HELP Ammonia :(

[eric.20]

Just to give a little bit more information, we had a 20G tank and upgraded it to a Reefer 350. We checked the parameters and ammonia was a little bit higher and then it dropped to 0. then after 1 1/2 months we decided to switch our corals and hermit crabs ( we dont have any fish) and the parameters were fine too. all of a sudden ammonia rises to 8.0. We went to our LFS and he asked us question about our filter. we told him that we have one cup and one sock where the water goes through first and we washed the sock for the first time after now 2 months. he said that's the reason why the ammonia is so high now. we tried doing water changes, added bacteria (one bottel of dr Timms one and only), we used prime, ammo lock and nothing helps. We checked this morning and its still at 2.0 for days now. All our corals are closed up :(
please any advise what we can do...

thank you..

 

[Cell]

Got live rock or sand? Bio media? Did you spike ammonia several times and observe it going to 0 before adding the livestock? If you are cycled correctly the 2.0 ammonia should be processed quickly. The 8.0 spike may have potentially stalled or reset your cycle according to some people.

 

[Brett S]

Essentially your tank is going through another cycle. For whatever reason a significant amount of your beneficial bacteria must have been in that filter sock which is definitely unusual.

Can you tell us more about the tank? How much live rock do you have and is it sand or bare bottom? Enough rock and sand should be more than enough to support a bacteria population and if you have a bare bottom tank with a minimal amount of live rock then it’s possible that the bacteria had nowhere else to colonize but the filter sock.

In any case, all you can do at this point is a lot of water changes to keep the ammonia levels down and a lot of prime or amquil to help protect your livestock from the ammonia until the tank cycles again. Adding bacteria will help with this as well.

But we also need to figure out why washing the filter sock caused this problem so it doesn’t happen again.

 

[eric.20]

we switched the live rock from our old tank and we have live sand. yes ammonia was higher a little bit and then went to 0.
what should we do with the corals? we try now for almost a week to get it down and they really dont look good

 

[Brett S]

we switched the live rock from our old tank and we have live sand. yes ammonia was higher a little bit and then went to 0.
what should we do with the corals? we try now for almost a week to get it down and they really dont look good

If the other tank is still running then getting the corals out and into the other tank would probably be best for them if they can be saved. Even low ammonia levels will kill them pretty quickly. If you have no where else to put them then large water changes and prime or amquil is the only option to try to keep the ammonia levels down as much as possible.

 

[BeejReef]

You moved the live rock from your old tank into your new one, right? Did you keep it wet the whole time between transfers? I mean, it didn't sit out on a table for a few hours did it?

 

[eric.20]

we have around 60-70 pounds of live rock and live sand. after we washed the sock we put Biofilter media in the sump. 3x 2 quarts and then another one gallon of the bio filter media

 

[eric.20]

You moved the live rock from your old tank into your new one, right? Did you keep it wet the whole time between transfers? I mean, it didn't sit out on a table for a few hours did it?

no we put them straight in

 

[Cell]

Prime would really be ideal here in that you can neutralize the ammonia while still allowing the tank to cycle. I dont really understand why it's not working though.

 

[Brett S]

we have around 60-70 pounds of live rock and live sand. after we washed the sock we put Biofilter media in the sump. 3x 2 quarts and then another one gallon of the bio filter media

Where did this biofilter media come from? Was it reused from the other tank or was it brand new? If it was reused had hi been sitting out and allowed to dry or left in a stagnant tank where the pumps had been turned off for some time?

 

[eric.20]

If the other tank is still running then getting the corals out and into the other tank would probably be best for them if they can be saved. Even low ammonia levels will kill them pretty quickly. If you have no where else to put them then large water changes and prime or amquil is the only option to try to keep the ammonia levels down as much as possible.

we still have the 20g tank put its empty..

 

[eric.20]

Prime would really be ideal here in that you can neutralize the ammonia while still allowing the tank to cycle. I dont really understand why it's not working though.

not sure why either.. is it ok to put it in every day? we dont won't to overdue it with the prime..

 

[Brett S]

we still hav the 20g tank which we could setup



we still have the 20g tank put its empty..

If it’s been emptied then it’s not really going to help. It would need to go through a new cycle if you were to set it up again and then you would be in the same position you are now with this tank.

At this point I think you just need to leave them where they are and do large water changes and use prime or amquil to try to limit the ammonia levels.

 

[eric.20]

Where did this biofilter media come from? Was it reused from the other tank or was it brand new? If it was reused had hi been sitting out and allowed to dry or left in a stagnant tank where the pumps had been turned off for some time?

no they are new

 

[BestMomEver]

IMO, filter socks should be changed, at minimum, every week. If you have a huge bioload like me, filter socks should be changed every 3 days or so. If you didn’t have enough bacteria in your rock and sand, and the bulk was in your filtration media, you could have taken away too much. I would do a water change and by some Prime if you can.

Can you give us a picture of your tank and sump? It might help.

 

[Brett S]

not sure why either.. is it ok to put it in every day? we dont won't to overdue it with the prime..

The big concern with prime and amquil is that in high doses they lower the oxygen level in the water, which can also be bad for your livestock. If you have a skimmer then I wouldn’t worry too much about this as the skimmer will help to keep the oxygen levels higher. If you don’t have a skimmer then it might be beneficial to add an air stone temporarily to help keep the oxygen levels up.

I would definitely dose amquil or prime around every 36 hours. Every 24 hours is probably OK too, but I don’t think there would be a benefit to dosing more frequently than that

 

[Cell]

Actually the old tank could be useful. I'd move the livestock back to that tank and just plan on doing frequent water changes to manage any ammonia. Then you can restart your cycle in the big tank and not worry about the ammonia hurting anything.

 

[Brett S]

Actually the old tank could be useful. I'd move the livestock back to that tank and just plan on doing frequent water changes to manage any ammonia. Then you can restart your cycle in the big tank and not worry about the ammonia hurting anything.

I’m not sure I agree here. The coral is going to be in a tank that’s in the middle of cycling either way and that’s just adding additional work to try to maintain two cycling tanks, not to mention the additional stress on the corals of getting moved another time.

Certainly where they are now isn’t ideal, but I don’t think there’s much of a benefit to moving them to another uncycled tank.

 

[eric.20]

Actually the old tank could be useful. I'd move the livestock back to that tank and just plan on doing frequent water changes to manage any ammonia. Then you can restart your cycle in the big tank and not worry about the ammonia hurting anything.

we know somebody who would give us water from his tank. He has the tank for many years. But I'm not sure if that's a good idea

 

[eric.20]