Ammonia Problems

em805

em805

Premium Member
The past two times I have measured my ammonia I have measured it at .25. I followed up with 15% water changes each time and tested again at .25 a day later. I not changed anything in my system in two years, except adding Matrix Carbon to my filter sock in my sump--as a result of the recent ammonia problems. I also tested my RO water at 0 for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate (thought perhaps it may have gone bad). My tank is a mixed reef and have also noticed that there has been some receeding in a one of my palthoa colonies and my xenias have not been pulsing--SPS has been lookin great. I have the following fish in my tank:

* Yellow tang
* Flameback angel
* Bicolor blenny
* Yellow watchman goby
* Maroon clown
* Fridmani
* Green Chromis (the one I started the tank with)
* Clown Shrimp - Hymenocera picta
* 3-4 Camel shrimp (hey they are hard to spot)
* The usual load of snails and hermit crabs
* 2 Queen Conch

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Look around real close to see if something died in there.

Also how much biological filtration do you have ? You may just be at the limit on bio-load.
 
It may just be a kit error. To be honest, I never measure ammonia in my tank, and don't generally recommend that others bother either unless there is some particular reason to.
 
AMMONIA PROBLEMS

AMMONIA PROBLEMS

I looked around everything seems to be accounted for with no deaths in my tank. As for my filtration I use a 100g rated protien skimmer on my 60 gallon corner tank--I know it's recomended to use one that is rated for 2x the tank volume but I couldn't find one that would fit in my stand. I also use a 20g sump with a filter sock--which I clean out once a week. I mainly depend on my sand bed and live rock in my tank for bio-filtration. I have >90lbs <120lbs of live rock and about 3 inches of sand bed.

Is it normal to have ammonia in the tank while there is no sign of nitrite and nitrate? I realize the ammonia is in the beginging of the cycle but I would think some of the effects would be evident throughout the entire cycle.

Would you recommend buying a different test kit and testing it again?
 
It is not normal to have ammonia elevated in a 2 year old reef tank, regardless of nitrite or nitrate. In my tank, I suspect that my macroalgae take up the ammonia even before it is converted into nitrite or nitrate, since they often more effectively take it up that way.

Personally, I wouldn't do anything if all organisms seem fine, but if you want to do something, getting a different brand kit may be in order. :)
 
Ammonia Problems

Ya, I thought it was odd also to have an elevated ammonia in my tank but, everything does seem fine--except for the Xenia and the paly colony I mentioned. as a matter of fact my frogspawn just droped a bud a couple of days ago.

I think I'll take your advice and use a different kit to test my parameters.

I'm actually thinking of switching one of the fish in my main tank to another tank to decrease the bio-load--more than likely the chromis or the clown... Let me know what you think. Thanks again for the help!
 
Re: Ammonia Problems

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8295020#post8295020 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by em805

I think I'll take your advice and use a different kit to test my parameters.

I'm actually thinking of switching one of the fish in my main tank to another tank to decrease the bio-load--more than likely the chromis or the clown... Let me know what you think. Thanks again for the help!
Click to expand...

You have plenty of filtration. I wouldnt bother moving the fish. I doubt ammonia is the issue but if you are seeing some signs of trouble in your corals, maybe one of the other parameters is out of whack. How does everything else look? Cal/Alk pH etc.
 
Ammonia Problems

My most recent paramaters (yesterday) appear below... So I was thinking, since my fish have been growing for two years would that mean that the bio-load has increased substantially and that because of that I should consider downsizing the quantity of fish in the tank? I know you said I have adequate filtration but, I'm just thinking out loud--not trying to be a smart alek or anything so please don't take it that way. I'm just trying to pick your brain so I really appreciate your help :rollface:
 
You didnt mention Alkalinity. Do you test for that ?

There has to be a reason why all of a sudden you xenias stopped pulsing and your colonies dont look good. Something changed.

I wouldnt blame bioload just yet.
 
...Heh, I ran out of alk tests last week and haven't been able to get more. Do you think that could be throwing my ammonia out of wack or just causing an additional chemical imbalance aside from the ammonia chemical inbalance? I have not changed any of my dosing since my last alk test, so I didn't even suspect it...
 
No they are not related, however, I'm still not convinced your ammonia is out of whack.

Think....... You havent changed anything else since your corals started not looking good ?
 
I got a chiller but that was 4 months ago and ever since my temp has been alot more stable... Also, I did add Matrix carbon yesterday after my water change to see if it would make a difference with the ammonia. I feed my fish every other day one cube of formula 2 and about 15 small nutri-fin pellets--but that's not changed in 2 years. Honestly, thats it.
 
Just checked it, still reading .25 in ammonia :(. I'm reluctant to do another water change since I've done two last week already and the carbon didn't seem to help with the ammonia...
 
Xenia looks worse--looks like it's shrinking... None of those additives on hand but, I can get some.
 
Water changes are not likely a good way to go for ammonia problems, since something is generating it continually if the value is real.
 
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