Help!!!

[DanyL]

It’s already pretty close to being safe, and probably not harmful to most living things at this point. Still, I would give it one more day to let things settle a bit more before doing anything. That way you’re not disrupting the system while it’s still balancing itself, though I would also not hold back for too long from this point on.

I would also test your phosphates now. The presence of nitrate is reassuring, but phosphate may still be elevated.

 

[Ordie23]

Update: Ammonia <.15 nitritr .1 nitrate 5

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

If it makes you feel better - I once had a dosing pump failure which dumped 2 liters of calcium into my tank, and my dad and I ended up driving back and forth to the sea to bring 800 liters in the middle of the night.

Sometimes things like this happen, and it sucks when it happens, but it all adds up to your journey, and you’ll now have that “one time my 4 year old dumped a full container of food into my tank” story to tell others ;)

I got fired from servicing a rich surgeon’s tank because I left a bottle on the top of the tank and when he moved his light he knocked it into the tank and it foamed up. Killed his fish and overflowed onto his floors.

Worst part is he didn’t even tell me. He just didn’t open the door next time I drove out to service it. It wasn’t until later that I found out why. Rich peeps are weird some times.

 

[DanyL]

Update: Ammonia <.15 nitritr .1 nitrate 5

I tend to think the reason ammonia and nitrite aren’t bottoming out yet is that there is still some decaying organic matter in the water, just breaking down slowly enough not to spike the numbers.

I would go ahead with a 10-20% water change and take the opportunity to clean up any leftover food or detritus. If you’ve got sand, lightly vacuum the surface to remove anything settled on top without disturbing it too much.

Retest tomorrow, and include phosphate test results.

I got fired from servicing a rich surgeon’s tank because I left a bottle on the top of the tank and when he moved his light he knocked it into the tank and it foamed up. Killed his fish and overflowed onto his floors.

Worst part is he didn’t even tell me. He just didn’t open the door next time I drove out to service it. It wasn’t until later that I found out why. Rich peeps are weird some times.

It’s frustrating when people don’t take responsibility and instead quietly shift the blame. S**t happens, and you deal with it.

You didn’t deserve that.

 

[Ordie23]

Update: Ammonia <.15 nitritr .1 nitrate 5

I tend to think the reason ammonia and nitrite aren’t bottoming out yet is that there is still some decaying organic matter in the water, just breaking down slowly enough not to spike the numbers.

I would go ahead with a 10-20% water change and take the opportunity to clean up any leftover food or detritus. If you’ve got sand, lightly vacuum the surface to remove anything settled on top without disturbing it too much.

Retest tomorrow, and include phosphate test results.

I got fired from servicing a rich surgeon’s tank because I left a bottle on the top of the tank and when he moved his light he knocked it into the tank and it foamed up. Killed his fish and overflowed onto his floors.

Worst part is he didn’t even tell me. He just didn’t open the door next time I drove out to service it. It wasn’t until later that I found out why. Rich peeps are weird some times.

It’s frustrating when people don’t take responsibility and instead quietly shift the blame. S**t happens, and you deal with it.

You didn’t deserve that.

I will do the water change tonight and vaccum the surface of the sand. I dont have a phosphate test kit. It is a small tank that only had the fish and i haven’t purchased a phosphate test kit yet.

 

[DanyL]

I will do the water change tonight and vaccum the surface of the sand. I dont have a phosphate test kit. It is a small tank that only had the fish and i haven’t purchased a phosphate test kit yet.

That’s OK.
If you plan on keeping coral - I’d highly recommend purchasing a Hanna Phosphate ULR checker.

That’s the only Hanna checker I can truly recommend over other tests, because the Red Sea/Salifert are extremely hard to read accurately.

Otherwise, precise readings aren’t necessary and a regular one would be enough.

 

[Ordie23]

I will do the water change tonight and vaccum the surface of the sand. I dont have a phosphate test kit. It is a small tank that only had the fish and i haven’t purchased a phosphate test kit yet.

That’s OK.
If you plan on keeping coral - I’d highly recommend purchasing a Hanna Phosphate ULR checker.

That’s the only Hanna checker I can truly recommend over other tests, because the Red Sea/Salifert are extremely hard to read accurately.

Otherwise, precise readings aren’t necessary and a regular one would be enough.

Yeah i plan to get a larger tank tondo corals and then turn the smaller tank into a quarantine tank. That's the plan but it will be a little bit.