lowering ammonia without using live rock

[LekicINC]

Basically, i was looking for a cheap way to lower ammonia levels. A marine biology teacher wanted to set up a tank and we bought as much lr as we could afford, but clearly it was not enought because the ammonia is still at .25. Is there anything i can do?

 

[Aadler]

I think just waiting it out, unless this is old. The ammonia is coming from the live rock, so waiting and things should settle, live rock will help process wastes via the bacteria and worms/pods that live in it.

 

[Entropy]

Yeah you just have to wait and let the bacteria in the tank build up to the point where they can handle the ammonia. Also make sure your test is accurate. A old or inaccurate test kit can drive you nuts.

 

[LekicINC]

there is only 14 lbs of live rock in a 25 gallon tank....so i figure i needed some other breeding ground for the bacteria or an additional way to get the bacteria, like a wet/dry filter, but those are also to expensive.

 

[anthworks]

I tried this stuff in my QT tank and it seemed to help with ammonia...

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Stability.html

 

[Petstorejunkie]

i am sort of supprised that your marine biology teacher doest not already know these answers?! although i did have a marine biology professor come into my store once with fish that were no longer eating and nitrate levels though the roof! when i asked him how often he did water changes he said "never" my fish have always been fine.. all that school and still no sense.
give the live rock time to cycle at least two weeks, if you still see ammonia, you probably had some big sponge on the LR die off and create a big funk, make sure that your protein skimmer is on and functional during this process, you will be surprised how much it will pull out. the stability product mentioned is just about the most bang for buck out these days, and i have had great success with it, but think time and patience is all the perscription youll need.

 

[LekicINC]

The live rock has been in since early december. She has three tanks...2 tens with about 8 pounds of live rock and a 20-something with about 14....all show ammonia being at .25. The test kits are new, not the most accurate brand, but still shoud be able to detect .25 ammonia. Does the lack of sufficient live rock create insufficient bacteria to assist in the nitrogen cycle and thus leave me with ammonia levels that I can get to go down? I am tempted to get some sort of bio something, bio balls, bio wheel, because event though they will cause hight nitrates, they will at least eliminate the ammonia which is worse.
Please help

 

[Acreagedad]

Time! Just give it time! The ocean has been moving for a million gazillion years. Just give it time. No chemicals, just time.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

Bacteria will grow everywhere. You dont need anything in a tank. You just need to wait for their populations to become huge enough to keep any ammonia down. Although without rocks you will have higher levels of nitrates. Because the nitrates are only going to be removed by denitrifying bacteria. Theese guys need an area that is low in oxygen. Such as the pores inside live rock.

Bacteria will grow in the water colum, the glass on rocks, in sandbeds.On your hands, ect.

 

[reverendmaynard]

Since it's in a classroom, your teacher should have no shortage of helpers to keep up a good WC regimine. That being the case, and assuming you're not going to keep difficult corals, just get a HOB filter like the aquaclears. Allow the sponge to become a biofilter (rinse weekly in tank water, not tap), and ammonia problem should be solved.

Or, for the longer term, a good classroom project might be to make some agrocrete rocks yourselves.

 

[LekicINC]

cant put an hob filter on the tank, its got 2 chambers in the back. One has some sponges, the other has a prizim and the return pump. I am helping her do water changes every week. We have a really good ro/di unit as one would imagine, so the ro unit is not bad. Its just weird cause the tanks have been set up for about a year, and still had .25 ammonia levels. So i took all the inhabitants out, put them in a seperate tank, let some rock cycle , lowest ammonia levels go to is .25. I know the test kit works because it got higher during the cycle periods.

 

[reverendmaynard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6600196#post6600196 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LekicINC
cant put an hob filter on the tank, its got 2 chambers in the back. One has some sponges, the other has a prizim and the return pump. I am helping her do water changes every week. We have a really good ro/di unit as one would imagine, so the ro unit is not bad. Its just weird cause the tanks have been set up for about a year, and still had .25 ammonia levels. So i took all the inhabitants out, put them in a seperate tank, let some rock cycle , lowest ammonia levels go to is .25. I know the test kit works because it got higher during the cycle periods.

The test kit may "work" to show elevated levels, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't showing .25 when it's really 0. Have you tried going to a lfs for validation of the results? With those color changing test kits, something as simple as the type/color of the lighting in the room could change the color just a tad, making it appear a little greener than it really is. I use hagen test kits, and the lowest reading on the card (after 0)is .25, with color change from mostly yellow to dark green. It's very difficult to tell the difference between 0 and .25.

In either case, .25 is not very toxic at any normal PH, according to my test kit. It shouldn't pose a problem for any but the most sensitive of animals. Just make sure you add them slowly, and give the tank a couple of weeks to cycle before adding the next.

Making you're own live rock is a good idea too. There's some threads on here where people have used twisted and melted pvc pipe as the backbone for new liverock. It looks really cool, and since it's mostly hollow, it provides excellent bio filtration. Takes a long time, but you might get a batch cured before the semester is out.

 

[LekicINC]

that makses a lot of sense, because all three tanks were reading .25. Yhe i think i will add some things for bacteria to grow on,some good surfaces. Thanks.