I washed my rocks like a fool and now we’ll it was predictable.

[sc50964]

I’m on page 7 of the prime doesn’t work thread. Why is my alk 20? Ph dropped to 7.85. Fish then not having as hard a time. I think prime works by lowering the ph! Then the ammonia is less toxic on its own. Why was an entire bottle of fresh bacteria not enough but a dose of NaOH to bring the oh back up and one dose of cycle kicked off the cycle in 6 hours dropping ammonia to 0.25. Hoping zero in the morning. Well science says prime doesn’t detoxify ammonia but it sure drops the ph which does.

@Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[Garf]

Why is my alk 20?

I used a little NaOH to move the ph back to 8 and I’ll hold it there

You are aware that sodium hydroxide increases Alk, I assume?

 

[kecked]

Yes but it had to be done. Can’t let ph slip to 7. Too far. If all goes well 50% water change one more time I hope should do it

i should note the reason I elected for NaOH was that it would not precipitate excessively on my equipment. The calcium is a bit low and there are only fish now so why cause a massive scale on the equipment. 20 in a freshwater tank is a nice number.

 

[brandon429]

The must be twenty searchable threads on this board alone where the same test kit indicating no ammonia control here said the same thing in a fully matured reef with no insult

If this was a seneye ammonia reading it would carry more weight

I keep a nine page thread running of examples where every entrant was positive they had an ammonia event because a non digital test kit said so, and their tank didn't incur any new challenge it was just running and the test said the cycle stopped

The fact is, nobody agrees their test can misread it must be correct in every case. Prime use by itself alters test readouts and we get api ammonia spikes in tanks that just move rocks to another side of the tank (which can't cause ammonia spikes, seneye owners know)

There are interfering compounds in tank detritus that aren't ammonia and cause these tests to go awry often. Any movement in the tank at all can trigger them, rocks nor sandbeds don't store up ammonia to be released. The only reason our hobby thought that happened was due to non digital test kit posts

Seneye ends ammonia control concerns

We did lots of tap water rinse tests it's not that devastating, plus we have one tracked by seneye as well- no change

What won't be considered: that there never was an ammonia spike to handle. Prime had nothing to work on is the bet based on hundreds of prior threads on the subject matter

 

[brandon429]

Of all the things a reefer can do to challenge their biosystem, washing the sole important zone of surface area in the whole tank in tap water is also certainly on the believable scale of bacteria harm, depending on duration and pressure degrees/ dislodging and scoring of bacteria is directly possible


so on the flipside it if was ever confirmed this tank had an ammonia spike using digital gear I'd believe it. The required actions to get one were applied, but I must side on the no challenge rendered side simply because digital nh3 tracking always trends towards very strong filter bacteria even with insult. Where a non digital ammonia test kit goes, having no spike above safety zone is a better bet % wise. Having a small spike in hourly nh3 levels is expected, the resolve rate is within minutes not hours

That hourly natural variation triggers these test kits, removing + washing and setting rocks back triggers detritus casting into the system/ the organics that trigger misreads. Fish might be affected but not by ammonia, by detritus casting within the tank, waste destratification. I have lots of threads where sandbed disturbance killed otherwise healthy fish.

Seeing a system delay hours to seemingly correct ammonia is the hidden tell of the misread imo

Digital nh3 meters show a fast fast ammonia rebound rate when under test loading, that's the trend by a Longshot

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

The must be twenty searchable threads on this board alone where the same test kit indicating no ammonia control here said the same thing in a fully matured reef with no insult

If this was a seneye ammonia reading it would carry more weight

I keep a nine page thread running of examples where every entrant was positive they had an ammonia event because a non digital test kit said so, and their tank didn't incur any new challenge it was just running and the test said the cycle stopped

The fact is, nobody agrees their test can misread it must be correct in every case. Prime use by itself alters test readouts and we get api ammonia spikes in tanks that just move rocks to another side of the tank (which can't cause ammonia spikes, seneye owners know)

There are interfering compounds in tank detritus that aren't ammonia and cause these tests to go awry often. Any movement in the tank at all can trigger them, rocks nor sandbeds don't store up ammonia to be released. The only reason our hobby thought that happened was due to non digital test kit posts

Seneye ends ammonia control concerns

We did lots of tap water rinse tests it's not that devastating, plus we have one tracked by seneye as well- no change

What won't be considered: that there never was an ammonia spike to handle. Prime had nothing to work on is the bet based on hundreds of prior threads on the subject matter

@brandon429, it's always difficult for me to understand what your post are trying to convey. So correct me if I'm misinterpreting it.

You're saying that a digital test for ammonia would've provided a more accurate picture of the amount of ammonia in the tank. That an API test kit can provide false readings that will force a person to make corrections to their tank thus causing more issues.

If the user were to use a digital tester (as you suggest seneye), it's quite possible that it would've painted a different picture of what was really going on in the tank.

Of all the things a reefer can do to challenge their biosystem, washing the sole important zone of surface area in the whole tank in tap water is also certainly on the believable scale of bacteria harm, depending on duration and pressure degrees/ dislodging and scoring of bacteria is directly possible


so on the flipside it if was ever confirmed this tank had an ammonia spike using digital gear I'd believe it. The required actions to get one were applied, but I must side on the no challenge rendered side simply because digital nh3 tracking always trends towards very strong filter bacteria even with insult. Where a non digital ammonia test kit goes, having no spike above safety zone is a better bet % wise. Having a small spike in hourly nh3 levels is expected, the resolve rate is within minutes not hours

That hourly natural variation triggers these test kits, removing + washing and setting rocks back triggers detritus casting into the system/ the organics that trigger misreads. Fish might be affected but not by ammonia, by detritus casting within the tank, waste destratification. I have lots of threads where sandbed disturbance killed otherwise healthy fish.

Seeing a system delay hours to seemingly correct ammonia is the hidden tell of the misread imo

Digital nh3 meters show a fast fast ammonia rebound rate when under test loading, that's the trend by a Longshot

And this one is reiterating the false test results and that the proof of this is that the fish are still alive, and what the OP was experiencing (fish breathing heavily) was from kicking up settled detritus.

In a nutshell, you're suggesting that this all could've been avoided if the tests were conducted using digital means.

 

[brandon429]

What was your test kit brand

 

[sc50964]

@brandon429, it's always difficult for me to understand what your post are trying to convey. So correct me if I'm misinterpreting it.

You're saying that a digital test for ammonia would've provided a more accurate picture of the amount of ammonia in the tank. That an API test kit can provide false readings that will force a person to make corrections to their tank thus causing more issues.

If the user were to use a digital tester (as you suggest seneye), it's quite possible that it would've painted a different picture of what was really going on in the tank.

And this one is reiterating the false test results and that the proof of this is that the fish are still alive, and what the OP was experiencing (fish breathing heavily) was from kicking up settled detritus.

In a nutshell, you're suggesting that this all could've been avoided if the tests were conducted using digital means.

My boss once told me that I needed to practice “economy of words”…., lol

 

[jda]

Just let it chill. You did interrupt some of the ecosystem and you could have had a quick ammonia spike and it is likely that your residual no3 and po4 could climb in the weeks to come. Worry about no3 and po4 later... like in a month.

Don't sweat pH for now. If you must worry about pH, then open your windows and get the co2 down in your home. Stop adding anything to raise the pH that can also raise carbonate or calcium.

Stop using any additives.

My guess is that in a week the tank will stabilize with no ammonia, no nitrite or anything. IMO, anything that you do to interfere will just set back the ecosystem from moving forward.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

My boss once told me that I needed to practice “economy of words”…., lol

It's my hangup, just have a hard time dissecting his points. I find myself rereading his post over and over with differing perspective in mind until it somewhat makes sense. I absolutely mean no disrespect.

 

[brandon429]

Oh you guys understand sc509

This is part of the denial process, getting ready to dig in heels certain the cheap test is correct.

We are trained to subjectively pick and choose when we believe non digital test kits. Wondering what brand this kit was

Sisterlemonpot has a good summary in my opinion


I can't find really any examples of sustained loss of biofilter, in a reef display that has myriad surface area in addition to live rocks unless it's api or Red Sea


let's see tank pics

I can't find a mere five seneye logs posted for thousands of tanks showing ammonia noncontrol, I don't even know of one event posted from a calibrated running machine.

The disparity is that strong. How we test matters tremendously in these posts

 

[brandon429]

This is posted just to show the trend. Where goes non digital nh4 ammonia testing goes the panic

Sustained Ammonia spikes are misreads

The reason you think your reef tank can’t control its ammonia is due to false training from old cycling science. That and you don’t own a seneye on the tank in question: if you did, you wouldn’t ever think your ammonia was out of control...

www.reef2reef.com

Not one of those tanks was in ammonia distress. It was test kit + old cycling science distress.

His insult to the tank indeed might have done it but not in trending, we have seneye guided tap rinses of rock on file that didn't harm. There's counter data for this/ fair mention

The entire premise of prime working or not here assumes again a known misreading type of kit is correct.

This was a decent tap water blast thread

32g rework...

My 32g tank has been a real problem for quite a while now. I just cant seem to get the algae under control. Today I decided it's time to do a full rework on this tank. Pried off all the coral frags and removed all of the rock. Scraping all of the algae off the back as possible and scrub the...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[sc50964]

Oh you guys understand sc509

This is part of the denial process, getting ready to dig in heels certain the cheap test is correct.

We are trained to subjectively pick and choose when we believe non digital test kits. Wondering what brand this kit was

Sisterlemonpot has a good summary in my opinion


I can't find really any examples of sustained loss of biofilter, in a reef display that has myriad surface area in addition to live rocks unless it's api or Red Sea


let's see tank pics

I can't find a mere five seneye logs posted for thousands of tanks showing ammonia noncontrol, I don't even know of one event posted from a calibrated running machine.

The disparity is that strong. How we test matters tremendously in these posts

I think i have once again failed at my attempt to be humorous & you are right that I’m cheap at times based on my frequent trips to dollarstore shops. My take was just a slight critique of your delivery style that sometimes or maybe most times can be hard to understand in this attention deficit cyber world. I do agree with facts which you have presented as those aren’t just personal experience & I don’t think API ammonia is very precise/accurate but it is “affordable” but should be used as an alert before any drastic move.