klongo
Member
Long story- but someone please help!
Last Saturday I measured water parameters - everything was perfect. We went on vacation on Monday. I left small amounts of flake in cups for my pet sitter to feed on a nightly basis - about 1/3 of what I would normally feed on a daily basis.
We came back on Wednesday night and my ammonia was 0.4. I did a 20% water change, stopped feeding the fish and went to bed.
Woke up on Thursday and my lemonpeel was dead - ammonia at 0.3. Did another 20% water change - got the ammonia down to 0.2.
Changed another 20% late Thursday night. Friday morning ammonia was 0.1, fed the fish a minimal amount and we left for the weekend. Came back on Sunday night and ammonia was negligible.
Thought my problems were over.
I just went upstairs and my royal gramma is breathing hard, ammonia is 0.4 again! So again with a 20% water change.
I've tried to catch the gramma and put it in my Q tank, but she's buried herself in a cave and I can't get her out. I have re-aquascaped my tank in the last hour trying to do so (hope I haven't started a bigger cycling mess than I already had)
My clowns, inverts and sea serpent look and act fine - I can't seem to get the clowns netted, either, without totally destroying my rock. I'm hoping that they'll go to sleep and I can grab them off the sand bed.
How much water and how often can I change it to get this under control? Any ideas on what would have caused this? I've had a VERY stable tank for the last 8 months and I'm terrified that I'll lose all of my cool fish!
Last Saturday I measured water parameters - everything was perfect. We went on vacation on Monday. I left small amounts of flake in cups for my pet sitter to feed on a nightly basis - about 1/3 of what I would normally feed on a daily basis.
We came back on Wednesday night and my ammonia was 0.4. I did a 20% water change, stopped feeding the fish and went to bed.
Woke up on Thursday and my lemonpeel was dead - ammonia at 0.3. Did another 20% water change - got the ammonia down to 0.2.
Changed another 20% late Thursday night. Friday morning ammonia was 0.1, fed the fish a minimal amount and we left for the weekend. Came back on Sunday night and ammonia was negligible.
Thought my problems were over.
I just went upstairs and my royal gramma is breathing hard, ammonia is 0.4 again! So again with a 20% water change.
I've tried to catch the gramma and put it in my Q tank, but she's buried herself in a cave and I can't get her out. I have re-aquascaped my tank in the last hour trying to do so (hope I haven't started a bigger cycling mess than I already had)
My clowns, inverts and sea serpent look and act fine - I can't seem to get the clowns netted, either, without totally destroying my rock. I'm hoping that they'll go to sleep and I can grab them off the sand bed.
How much water and how often can I change it to get this under control? Any ideas on what would have caused this? I've had a VERY stable tank for the last 8 months and I'm terrified that I'll lose all of my cool fish!
