mentioned. There’s most likely something else at play here so we might want to start looking at everything.

 

[Mrod91]

What’s your temp? Did they say what the level of ammonia was? I’d say another water change isn’t going to hurt. If you’re concerned about changing too much water I’ll say this, I’ve moved a lot of tanks and that is a 99% water change. The only time I’ve ever had a problem moving a tank is when I reused the original water. Your beneficial bacteria resides in and on the rock so as long the salt you’re using has relatively close parameters to your tank you should be fine. However, if your salt mix has elevated levels of alk, Ca, and mag then maybe don’t do a huge water change. Rather, do multiple over the course of the next couple of days so you don’t shock your corals with too much of a swing. Keep in mind not to adjust your alk, Ca, and mag too much in a 24 hr period.

my temperature is about 78 degrees.

the only other thing I could maybe think of is that I’ve had a salinity issue for like two weeks since I upgraded my light to a HD Prime. The top came off so now water evaporates faster.
caught the tank at 1.029-1.030
Right now it’s at 1.027
And it’s been on and off 1.027-1.029.
I’m still trying to figure out the exact amount to top off

 

[Mrod91]

Also what are your nitrate, pH, SG, phosphate, and might as well throw in alk, Ca, and mag if you’ve got em handy. Like @Spieg just mentioned. There’s most likely something else at play here so we might want to start looking at everything.

Please see above.. maybe that’s the issue?

 

[Spare time]

When you clean the sponge in the back (assuming you have that), are you using salt water? Are you doing a similar thing to any of your biomedia (aka the ceramic rings in the back)?

 

[Mrod91]

When you clean the sponge in the back (assuming you have that), are you using salt water? Are you doing a similar thing to any of your biomedia (aka the ceramic rings in the back)?

hmmmm I haven’t changed that in a month or so... or cleaned the sponge.
My LFS told me I wasn’t supposed to touch that... which I didn’t believe BUT I just refrained from doing it weekly like I used to.

 

[smacbride]

my temperature is about 78 degrees.

the only other thing I could maybe think of is that I’ve had a salinity issue for like two weeks since I upgraded my light to a HD Prime. The top came off so now water evaporates faster.
caught the tank at 1.029-1.030
Right now it’s at 1.027
And it’s been on and off 1.027-1.029.
I’m still trying to figure out the exact amount to top off

Put a line on your tank somewhere after you get the salinity back in order. Then you know how much RODI water to add as it evaporates.

A lot of people who go topless use ATO systems as well.