My nitrites and ammonia are high!!

[Jordan1050064]

My tank before adding these fish parameters were alllll fine ammonia zero nitrite zero and nitrate about 10 ppm…..therefore my tank was cycled…..I am running a fish only tank btw……but now my ammonia is 1.0ppm and nitrites are off the chat I added prime…..the fish seem to have no problem but I don’t know what to do please help

 

[MnFish1]

@brandon429?

Hi Jordan - what 'fish', what size tank, how did you 'cycle the tank', You cannot really tell if a tank is 'cycled' just by measuring ammonia, nitrite and nitrate the way you did. Adding prime will be a temporary 'fix' in case your ammonia is really high. I would recommend

1. Double checking your tests (remembering that Prime can affect some ammonia test kits - showing them to be still high)
2. Adding some beneficial cycling bacteria - according to instructions
3. Consider a couple partial water changes
4. Watch for any stress/fish damage, breathing

The good news is (depending on what 'sky high' means) nitrite is not very toxic in marine water due to the pH.

Hope this helps some

 

[Gup]

What is the size of your tank? How many fish / size did you add at one time / over a short period of time?

 

[painfullycurious88]

My tank before adding these fish parameters were alllll fine ammonia zero nitrite zero and nitrate about 10 ppm…..therefore my tank was cycled…..I am running a fish only tank btw……but now my ammonia is 1.0ppm and nitrites are off the chat I added prime…..the fish seem to have no problem but I don’t know what to do please help

just do a water change about 10% give it a couple hours and retest.

 

[brandon429]

prime use changes readings

 

[Jordan1050064]

@brandon429?

Hi Jordan - what 'fish', what size tank, how did you 'cycle the tank', You cannot really tell if a tank is 'cycled' just by measuring ammonia, nitrite and nitrate the way you did. Adding prime will be a temporary 'fix' in case your ammonia is really high. I would recommend

1. Double checking your tests (remembering that Prime can affect some ammonia test kits - showing them to be still high)
2. Adding some beneficial cycling bacteria - according to instructions
3. Consider a couple partial water changes
4. Watch for any stress/fish damage, breathing

The good news is (depending on what 'sky high' means) nitrite is not very toxic in marine water due to the pH.

Hope this helps some

Hi I added a snowflake eel and goby in a 125G tank….and I cycled the tank with no fish kinda cus before my tank was cycled until it tripped so I had to restart and nitrites and ammonia used to be sky high until it all drop to zero so I know it is cycled

 

[Jordan1050064]

What is the size of your tank? How many fish / size did you add at one time / over a short period of time?

It’s a 125 gallon tank and I added two fish just a goby and eel all at one time but the tank has been cycled for at least 3 week by now

 

[brandon429]

just to mention one confound...a fo tank might have placement issues for the surface area (sequestered away in a sump vs in display contact) and it may also be standard mis testing or reads without TAN conversion.

pics tell the tale in every free ammonia challenge in my opinion. we must see symptomatic burnt fish behavior, not clear distribution, active feeding, clean water etc.

a crash looks like a crash, and a false test read from a non seneye machine looks like an impending crash.

lets see tank pic as of current

in case someone is wondering if the current prime is keeping the tank alive, you'd have not made the 48 hours prior with it all still alive were your surface area or bac insufficient.

 

[brandon429]

regarding nitrites you have two schools of thought in constant battle:

1. nitrites matter, your testing as stated is accepted as right without challenge (even without prime mentioned) and without nitrite compliance your fish will die (no specific date)


2. nitrite does not matter, unfactor the reading, we can ascertain a cycle status off pics after a tank has carried bioload a few days if hindsight assessment is wanted. if a totally dry start reef wants a guaranteed start date like they do for reef convention cycles, we can provide that exact carry date and pics any day after will line up to show cycled.

 

[brandon429]

Can we get a pic of the tank to close up this alarm post



this type of setup will be hard to get a read on for sure, I didn’t see it is the bamboo shark tank. Fish disease is for sure the risk here

 

[MnFish1]

My tank before adding these fish parameters were alllll fine ammonia zero nitrite zero and nitrate about 10 ppm…..therefore my tank was cycled…..I am running a fish only tank btw……but now my ammonia is 1.0ppm and nitrites are off the chat I added prime…..the fish seem to have no problem but I don’t know what to do please help

Curious - is this the same tank you were talking about a couple days ago - where the nitrate was 80-160 - and then with water changes you got it to 10? or is this another tank? If so, I'm not sure all of the advice given to you was exactly 'correct'.

It would be really helpful if you would answer the questions - so that people can try to help you.

@brandon429 time will tell

 

[brandon429]

You're making an honest effort to assist, that's why rtr is awesome.

 

[brandon429]

why i won't judge a shark owner:

compared to the rate of folks who legit cycle tanks then input mixed fish with no disease protocol, a shark here and there lost adds up to nothing comparatively.

I'm legit interested in knowing about potential ammonia dynamics here for sure since its an unusual build. we need to see a standing back clear tank shot of the display, and then one of the sump, and from that all ammonia dynamics will be known considering the already known age and bioload carry in this aquarium.

I have more beef with the thousands of cyclers a day who input non prepped fish only to lose them in 9 mos than I do with ten folks who buy sharks too soon.

 

[Jordan1050064]

Curious - is this the same tank you were talking about a couple days ago - where the nitrate was 80-160 - and then with water changes you got it to 10? or is this another tank? If so, I'm not sure all of the advice given to you was exactly 'correct'.

It would be really helpful if you would answer the questions - so that people can try to help you.

@brandon429 time will tell

It’s the same tank thanks also sorry I’ve been super busy

 

[Jordan1050064]

Can we get a pic of the tank to close up this alarm post


https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-bamboo-shark-just-moving-in-against-glass-in-place.842916/

this type of setup will be hard to get a read on for sure, I didn’t see it is the bamboo shark tank. Fish disease is for sure the risk here, and though I’m a constant skeptic of free ammonia warning posts this type of tank and assembly approach, and huge fish loading could be a real one. The tank isn’t built or assembled like any other on this site, all common reef rules have been disregarded. even the ways posts and updates are handled on this tank are atypical

MNFish I don’t think we will get the clear inputs needed to figure out filter status on this reef
you can see updates aren't very assertive given the original concern/alert status


Interacting with this reef tanks looks unproductive as the next succession of challenges are coming next week. this tank and all posting from the op looks designed to flame up readers even more than my nitrite comments in cycling posts.

Yeah the Shark is with somone who takes care of them it’s out of my hands now

 

[brandon429]

hey nice. I apologize for the statement above which I've now edited out.

post tank pics we can really help discern your filter status.

 

[brandon429]

treatments added will change how your tests read, so we're beginning testless assessment of free ammonia which is indicated by water clarity in pics, and fish position/normal fish position


if we get a pic of cloudy water, and fish hovering at the top after being in there days now, that's one outcome/ another outcome is the pics show clean water for days, fed fish all distributed normally, which can't happen in a partially-cycled or not cycled reef.

reefs either run or they die based on biofiltration, there is no hovering/burning midground. how your reef looks in pics completely defines its ammonia issue/nonissue

-why would the initial reading for ammonia and nitrite spike, were there not a problem-

search out this on google: "api ammonia misread"

that's fifty thousand search returns. you can't eliminate false reads from your tank either. that's why pictures matter, and from pics we can see your working surface area to see if its inline with # of fish use.

regarding nitrite, I do not ever need to know nitrite for any use in reefing so kick that one out altogether, throw away the test kit and never run it again. using nitrite data in reefing is the biggest rip off we can do: to factor it automatically assumes all api measurements are correct, yet we have fifty thousand proofs to the contrary and that's just for api ammonia.


if your current pictures show enough surface area for your fish loading and dilution rate, and you've had fish in here at least ten days, and your water is clear and your fish distribution is normal, you cannot have ammonia noncontrol issues or your whole reef would show it and be dead.

 

[Jordan1050064]

hey nice.

post tank pics we can really help discern your filter status.

Okay and yes I know plastic not supposed to be in there

 

[brandon429]

I'm 100% sure you do not have a free ammonia issue. that's enough surface area to carry way more fish than what's in there. the problem in this situation is using nondigital ammonia tests, and bothering to track nitrite at all.

our most ardent posters here advise nitrite tracking, so its understandable why you would.


the reason we don't is because nitrite is neutralized in reefing due to chemistry and chloride and if we were in planted tanks that'd be different.

Those rocks and sand alone, even if the sump is empty, would carry twenty small fish easily and its not being used to a tenth of its carry ability per the pic of clean water above. since there is no mid ground in ammonia control, its an all or nothing crash vs fail, this reef shows no reason to fail in control. its merely a test reading among the fifty thousand ones on google for ammonia kit misreads assuming you did a normal cycle here.

this thread covers your tank issues
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sustained-ammonia-spikes-are-misreads.802470/
a seachem badge is still not a digital read, and its indication doesnt change my view.

google: seachem ammonia badge misread.

all kits have misread searches, which has the fewest is the question :)

 

[brandon429]

Jordan do you want to know the best thing you can do for your tank


remove the ammonia badges put them in a drawer.


cease testing for ammonia and nitrite, run your tank as normal using your intended reefing bioload, and help us by posting update pics just like that one above once a month so we can track out your original concerns for others who have those same concerns right now. Nothing would better test updated cycling science better than these exact moves.