Tank emergency - need to lower ammonia!

[aydemir]

TL;DR, how to lower ammonia FAST? Am already doing large PWC but ammonia is still >0.5 ppm!!

Unfortunately had a tank leak and had to move all my livestock into a new tank (slightly larger so hey, small victory). Unfortunately I stirred up the sand bed which is about 1.5 inches deep, and the last of my sand-sifting snails had died about 2 years ago. dang when the tank was empty that sand STANK. I will definitely be getting more sand-sifters soon when I sort this out.

Of course I didn't have extra sand on hand so I had to re-use it. I was afraid of rinsing the sand in case I killed any beneficial bacteria living in there. I had the tank inhabitants+rocks+corals in buckets for a day, and slowly added them back into the new tank. I didn't have enough buckets around so I had to mix water directly in the tank (and the sand was still in it). This may have killed the beneficial bacteria, but I honestly didn't have a choice using what I had...
Side note: Noticed a ton of dead bristleworms after mixing the water in the tank, I removed them manually but who knows how many more are underneath the sand and rotting...

Today: Tank is slightly cloudy but no visible particles in the water, possibly a bacterial bloom starting to form. The tank has been in this state for 2 days now. Ammonia is 0.5 ppm, I've been using prime in an attempt to detoxify. I also have a bottle of bacterial (nutrafin cycle is all I had) that I have used according to the label, and I am changing about 50-75% of the water daily. Water coming in is free of organics I tested it recently.

tank specs: 15 gallon, ammonia 0.5 ppm, nitrite and nitrate 0 ppm.
Filtration: About 8 pounds of live rock (its low on rock), 2 aquaclear 150s (1 with a sponge, another with cuprisorb and purigen inside). A hang on breeder box acting as a refugium, bottom filled with seachem de-nitrate and top with cheato, it has a dedicated light as well.
Livestock: 2 Clownfish, 1 yellow clown goby, mixed reef, mostly LPS. I've noticed one 'tester acro' (aka cheap as heck) that I added recently is doing pretty poorly and bleaching at the base but kind of expected with all its been through the last few days, it probably won't make it.

 

[Rubberfrog]

Go get some bac in a bottle

 

[brandon429]

.

 

[RedFrog211]

Prime (de chlorinator) can be used to detoxify ammonia as a temporary fix. Best of luck- hope it works out!

 

[Rubberfrog]

You need to rip clean this tank to save it, nothing is faster or better, to delay is unwise

copy this move here

I agree with you, but based on the limitations he shared with his first move, I don't think he has the option to do that.

 

[brandon429]

.

 

[aydemir]

Prime is useless

Does Prime actually "Detoxify" free ammonia, NH3?

This started when @Dan_P was looking at measuring NH3 with seneye and was curious about performance near zero NH3. I suggested trying Prime to artificially zero out the NH3 sensor, and the results were weird... so I checked with my seachem kit. Prime by Seachem is commonly used to treat tap...

www.reef2reef.com

follow what’s documented in a work thread, don’t delay. Dose nothing buy nothing add nothing, rip clean the nano it’s CPR.

Sorry I'm not sure what rip cleaning is can you clarify? Currently reading the first thread you linked

 

[aydemir]

Based on the sand/substrate thread I'm reading now I definitely did this wrong, but didn't really have time to prep for a proper change anyways. I basically didn't rinse the old sand and put some new sand on top since the tank was a little larger and I like having the sand at least an inch deep. Oof

 

[brandon429]

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[Cell]

I'd make fresh saltwater, transfer the livestock to a QT/temporary holding tank. Drain the water, remove the sand, refill with new water. Add new sand when you get a chance.

 

[aydemir]

Pics of the tank above, you can see there is cloudiness to the water from the side picture. Corals are doing fine except for the Monticap (already wasn't doing great before the emergency), the acro right next to the clown goby, and some of the birdsnest frags. All the LPS and zoas look decent for now.

 

[aydemir]

Would siphoning the bottom 'sludge' from the sand be worth it at this point or would it do more damage?

 

[RedFrog211]

Does Prime actually "Detoxify" free ammonia, NH3?

This started when @Dan_P was looking at measuring NH3 with seneye and was curious about performance near zero NH3. I suggested trying Prime to artificially zero out the NH3 sensor, and the results were weird... so I checked with my seachem kit. Prime by Seachem is commonly used to treat tap...

www.reef2reef.com

follow what’s documented in a work thread, don’t delay. Dose nothing buy nothing add nothing, rip clean the nano it’s CPR.


the specific reason a rip clean is used is because it handles compounds beyond the claimed scope for prime

there are bacterial metabolites and rotting proteins possible, we are able to save tanks by washing out sand as is shown, changing the water and resetting up an intercepted tank. All else is a very distant second place option, to delay the rip clean places the tank in the greatest state of risk. Rip cleans aren’t harmful they’re regenerative, it’s how we move massive reefs to new homes and never lose anything. The clean start arrests the apparent tank crash

post pics I bet it’s not that bad


api is causing this, and you have kitchen lighting that fares towards a greenish tint right—>

I’ve been bamboozled once again by major corporations and their false advertisements - thanks for linking that thread!

 

[Little c big D]

How accurate is testing. If ammonia is toxic i would expect more damage than I am seeing?

 

[anthonygf]

Would siphoning the bottom 'sludge' from the sand be worth it at this point or would it do more damage?

Hey, yes remove the sludge in sand with a gravel cleaner and replace with new salt water mixed to same parameters as tank water.

 

[aydemir]

Hey, yes remove the sludge in sand with a gravel cleaner and replace with new salt water mixed to same parameters as tank water.

Yup, mixing it now going to do this ASAP.

 

[Garf]

Pics of the tank above, you can see there is cloudiness to the water from the side picture. Corals are doing fine except for the Monticap (already wasn't doing great before the emergency), the acro right next to the clown goby, and some of the birdsnest frags. All the LPS and zoas look decent for now.

Don’t look bad, and a low ammonia reading like that when converted to free ammonia is tiny. Keep your eye on ammonia though in case you’ve buried some more stuff. The clouding should subside.

 

[aydemir]

Thanks all!! Current plan is to siphon the gunk out from the bottom of the sand bed and change as much water as necessary to do that up to a 50% maximum. I don't want to change more than that much at once. I also have the temp about 1 degree F lower than normal to (hopefully) lower the toxicity of the ammonia, but not sure if what I read about temperature and ammonia toxicity was BS or not. I'm not as worried about a small temperature drop affecting the livestock, they were in buckets for a day lol.

 

[Celestion]

You do know splashing or bubbleing water exposed to a fan or fresh air can lower ammonia level , a large air pump can work , until the bio catches up......if the fish are eating the nh3 should be ok

 

[Gup]

Prime (de chlorinator) can be used to detoxify ammonia as a temporary fix. Best of luck- hope it works out!

I agree. He may still get an ammonia reading but it will be detoxify. I would think that would be the best and fastest reducer of ammonia. I've used it myself twice for small spikes