Help please need info on Ammonia spike

[XMASTER]

Help I have a big problem with me reef tank and seahorse tank Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve bin doing water change every 2 weeks this morning I woke up and I looked at my tank it was all cloudy and the fish looked like they were panting for breath when I tested the water the Ammonia spiked to 2.0 in my Reef tank and my Seahorse tank I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t know what happened nothing had died in any of the tanks I did a 50% water change on the tanks this morning and that did not seem to help.

 

[ezhoops]

Daily water changes of about 20-30% and there must a source for that ammonia.

is your tank cycled?

if the answer is yes then other possibilities could be something died and is decaying in your tank, overfeeding, etc.

give us more specs on your tank, substrate, how long its been set up, filtration, etc.

 

[dantodd]

Are these tanks sharing a common sump or is the water in each tank completely separate?

 

[XMASTER]

Completely separate water. Everything is fine I did a 95% water change on both of the tanks everything is much better I just have to bring up the Ph now.

 

[dantodd]

Very odd. The only thing I've read of that has caused similar things is certain cleaning solutions. I can't remember which ones but someone posted a while ago about some floor cleaner that seems to have caused a tank crash.

edit: from being airborne not a child accidentally dumping a bunch in. I assume that accidental dosing by a child or inexperienced person trying to help is out of the question.

 

[phender]

If you clean your tank glass with windex, 409 or some other ammonia based cleaner, the airborne ammonia can dissolve in your tank water.