Ammonia nitrite and nitrate spikes

aky1220

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So I had my 15 gallon tank for about 6 months now. Prior to this weekend my ammonia, nitrates, and nitrates were at 0. But, after changing my filter from a hang on the back to a canister my parameters started to spike. I added some bacteria cause my local reef store suggested it. What can I do to lower my parameters? Or is it just a waiting game from here. Please help me
 

Azedenkae

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So I had my 15 gallon tank for about 6 months now. Prior to this weekend my ammonia, nitrates, and nitrates were at 0. But, after changing my filter from a hang on the back to a canister my parameters started to spike. I added some bacteria cause my local reef store suggested it. What can I do to lower my parameters? Or is it just a waiting game from here. Please help me
What are the numbers exactly for the 'spike'? And what other biomedia do you have - i.e. rocks, sand, etc.?
 
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aky1220

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What are the numbers exactly for the 'spike'? And what other biomedia do you have - i.e. rocks, sand, etc.?
So i know api test kits arent the best, but its the only I could get.
pH- 8.0
Ammonia - <0.50 ppm
Nitrite - <0.50 ppm
Nitrate - 20 ppm
I have live rocks sand and corals and fish in the tank for about 6 months and everything was fine. I took my water for test at the fish store every week and my water was spot on.
 

Azedenkae

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So i know api test kits arent the best, but its the only I could get.
pH- 8.0
Ammonia - <0.50 ppm
Nitrite - <0.50 ppm
Nitrate - 20 ppm
I have live rocks sand and corals and fish in the tank for about 6 months and everything was fine. I took my water for test at the fish store every week and my water was spot on.
API test kits get a bad rap, they are inaccurate, but not imprecise. I.e. Their values are 'ballpark' values, but is not just wildly off or anything like that. If you measure a same sample multiple twice, you'd expect the same values.

Especially if you checked and your LFS checked and they come out to be around the same value.

At this point I would not be too worried. Much of that nitrate is probably a false reading because nitrite affects nitrate readings, so the moment you have some nitrite your nitrate reading won't be accurate. Nitrite is broadly non-toxic for marine fish, so nothing to worry about. Ammonia though is getting to the point where it can cause some lasting harm.

What I'd suggest is just dosing Prime and riding it out. I doubt it'll last for too long. Prime will render ammonia non-toxic, up to 5ppm (5x Prime dosage), and Prime needs to be re-dosed every two days.

Presuming you have enough live rock + sand, it is just a matter of the nitrification capabilities catching up. Likely your HOB was handling at least some of the nitrification, and now suddenly you just lose a bit of the capacity.

Dosing bottled bac can help, but mostly with just speeding up the seeding process of whatever biomedia is in your canister filter.

Still, I am very surprised that taking out the HOB resulted in such a change. Most people have enough live rock that this really should not occur.
 
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aky1220

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API test kits get a bad rap, they are inaccurate, but not imprecise. I.e. Their values are 'ballpark' values, but is not just wildly off or anything like that. If you measure a same sample multiple twice, you'd expect the same values.

Especially if you checked and your LFS checked and they come out to be around the same value.

At this point I would not be too worried. Much of that nitrate is probably a false reading because nitrite affects nitrate readings, so the moment you have some nitrite your nitrate reading won't be accurate. Nitrite is broadly non-toxic for marine fish, so nothing to worry about. Ammonia though is getting to the point where it can cause some lasting harm.

What I'd suggest is just dosing Prime and riding it out. I doubt it'll last for too long. Prime will render ammonia non-toxic, up to 5ppm (5x Prime dosage), and Prime needs to be re-dosed every two days.

Presuming you have enough live rock + sand, it is just a matter of the nitrification capabilities catching up. Likely your HOB was handling at least some of the nitrification, and now suddenly you just lose a bit of the capacity.

Dosing bottled bac can help, but mostly with just speeding up the seeding process of whatever biomedia is in your canister filter.

Still, I am very surprised that taking out the HOB resulted in such a change. Most people have enough live rock that this really should not occur.

Thank you so much for such a detailed information. I will take your advice and get some prime tmrw. Currently, my canister filter has the same sponges as my HOB i just added (hummus rock(?)) recommended by my LFS. But once again thank you so much for your insight.
 

brandon429

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thats not true above about ammonia, that its being toxic in your system

see this thread, your ammonia is fine:
 

brandon429

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you cant have a lasting ammonia issue in a half year old tank, it doesnt ever happen. your tests are being thrown off.
 

brandon429

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What I'd suggest is just dosing Prime and riding it out. I doubt it'll last for too long. Prime will render ammonia non-toxic, up to 5ppm (5x Prime dosage), and Prime needs to be re-dosed every two days.


when Aze mentions that above, its because he believes a six month old system can uncycle, but you can see from our thread it cannot.

post a pic of your tank, that's critical in determining ammonia in our thread. the pic, not the reported test level.
 
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aky1220

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What I'd suggest is just dosing Prime and riding it out. I doubt it'll last for too long. Prime will render ammonia non-toxic, up to 5ppm (5x Prime dosage), and Prime needs to be re-dosed every two days.


when Aze mentions that above, its because he believes a six month old system can uncycle, but you can see from our thread it cannot.

post a pic of your tank, that's critical in determining ammonia in our thread. the pic, not the reported test level.
8DF07034-0F3B-4FA4-B860-72637FBEE24F.jpeg

This is my tank currently from the picture its hard to tell but the water is pretty cloudy as well
 

Azedenkae

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Thank you so much for such a detailed information. I will take your advice and get some prime tmrw. Currently, my canister filter has the same sponges as my HOB i just added (hummus rock(?)) recommended by my LFS. But once again thank you so much for your insight.
Oh? Curious then. But either way not a big deal, imo just test daily and see which way it progresses. I would imagine there to be a drop.
 

brandon429

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nice tank

see how your fish are distributed normally, the coral is open, plenty of sand and rock surface area...the tanks nh3 free ammonia is in the thousandths ppm which is as low as it will go.

you need to export all these dosers and clouding just to keep up a clean start, do a water change and or use some carbon filtration to pull out the suspended clouding components. *if your sandbed was not originally rinsed clean, then large water changes can kick up some silt and re cloud for different reasons, pour back slowly over the topmost rock area.

you might wonder how can I assess your nh3 status from a tank pic, chemists detest this lol

well, if you track enough seneye threads for reef tanks showing two fish, lots of dilution, post cycle with corals and fish in place, acting normal, you get good at predicting.

we have never, ever, never seen a calibrated seneye machine run outside the thousandths ppm range on tanks exactly like this; no reason yours gets to be the first outlier.

but if you base your chemistry on the reported levels from titration kits, madness ensues and doubt and purchase panic etc.

this cycle is done and not going anywhere, your clouding can easily be new unrinsed sand as a component as well.

if that aquarium couldnt control ammonia down to thousandths, it would compound to lethality overnite killing everything and your fish would be dead or hovering at the top, never eating.


they'll eat right this second *because* there's nothing wrong with your cycle and ammonia is not burning them.

adding reaction doses to false ammonia reads can cause clouding.
 
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brandon429

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i sure was, that is a rocket ship led setup wow looks about $500 or better? i run my whole reef on the equivalent of one of those outputs above that's a strong setup
 
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aky1220

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nice tank

see how your fish are distributed normally, the coral is open, plenty of sand and rock surface area...the tanks nh3 free ammonia is in the thousandths ppm which is as low as it will go.

you need to export all these dosers and clouding just to keep up a clean start, do a water change and or use some carbon filtration to pull out the suspended clouding components. *if your sandbed was not originally rinsed clean, then large water changes can kick up some silt and re cloud for different reasons, pour back slowly over the topmost rock area.

you might wonder how can I assess your nh3 status from a tank pic, chemists detest this lol

well, if you track enough seneye threads for reef tanks showing two fish, lots of dilution, post cycle with corals and fish in place, acting normal, you get good at predicting.

we have never, ever, never seen a calibrated seneye machine run outside the thousandths ppm range on tanks exactly like this; no reason yours gets to be the first outlier.

but if you base your chemistry on the reported levels from titration kits, madness ensues and doubt and purchase panic etc.

this cycle is done and not going anywhere, your clouding can easily be new unrinsed sand as a component as well.

if that aquarium couldnt control ammonia down to thousandths, it would compound to lethality overnite killing everything and your fish would be dead or hovering at the top, never eating.


they'll eat right this second *because* there's nothing wrong with your cycle and ammonia is not burning them.

adding reaction doses to false ammonia reads can cause clouding.
Thank you
So you’re telling me i should be completely fine right?
And crazy enough yes my fish ate and ate acting normal
 
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aky1220

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i sure was, that is a rocket ship led setup wow looks about $500 or better? i run my whole reef on the equivalent of one of those outputs above that's a strong setup
No my LFS runs these lights viparspectra
Theyre only 135ish but i tested with their par meter and i was getting 125 ish on the bottom and almost 300 at the top rock running 50 percent blue and 0 white
Overall great light
 

brandon429

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you are able to cease testing for ammonia and nitrite permanently for this tank.


the rationale for that is twofold: nitrite will never matter anyway, and all reefs control their ammonia just fine after a cycle. if you want to test for nitrate and you invest in an expensive and accurate digital checker for it, that can be handy for algae and coral color tuning

you can test for salinity temp calcium alk as normal but if you'll move on past cycling you'll enjoy the tank better, fix up the clouding so the water looks laser clear and you'll be all set.

a common canister filter ran packed full of pre rinsed charcoal would clear it out, or a big water change if the pour-back can be done without sand clouding.
 

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I guess you’ve stirred up a lot of crap which may be messing with your tests. Has your canister got a temp controller/ heater setup. Your corals seem irritated by something, activated carbon could help.
 
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