Ammonia & Nitrate Crisis in QT!

[ChelseaBidwell]

Hi everyone! Since you guys have been SO helpful in the past, I thought you would be the best people to go to! Btw, sorry the post is so long!
I have had a goby/shrimp pair in a 10G QT for almost 2 weeks. From the moment we put fresh RODI water in it (from our RO/DI unit), ammonia has been present. On top of nitrates. This has been an ongoing thing and I am having to do at least a 10% water change EVERY DAY. I cannot for the life of me figure out why there is always a minimum of .25 PPM ammonia and 5 PPM nitrate. I know those are terrible for the shrimp, but I don't know what else to do. Last Saturday, we received our 4 Clowns from LiveAquaria and have had them in a seperate 10G QT. The exact same thing happened with the second tank as the first. A minimum of .25 PPM ammonia and 5 PPM nitrates. I've done upwards of 50% water changes several days in a row and it's right back the next day. Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on? It's not their food, I siphon any leftovers immediately and do water changes every day. Could it possibly be the medications I am putting in their food? Something in my RO/DI unit? Also, someone told me to add NB, and just to make sure to do water changes if nitrates are high? More info on tanks below.

Clown QT (QT #1)
- Bare bottom with 1 PVC elbow for cover
- Dosing CopperPower everyday (goal of 2.5 PPM)
- Aerator and small powerhead running
- Feeding brine/mysis shrimp & krill
- Soaking all food in Selcon, General Cure,
& Focus Day 1

Goby/Shrimp QT (QT #2)
- Sandy bottom with 1 PVC elbow for cover
- No current treatment in water column
- Shrimp has had first molt (last week)
- Soaking food in Selcon
- Feeding brine/mysis shrimp & krill

- Pics of test results over the past 2 weeks for the Goby/Shrimp and last week for the Clowns (tests that yeilded these results were taken after each water change)
- Pics also of the tanks

P.S - I am not having this issue in the DT. I just do small water changes for the nitrates as we are dosing ammonia daily (which is never present when I test) to feed the bacteria until we can add our first set of fish.

Any advice or help would be MUCH appreciated!

 

[Peach02]

What I would do is test your RODI water to see if that is where the ammonia and nitrate is coming from.

 

[ChelseaBidwell]

What I would do is test your RODI water to see if that is where the ammonia and nitrate is coming from.

I had thought about that, but thought there was no way that could happen? Idk, it's our first time with saltwater and this unit. I will definitely test it asap. It's gotta be coming from somewhere.

 

[Peach02]

I had thought about that, but thought there was no way that could happen? Idk, it's our first time with saltwater and this unit. I will definitely test it asap. It's gotta be coming from somewhere.

my understanding is that it is possible depending on your unit and filter cleanliness as RODI systems function to remove things such as metals and chlorine from tap water but I'm not sure if they remove ammonia but again most people don't have problems with RODI having ammonia

 

[ChelseaBidwell]

Hmmm. I'll look into the model and double check. I don't think it could be the filter being dirty, because we have only been using it for about 2 weeks now. It's brand new. We had been buying 80 gallons of distilled water at a time from Walmart up until recently. It got expensive! Haha

 

[ChelseaBidwell]

So, my culprit for the ammonia is Mr. RODI. Testing at .25 PPM. Nitrates are 0 PPM. Guess I will be looking for a new RODI unit unless it's not working properly.

 

[Peach02]

So, my culprit for the ammonia is Mr. RODI. Testing at .25 PPM. Nitrates are 0 PPM. Guess I will be looking for a new RODI unit unless it's not working properly.

id recommend looking at your filters and intake water

 

[ChelseaBidwell]

Will do! Thanks for bringing that to my attention!

 

[SeeFu]

i'm running into the same issue you're having. never thought to check the RO system.

 

[JCrowe86]

Are you testing with api kits? I've read that an api ammonia reading of .025 should effectively be treated as 0%. I know I always had a difference between using api and salifert during my cycle. I could never really tell if ammonia was actually 0 with api where it's just perfectly clear water with salifert which is 0%.