how to lower AMMONIA!?!?!??!

[supernareg]

okay i did an ammonia test, and it's above 1ppm !!!!!!
it went from 0 to .25 a week ago, things started dying, sps flesh melted off leaving white skeleton, NOW ABOVE 1!!!!! and it rose above 1 after a 60 % water change (LFS water had no ammonia in it, i tested it before i put it in, maybe like .1ppm, almost 0)

i started to do a little heavier skimming, more wet than usual
othe params

pH = 8.4-8.6
Alk = 2 meq/L
Ammonia = >1!!!!!
Temp = 79.5 steady
Salinity is 1.023
nitrate = under 8
nitrite = under .05

no stray voltage.


cause of my problems = ammonia... and i dont know WHY this happened....

how can i lower ammonia?
ONLY by water changeS?

 

[Boomer]

This must be high ammonia day this is like 3rd or 4th post today.

Something died in your tank and you did not catch it so the ammonia went up. More has now died and it is going up further. You are in really deep do-doo my friend. Your best bet is to get those animals out of the tank yesterday. > 1ppm is deadly. You can do lots of WC but it may continue to climb and may not be fast enough. Get the animals out and siphon the bottom. Look for more dead or dying animals and get them out. Do a 90 % WC, then wait to see what happens to the ammonia level.

You can try adding Amquel to get it down, it is an instant remover. If this is an old or well established tank this may same things. Follow instructions on bottle.

 

[five.five-six]

+1 on Amquel... real temporary but will save your ars in a pinch

 

[supernareg]

i added some today. hopefully my sh!t gets normal again.

 

[Billybeau1]

Man, you got troubles, my friend.

Help me out here. What salt mix do you use ? What brand test kits for alk and calcium and ammonia ?

2 meg/l alk, if it is real , is way too low.

And how do you measure (test) pH ?

Your salinity could also use a bump up (if that measurement is correct)

How do you measure salinity ?


I know, lots of questions but you may not have much time.

 

[supernareg]

i dosed some baking soda to raise the alk, i use the Red Sea test kit. salt = from LFS (their water) i dont mix my own. i tested their water supply with my kit and it was good.

 

[Billybeau1]

Well, I don't put much stock in Red Sea test kits.

You didn't answer a number of my questions. It's kinda like going to the doc. If you don't tell him (or her) what is wrong, he can't fix it.

If you are not testing for other things then say so. It's O.K.

But If we are going to help, we really could use answers to all of my previous questions. And if you dont test for these things, thats fine too. Just say so.

We can and will help, but you gotta lets us know whats going on.

 

[supernareg]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9770920#post9770920 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Billybeau1
Man, you got troubles, my friend.

Help me out here. What salt mix do you use ? What brand test kits for alk and calcium and ammonia ?

2 meg/l alk, if it is real , is way too low.

And how do you measure (test) pH ?

Your salinity could also use a bump up (if that measurement is correct)

How do you measure salinity ?


I know, lots of questions but you may not have much time.

salt mix = i get it from LFS, i tested their water for ammonia,
nitrate, nitrite, pH, alk they were normal.

Test kit = Red Sea for the above tests

pH = red sea's test

Salinity by my hydrometer, which is +- .0005 ( i know this because it's calibrated by a lab grade hydrometer... which is +- .00005, they use it to calibrate the refractometers / digitals)

 

[PSam]

I was given a Red Sea kit from someone getting out of the hobby - the ammonia test ALWAYS read .25 or higher, when other tests were less, or undetectable. The pH test is the only one that was consistent with my other test kits. I would invest in some new kits. If you're only using Red Sea kits , you may not even have an ammonia problem!

 

[Billybeau1]

How's your tank looking today. Did you have any luck getting your alk up ?

I would try a different test kit for ammonia if you can find one. and the alk for that matter.

If things are still looking bad, maybe, like Boomer said, throw some Amquel in there.

 

[supernareg]

i did throw amquel
30 mL for 60 gallon of water, i measured with a sringe.