Lowering NH4 (ammonium)

[808jaymakoa]

For all you saltwater pros heres my question. How do you lower nh4 without affecting nh3? I understand the basics of the difference between nh3 and nh4 and that low ph and temp create a more nh4 rich environment and that swings in ph and temp will elevate nh3 becoming toxic for fish. As you can see my nh3 is near nothing and my ph is low as well as my temp. But my nh4 is increasing. I notice that during the night ph drops .3 and nh4 increases by at least 10 ( not sure the measurment is ppm etc) and in the morning and throughout the day ph rises and nh4 drops back down. And so far even with the ph raising so slightly thru its daily process the nh3 does not increase but with the chance that that nh3 could increase significantly I'm a bit worried. So again my question is how do I decrease nh4? From what I read water changes can hurt if ph of new water is higher and that could turn ammonium into ammonia.

 

[glb]

Do you have anything in the tank yet? Also, what are the nitrite and nitrate readings? It's normal for the ph to go down at night and back up during the day.


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

 

[808jaymakoa]

1 clownfish
2 damsels
1 ps bicolor
1 lawn mower blenny

 

[808jaymakoa]

Yesterday I tested nitrites and nitrates and both were clearly 0

 

[mcarroll]

Ammonium (that what you mean?) doesn't hang around long with nitrifying bacteria, algae, plants as well as other factors using it up or otherwise converting it continuously.

I'm guessing, but it sounds like you have no biofilter yet. Assuming the tank is set up right you should have to do nothing more than wait for your bacteria to come in. (Week or less.)

-Matt


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[808jaymakoa]

Yes I'm talking about ammonium. I have alot of it in my tank. Hopefully it starts to disappear then and ill keep ph and temp down till then

 

[Reefing Madness]

Water changes to take it down immediately.

 

[glb]

Use something like Seachem Prime to detoxify it while it's disappearing to protect your fish.


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

 

[808jaymakoa]

Ok I'll get some seachem prime. The ph is goin up slightly this morning and nh4 is slightly goin down. I'm curious if I should add trace amounts of buffer to bring the ph up a bit more before night fall tonight

 

[glb]

Don't worry about the ph dropping at night. It's going to do that because the lights are off. And using Prime will neutralize the ammonia/um but it won't remove it. It's really a bandaid to save your fish. You do need to find out its source to solve the problem once and for all. You could also add some beneficial bacteria to help the bio filter. Just my 0.02.


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

 

[glb]

Btw, is that a reef monitoring system you have or just an app. It looks cool!


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

 

[808jaymakoa]

I just added some beneficial bacteria and did a 20% water change. Haha it's seneye monitoring system. I got it about a week ago and so far I'm really impressed. That picture I put on here is there app that sends me new readings every 30 minutes. It lets me see all the fluctuations in water parameters thru out the day. I'm waiting for the next reading now because the purified water I put in has a ph of 7 so I don't know how much my ph will drop. If it does I think I'll add a bit of ph buffer and see what happens

 

[808jaymakoa]

New readings after water change

 

[Reefing Madness]

50% water change will take down that number by half.

 

[808jaymakoa]

I was planning on doin a bigger water change but I'm an idiot and spilled the bucket of water all over the carpet. But tomorrow I was gonna do another 25% or more change.

 

[glb]

I put buffer in my topoff water to bring the ph closer to the tank. RO or distilled water can have varied ph.


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

 

[808jaymakoa]

So you dose water before it goes into the tank?

 

[zoalover]

I agree with reefing madness. If the system is out of balance water change will take care of that.

 

[glb]

I just put some buffer in the topoff water if the ph or alk is too far off from the tank.


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.

 

[glb]

I have a nano though, so the topoffs can throw off the ph quickly. In a bigger tank it might not matter.


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12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.