Freaking out

[Crinson0ninja]

I recently upgraded from a 90 gallon tank to 150 gallon. I have filtration and skimmer. Also added bacteria. I used new live sand. I did rinse it a little in new saltwater. (Hopefully didn't wash out the bacteria in it) and used some of my old rock that was already cycled. My lfs recommended having 30" of fish in the new tank. I looked it up and found out it to be true. My ammonia is high. I did buy new fish to get closer to that 30" mark. And I love the fish that I have. But im a worrying type of guy. Should I get more bacteria and also get ammonia catching pads or just let it cycle? I've been doing this just over a year. And though my first small tank that I started off with had high ammonia, when I upgraded the 2 other times, it didn't.

 

[Azedenkae]

I recently upgraded from a 90 gallon tank to 150 gallon. I have filtration and skimmer. Also added bacteria. I used new live sand. I did rinse it a little in new saltwater. (Hopefully didn't wash out the bacteria in it) and used some of my old rock that was already cycled. My lfs recommended having 30" of fish in the new tank. I looked it up and found out it to be true. My ammonia is high. I did buy new fish to get closer to that 30" mark. And I love the fish that I have. But im a worrying type of guy. Should I get more bacteria and also get ammonia catching pads or just let it cycle? I've been doing this just over a year. And though my first small tank that I started off with had high ammonia, when I upgraded the 2 other times, it didn't.

What is your actual ammonia reading?

 

[SakuraSky]

If you're not dosing prime, you should be every 48hrs. Lots of water changes! How many fish did you add and how many fish did you have prior if any that you have moved over? You could dose stability by seachem for 7 days but absolutely keep up with water changes too even though I know its a pain in the butt for a large tank. It'll even out eventually, when I moved my established 90g from someone's house (untouched gravel & filtration) it still went through a cycle too. I personally didn't dose bacteria long term, just added a bottle of spritz zyme at first and lots of water changes/prime

 

[Crinson0ninja]

How many gallons water changes? I will put prime in starting tomorrow. I had 7 fish and now I'm at 11.

 

[tamanning]

You went from 7 to 11 in one jump without letting your bio catch up. It will but it is a process. you really should have added them one or two at a time. anyway for the time being water changes and son activated charcoal should help keep you fish alive until your bio catches up.

 

[Crinson0ninja]

I did. And from what I was told to get the bio right for a tank my size, I should have 30" of fish. After I was told that, I looked it up to see if that was correct. So I did that. Is 10 gallons every other day good for the water changes? I will do charcoal and ammonia remover pads.

 

[Azedenkae]

I did. And from what I was told to get the bio right for a tank my size, I should have 30" of fish. After I was told that, I looked it up to see if that was correct. So I did that. Is 10 gallons every other day good for the water changes? I will do charcoal and ammonia remover pads.

Yeah that's not correct, where did you get that info from?

Fish-in cycling is complicated and takes time. Adding too many fish at once can lead to massive spikes in ammonia, enough that Prime cannot detoxify all of it and/or enough is produced that can start killing things before a water change or similar can be done.

Carbon (activated charcoal, etc.) does not affect ammonia by the way, not sure where that came from.

You still have not said how much ammonia you are reading. That can make a big difference in regards to what you need to do. Low enough and you may not need to do anything aside from dosing Prime for example.

 

[Crinson0ninja]

I got it from beginners reef and also from lfs. The charcoal came from an earlier reply.

 

[Crinson0ninja]

How many gallons water changes and how often? And what about the ammonia removing pads?

 

[Azedenkae]

I got it from beginners reef and also from lfs.

To begin with, estimating the amount of fish that can be added to an aquarium based on just lengths is kinda terrible, given different fish having different requirements. I understand it is meant to be a 'rule of thumb', but even for that that chart is terrible.

Also because 'unmature' aquarium can mean such different things. Is a low capacity for nitrification considered 'unmatured'? What about zero capacity at all? That's a weird chart to see tbh.

The charcoal came from an earlier reply.

Yeah I know, I am saying the earlier reply is incorrect.

I am not judging you or calling you out by the way, just noticing that you may have been significantly mis-informed and want to try and provide you with some more info.

 

[Azedenkae]

How many gallons water changes and how often?

How much ammonia are you measuring?

And what about the ammonia removing pads?

They work, but is not something you want to have to use long term. Long term it should be nitrifying microbes that handle your ammonia.

 

[Crinson0ninja]

Any info would be great. While I don't have expensive fish, I would prefer not to have to keep replacing them. Also I don't want to kill the little guys either.

 

[Crinson0ninja]

I have the test drops. And it was greenish. A light lime. I know that isn't the answer you were really looking for but can't find my chart to see where it is exactly. And I wouldn't permanently use the pads. Just to help for now.

 

[krash7172]

I would say those fish #'s might be appropriate AFTER cycling. You gotta get there slowly. The big question is what is your ammonia doing? Going up? down?

 

[Crinson0ninja]

I will do 10% water changes every other day and use the pads until the ammonia is more yellowish. Also get a new set of testers to get the chart again so I dont refer to it by colors anymore.

 

[Crinson0ninja]

I'm gonna check the ammonia tomorrow afternoon and see if it changes at all. I would have got water and the pads tonight but the stores are closed.

 

[Crinson0ninja]

Should I get prime and dose it to help also?

 

[SakuraSky]

Should I get prime and dose it to help also?

Yes get prime regardless, you can dose up to 5x the amount for high ppms. It bonds to the ammonia and then releases it after 48hrs so it makes it easier for the bio load to absorb it. Also 10% is no where near enough, you need to be doing a minimum of 25g per change (I'd reccomend changing at least 30% of the water tbh for your size tank) for it to even effect the ammonia levels. Get a big sturdy tote that holds about 25g or more. If you are unsure of how to do quick large changes I'd be more than happy to show you my process.
Also if you don't have a chart, you can look online and they have charts you can print out if you lost yours for the test kits. What test kit are you using?

 

[Azedenkae]

I have the test drops. And it was greenish. A light lime. I know that isn't the answer you were really looking for but can't find my chart to see where it is exactly. And I wouldn't permanently use the pads. Just to help for now.

Sounds like it is between 0.5 to 1ppm or somewhere thereabouts, which is not too bad.

Should I get prime and dose it to help also?

Okay, here's my recommendation.

Seachem suggests dosing 1x dosage per 1ppm ammonia, up to 5x dosage (5ppm). So.

1. Don't add anymore fish, until your tank can handle ammonia.
2. Dose Prime based on 2x your ammonia reading, up to 5x dosage. Re-dose every two days as needed.
3. Measure ammonia every day and see which direction it is moving in. As it approaches 5ppm, say 4ppm, do as big a water change as you can/prefer to lower it.
4. Repeat (2) and (3) until your tank can handle the ammonia produced. Remove ammonia pads and monitor to see that is the case.
5. Add fish slowly, repeat (4) each time.

 

[SakuraSky]

Yes get prime regardless, you can dose up to 5x the amount for high ppms. It bonds to the ammonia and then releases it after 48hrs so it makes it easier for the bio load to absorb it. Also 10% is no where near enough, you need to be doing a minimum of 25g per change (I'd reccomend changing at least 30% of the water tbh for your size tank) for it to even effect the ammonia levels. Get a big sturdy tote that holds about 25g or more. If you are unsure of how to do quick large changes I'd be more than happy to show you my process.
Also if you don't have a chart, you can look online and they have charts you can print out if you lost yours for the test kits. What test kit are you using?

I did see the post about the color chart too, so that's good you got a new one. Also you wouldn't need to do a 30% change every other day but every 4 or 5 days would be ideal in your situation. Get that ammonia out of there.