high phos, nitrate, and amonia

[rmg]

I have a 30gal tank for about 2.5 yrs. all was well for the first yr or so, then all the Phos, Nitrates and ammonia went sky high. Fish and coral dong fine. But new fish did not make it. Got new test kits as I thought they were old. Did a number of water changes - no luck. I read where the sand might be contaminated so I dumped the whole tank and started over with new sand and distilled water. I re-introduced the coral, rock, and fish. its been 3 days so I tested the water. The same results everything high. I am not an expert an don't have all the hi-tech sumps. I have an in-tank filter with charcoal and a sump on the back of the tank. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hey welcome to reef2reef! What are the numbers of phos, nitrate and ammonia? Are you using RODI water? What about recent additions to your tank?

 

[rmg]

Thanks for getting back to me so fast.
Phos is 10, ammonia 1.0, nitrate 2.0,
no new additions, put old fish, rock and coral back in. just used distilled water from grocery store.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for getting back to me so fast.
Phos is 10, ammonia 1.0, nitrate 2.0,
no new additions, put old fish, rock and coral back in. just used distilled water from grocery store.

I’d just watch longer. What ammonia kit?

 

[rmg]

i use API KITS. it is just strange that I cleaned everything down and new sand. The rock and corals I did not wash or rinse off. I'm guessing that maybe i should have rinsed them in some fresh salt water but felt the little bit of old water on them would not affect the chemistry.

 

[twentyleagues]

Its probably a mis-test. Possibly expired? Or just incorrect. For ammonia anyway.