Help!!!

[DanyL]

0.5 ppm ammonia confirms the system is still dealing with leftover waste breaking down.

0 Nitrite likely means that your nitrification works well, to confirm this - test your nitrates.

I’d recommend a large water change to bring the ammonia down and keep oxygenation high, ammonia clears faster when there’s enough oxygen for the bacteria to process it.

 

[Ordie23]

0.5 ppm ammonia confirms the system is still dealing with leftover waste breaking down.

0 Nitrite likely means that your nitrification works well, to confirm this - test your nitrates.

I’d recommend a large water change to bring the ammonia down and keep oxygenation high, ammonia clears faster when there’s enough oxygen for the bacteria to process it.

Thank you for the advice and help

 

[Ordie23]

0.5 ppm ammonia confirms the system is still dealing with leftover waste breaking down.

0 Nitrite likely means that your nitrification works well, to confirm this - test your nitrates.

I’d recommend a large water change to bring the ammonia down and keep oxygenation high, ammonia clears faster when there’s enough oxygen for the bacteria to process it.

Nitrate was at 0

 

[DanyL]

Hmm given that the ammonia is present and both NO2 and NO3 are bottomed out, I would say the system is still stabilizing after the bloom, meaning NO2/NO3 didn’t accumulate enough just yet to show in a test result.

I would test again in a few hours, to see if anything is starting to move. That should give us a better picture of where things stand.

Keep us updated.

 

[Ordie23]

Hmm given that the ammonia is present and both NO2 and NO3 are bottomed out, I would say the system is still stabilizing after the bloom, meaning NO2/NO3 didn’t accumulate enough just yet to show in a test result.

I would test again in a few hours, to see if anything is starting to move. That should give us a better picture of where things stand.

Keep us updated.

Thank you and we will test in a few hours and keep you updated. I appreciate all the help and guidance.

 

[Ordie23]

Hmm given that the ammonia is present and both NO2 and NO3 are bottomed out, I would say the system is still stabilizing after the bloom, meaning NO2/NO3 didn’t accumulate enough just yet to show in a test result.

I would test again in a few hours, to see if anything is starting to move. That should give us a better picture of where things stand.

Keep us updated.

Got home from work did test ammonia 5 ppm and nitrite and nitrate both 0

 

[DanyL]

Got home from work did test ammonia 5 ppm and nitrite and nitrate both 0

Is it 5 or 0.5 like before?

 

[Ordie23]

Got home from work did test ammonia 5 ppm and nitrite and nitrate both 0

Is it 5 or 0.5 like before?

.5

 

[DanyL]

OK. Since it’s not rising, the system might still be stabilizing.

If you haven’t already, go ahead and aerate the tank thoroughly (ideally with an air pump inside the tank itself) and add GAC to help absorb leftover organics.

Retest in 6-12 hours - we’re basically waiting for a sign that the nitrifiers are kicking back in.

 

[Ordie23]

UPDATE: Ammonia is still .5 but Nitrite and Nitrate is at .2. Also CUC is still alive and going in their makeshift home.

 

[DanyL]

That’s what we were waiting for, it means bacteria still exists and slowly kicking back.

It will likely take a couple more days to recover adequately.

If you see a more significant increase in NO2/NO3 but still no decrease in ammonia, it means organics are probably still decomposing, and at that point I would do a moderate water change and clean any dead spots you might have missed.

Keep us updated.

 

[Ordie23]

That’s what we were waiting for, it means b...

Should i do a water change now to get some ammonia down or just let it run its course right now?

 

[DanyL]

Ammonia is what drives the nitrifying bacteria, turning it into Nitrite and than Nitrate.

So if there isn’t any excess (like an on going organic decay), you will essentially starve the bacteria by lowering it externally.

Let it run its course for now and only adjust if and when needed.

 

[KrisReef]

Yes i will and when he is older he will hear about it all the time. He told my wife when she asked him why he did it " i didnt see you feed them and wanted to make sure they had food." Furious about the situation but at the same time cant be to mad about it.

My kids are all grown now and I often wish we had stopped feeding them when they were still young.

If this kind of pellet dump accident should happen again, siphoning into a sock flowing into the sump or into a bucket can allow you to reuse the tank water without as much water change water being used.

 

[Ordie23]

Update: Ammonia is at .25 Nitrite is at .05 and nitrate is at 1

 

[DanyL]

Looking good so far, seems like the system is steadily recovering.

At the current pace, I believe you’ll see ammonia hit 0 within the next 12 to 24 hours.

Once it does, I recommend doing a 10 to 20% water change, and then you can start reintroducing the CUC.

Should be smooth from there if things stay stable.

 

[Ordie23]

Looking good so far, seems like the system is steadily recovering.

At the current pace, I believe you’ll see ammonia hit 0 within the next 12 to 24 hours.

Once it does, I recommend doing a 10 to 20% water change, and then you can start reintroducing the CUC.

Should be smooth from there if things stay stable.

Definitely was planning on the water change after Ammonia hits 0. Already prepared for it. Went to my LFS for the water yesterday. CUC is still doing great in the makeshift tank out of a bowl.

 

[Dom]

Just clean it up and let the tank take care of the nutrient increase.

 

[DanyL]

Definitely was planning on the water change after Ammonia hits 0. Already prepared for it. Went to my LFS for the water yesterday. CUC is still doing great in the makeshift tank out of a bowl.

Sounds like you’re on top of it.
Your CUC should be fine in the bowl until then, just make sure they have something to eat.

Just clean it up and let the tank take care of the nutrient increase.

That was my assumption too - clean it up, don’t panic, let the system settle.

But this one really caught me off guard tbh, and I’ve been thinking about why it escalated this quickly and aggressively.

My current theory is that the food probably had a lot of ultra-fine dust mixed in - stuff that unlike flakes or granules will break down fast and can’t really be removed effectively. That could’ve triggered the rapid bloom and oxygen drop before anything even showed up in the tests, in mere few hours.

It still just a theory, but it might explain why things spiraled the way they did - and hopefully this will help others assess this kind of situations better in the future.

 

[Ordie23]

UPDATE: Ammonia is <.15 nitrite is .1 and nitrate is 2.5