ammonia help!

[dmjordan]

I have a 55 gal tank that has been up and running since the first of the year. 3 weeks ago I put in 2 blue green chromis, 2 false perculas, 1 margarita snail and 1 blue hermit. Yesterday 1 of my chromis died. Got test kit for Valentines Day and took readings: PH is 8.2 - 8.4, Nitrite is 0.25, Nitrate is 10, and Ammonia is 0.50. My tank has 1 250 watt Ebo - Jager heater, Rena filstar XP3 filter with 4 sponges - 1 ltr Bio rings, 16 Biochem stars - and 1 280gram pouch of Biochem zorb, 60 lbs of Indo-Pacific Black Livesand, 6 lbs of base rock (petrified coral), Aqua Remora C protien skimmer w/ maxijet 1200, and 1 160gph Powersweep powerhead. I use R/O water for my water changes and Instant Ocean for my salt. I change 10 gals of water every 2 weeks. How can I reduce ammonia level???

 

[kadella]

Had your tank fully cycled before you added the critters? What's your salinity? I'm no expert by any means, but no one else has replied yet so here's my 2 cents. If your amm & trite readings weren't stabilized - zero you may have added too much bioload too soon. Your amm is too high, i would QT the fish if you can or you may have more casualties. Is your skimmer & filter functioning well? Hopefully someone can help here..sorry about your fishie... :happyfish

 

[badoleross]

I am a bit new at this as well but I would start with a 10% waterchange. It soulds like the new fish added a good deal of bio load and the tank will now have to play a little catch up.

 

[klaramore]

I would get some TLC bacteria and put it in . I would also get a KH test kit. Your Kh should be 9-12 and if you are adding fish it should be about 14. I would also add about 50 more pounds of LR. LR helps with your bio-load.The more LR the more fish you can handle. But not to fast.

 

[alyssia]

Do a water change. And slow down on adding fish, if your tank has only been up since the beginning of the year you added way too many fish too fast.

 

[scarr105]

I would do water change, wait a day and test. It still high do another water change and it shoudl start to come down. 10%-15% water change should be fine.
I'm not expert at this but this should work.

 

[boalgf]

Water changes are the best idea. For ammonia though, I'd take a more direct method and get some Amquel+. Once when I did a water change using RO water, I discovered my RO unit was broken. The tank water was at .40 amm. I added some Amquel and all the fish made it through alive. It breaks down the ammonia making it harmless to fish. You still would have to do proper water changes to get the levels right afterwards but it will keep your fish from dying while you are fixing it.

 

[saltwater8]

What about Ammo Lock 2?

 

[boalgf]

I've never tried ammo lock. I know for sure that amquel+ works though, even with my reef tank.

 

[dmjordan]

I did a 6 gal. R/O water change yesterday and added 55 ml of Stress Zyme to my tank. This is supposed to help eliminate ammonia and nitrite. I was going to try the ammo lock but is says your tank will still test possitive for ammonia (so how would you know it is working?) I have not tested my water levels yet today but I forgot to mention my temp. is 80 degrees.
Next weekend I am going to PA. to pick up about 20 lbs of lr and 50 lbs of base rock. Hopefully this will help once cured and put into tank.