Ammonia...am I missing something here?

[KEITHHAYS_2000]

Size of tank: 75 gallons
Age of tank 3 Months old
Sump: We are in the process of making one
Skimmer: Grr...I'm drawing a blank here...it's a HOB skimmer and I can't find my cheat sheet with the brand and type
nitrate: 0
nitrite: 0
ammonia: .25 (tried the test three times with API Saltwater masters kit and got three different results .50, .25 and just shy of .25)
temperature: 78 F
Water source: RO
Salinity: 1.024
Alkalinity: 8.4
Lights T5
Calcium: 420
Magnesium: I'm not sure. Don't have a test for it.
Dosing: Chemi-pure for phosphates, and although we have a PH buffer, we haven't used it since we first set up the tank

We have two filters: a Cascade 1000 cannister filter, and a HOB standard Cascade filter that is rated for a 100 gal. tank. It was leftover from our freshwater days, and we thought it couldn't hurt to keep using it until we decided what we wanted to do with our primary filtration method. We cleaned it throughly, and replaced all the cartridges to be safe in setting up the new tank. Both filters have been with the new saltwater setup from the beginning.

We have 75 lbs of live-rock, roughly 20 lbs of base rock which has been in our tank since about the beginning. The live rock was added in groups of 20 lbs over the first week or more.

Livestock: We have two maroon clowns, 2 blue chromis and one Kole Eye Tang. 12 Hermits, 2 peppermints, 1 coral banded shrimp, 4 turbos and a few various smaller snails. We also have a few beginnner corals...finger leather coral, frilly green mushroom and a xenia. Quite a few hitchiker creatures...bristle worms, strange looking white snail/slug like creatures that I finally found ID'd on someone else's thread several weeks ago that escapes my memory at the moment, but is beneficial to the aquarium.

So here's my question...where is the ammonia coming from? We (well my husband does while I supervise...haha) do 10% water changes weekly while cleaning off and rinsing out our filters. We are using Reef Crystals for our saltwater mix. We top off every two days with a gallon of fresh RO water. We have good water movment, with two Koralia powerheads. We DID have an "oh ****" moment on Wednesday. The last water change done Tuesday apparantly didn't include turning the cannister filter back on after we were done. I discovered it the next day, when I noticed that there wasn't much water movment at the top of the tank from the return. I had tested the ammonia the day after the water change, and noticed it at .25. Checked all other params, and everything looked spot on. After about a half hour of wondering what the problem was, I checked the cannister, and whoops! Hubby forgot to plug it back up. By the end of that day, the ammonia was reading zero. Now, over the last two days I've noticed the weird spike.

So what could be causing it? Is it possibly die-off from leaving the cannister filter off for 24 hours? Everything else looks normal. The fish are eating like little piglets, no stress, or breathing changes. No unusual behavior. Everyone seems to be healthy and happy. We've been in freshwater for 10+ years and this is our first saltwater tank. So I'm not an uber-noob...just a minor-noob.

So as a minor-noob...am I missing something here?

(btw, my apologizes in advance if I'm over doing it on the params...I think I've lurked too long on the forum and have to skim over multiple posts of...more info please...haha...so this may be a bit overkill) :spin2:

Many things could be causing the ammonia, but the most likely thing is that 3 months is a very young tank for the number of animals in it. All of the filtration you are using is problamatic for saltwater. If the filters you are using aren't completely cleaned out every 2-3 days, the contents are going to decay and cause a continuous stream of ammonia to be produced and because the tank is so new, it can't cycle it fast enough. What ever the brand of skimmer, it probably is too small for this tank, but at 3 months, it isn't the cause of the problem, at least not yet. If you were running any of the filters with carbon or were using dechlorinator for topoff water, during the first 2 months, you have not cycle at all and are effectively cycling now with expensive livestock.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

Many things could be causing the ammonia, but the most likely thing is that 3 months is a very young tank for the number of animals in it. All of the filtration you are using is problamatic for saltwater. If the filters you are using aren't completely cleaned out every 2-3 days, the contents are going to decay and cause a continuous stream of ammonia to be produced and because the tank is so new, it can't cycle it fast enough. What ever the brand of skimmer, it probably is too small for this tank, but at 3 months, it isn't the cause of the problem, at least not yet. If you were running any of the filters with carbon or were using dechlorinator for topoff water, during the first 2 months, you have not cycle at all and are effectively cycling now with expensive livestock.

Ouch! Actually...the tank HAS cycled. Outside of the initial cycling of the tank after we set it up, ammonia levels have been zero for the three months it's been running. I would think in that amount of time, considering the amount of live rock, live substrate we used, and being deligent in water changes and cleaning out our filters regularly, that cycling wouldn't be an issue, would it? Don't get me wrong...the first month we had the tank we rushed the fish purchase. Two Maroons and two chormis, as well as the 'cuc' added was way too much. Luckily for us, what we did right I think outweighed what we did wrong. The fish gods were smiling on us! Well that and we discovered Reef Central's website. I think that had a lot to do with it too. :beer:

*****Update on ammonia levels. We checked the holding tank for the RO water, and it reads zero on ammonia. We checked the DT again tonight and it was also zero. We confirmed with the LFS with their test, and it was also zero. Looks like it must have been from the cannister filter sitting for 24 hours then and everything seems to be settling back to our normal happy ocean community. Yay!

Good news as well...hubby has the sump/refugium in place and we will be doing a trial run tomorrow with the pumps and return. I have a couple of questions about the refugium/sump, but I'll start another thread for that so as not to confuse this one.

THANK YOU everyone for your replies. I was pretty sure I knew the answer, I just needed a little hand holding to make me feel better.

 

[KEITHHAYS_2000]

Ouch! Actually...the tank HAS cycled. Outside of the initial cycling of the tank after we set it up, ammonia levels have been zero for the three months it's been running. I would think in that amount of time, considering the amount of live rock, live substrate we used, and being deligent in water changes and cleaning out our filters regularly, that cycling wouldn't be an issue, would it? Don't get me wrong...the first month we had the tank we rushed the fish purchase. Two Maroons and two chormis, as well as the 'cuc' added was way too much. Luckily for us, what we did right I think outweighed what we did wrong. The fish gods were smiling on us! Well that and we discovered Reef Central's website. I think that had a lot to do with it too. :beer:

*****Update on ammonia levels. We checked the holding tank for the RO water, and it reads zero on ammonia. We checked the DT again tonight and it was also zero. We confirmed with the LFS with their test, and it was also zero. Looks like it must have been from the cannister filter sitting for 24 hours then and everything seems to be settling back to our normal happy ocean community. Yay!

Good news as well...hubby has the sump/refugium in place and we will be doing a trial run tomorrow with the pumps and return. I have a couple of questions about the refugium/sump, but I'll start another thread for that so as not to confuse this one.

THANK YOU everyone for your replies. I was pretty sure I knew the answer, I just needed a little hand holding to make me feel better.

Sorry, sometimes I am just writing the factual stuff and forget about tone. Not intentional. I am glad everything is going well. Canister filters are problem children in that reguard.

 

[tmz]

So what could be causing it? Is it possibly die-off from leaving the cannister filter off for 24 hours?

Yes. It's always important to clean out a canister filter after it is stagnant for a period of time, in power outages for example. The water in it will quickly become anoxic ,bacteria will die and in some cases sulfate reducing bacteria may take hold producing toxic hydrogen sulfide.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

Sorry, sometimes I am just writing the factual stuff and forget about tone. Not intentional. I am glad everything is going well. Canister filters are problem children in that reguard.

Oh not a problem. I know we've made mistakes. Fortunately our livestock are more forgiving of us, then I am of myself. I've fallen head over heels for the little buggers and all their different personalities. I hate that anything we may do might be hurting them. We are trying to go forward doing the right thing. So I appreciate any and all feedback we get.

 

[Mrs. Gixxerman]

So what could be causing it? Is it possibly die-off from leaving the cannister filter off for 24 hours?

Yes. It's always important to clean out a canister filter after it is stagnant for a period of time, in power outages for example. The water in it will quickly become anoxic ,bacteria will die and in some cases sulfate reducing bacteria may take hold producing toxic hydrogen sulfide.

Thank you. I had a feeling that was the case, but was really looking for confirmation of it.

 

[Angel*Fish]

You have 75 lb of LR? I would either do what others are saying and regularly clean the canisters or disconnect them completely. I'd also add some more rock. Be sure you have plenty of circulation within the tank and that your skimmer is running optimally. Ammonia above .25 is cause for concern for your fish. Keep an eye on your turbos, if they are the big kind, they can die and cause a spike. If they are Mexican turbos, they are more likely to die as they are cool water animals.

I would check into the skimmer you have and make sure it's adequate.

Just fyi, coral banded shrimp are known to kill other shrimp, worms and snails. The later two being more valuable to your tank than the CBS.