Ammonia Spike, two months after cycling?

[thud]

My friends tank is experiencing an Ammonia Spike two months after cycling.
What do you suggest I tell him to do? Obviously water changes but you cant remove all of the ammonia. The ammonia was at .25 now it is at .50 - (rising!) There is nothing dead in the tank, guaranteed. All fish are alive.
His readings are:
Ammonia: .50
Nitrates: 10
Nitrites: 0
Phos: 0
Suggestions?

 

[1journeyman]

Water changes.
sounds like he overstocked too quickly?

 

[thud]

It's possible.
But as I said, water changes are happening but it isn't going to remove all of the ammonia. The ammonia remains at .25 - .50 after water changes...

 

[thud]

Ok, water changes and... any other info?

 

[zephyrlily]

Try Amquel+, it works pretty good.

 

[thud]

Originally Posted by zephyrlily
Try Amquel+, it works pretty good.

We'd rather get rid of the ammonia rather than mask it.

 

[1journeyman]

Amquel does seem to lock the ammonia and make it "safer".
Water changes are the only way to remove ammonia is a populated tank. Lots of water changes...

 

[thud]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Amquel does seem to lock the ammonia and make it "safer".
Water changes are the only way to remove ammonia is a populated tank. Lots of water changes...

Okay, how much, how often? (water changes)

 

[reefforbrains]

How large of a tank?
If its at .5 then a water change will dillute the number by the amount changed.
On smaller tanks its eaisier to do more changes, If tank is large then carbon and amon sponge can help supplement the work, but best and only REAL way to remove amonia is to physically replace remove it via a waterchange and dillute the number back to a managable level and it should disapear completly provided the filtration in the tank is doing its normal job.

 

[thud]

Originally Posted by ReefForBrains
How large of a tank?
If its at .5 then a water change will dillute the number by the amount changed.
On smaller tanks its eaisier to do more changes, If tank is large then carbon and amon sponge can help supplement the work, but best and only REAL way to remove amonia is to physically replace remove it via a waterchange and dillute the number back to a managable level and it should disapear completly provided the filtration in the tank is doing its normal job.
It's a 120 gallon.

 

[reefforbrains]

well depending on the stock list. This could be a factor to why the problem is there.
In larger tanks sometimes it can take a while for the amonia to build up since it is dilluted in so much volume. Also if its a cheapo test they seem to ALWAYS read .25
So to drop the .5 to a .25 you will need to replace 60 gallons. Not all at once obviously but a 20g change every other day for the next week will make a drastic improvement.
I am not looking to go into super detail about the stocklist and so on, but if the tank heavily stocked with fish? Coral and inverts really dont pollute like fish do so dont bother even really counting those. A single clownfish polutes as much as a dozen corals.
I am shooting from the hip but it sounds like someone rushed the cycle in the beginning and has been masked by the volume for the past few weeks

 

[walmart]

Get a refugium with lots of macros.
120 gallons your water changes should equal 40 gallons (atleast) a month

 

[renogaw]

I'd follow RFB's advice, but also have him look for dead snails. also, look at the flow throughout the tank, did the sand bed get disturbed if its deep enough, are there dead spots where the rock may be dying, etc.

 

[earlybird]

Possible it's a bad test kit? I suggest bringing a sample to the lfs.

 

[thud]

Originally Posted by earlybird
Possible it's a bad test kit? I suggest bringing a sample to the lfs.
Thank you for all your advice. It is possible that the tests are off a bit.
Our LFS are idiots and use test strips btw.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by walmart
Get a refugium with lots of macros.
120 gallons your water changes should equal 40 gallons (atleast) a month
This doesn't really address the issue at hand.
Confrim test kits are off, maybe use your test kits on their tank.

 

[thud]

Well unfortunately the water changes seem to have put the soft corals (xenia colonies) in shock...
They look like they did when they were first put into the tank...
What do you think?

 

[sfoister]

Overfeeding could be an issue too.. I've been overfeeding the hell out of my tank without knowing it and my ammonia spiked a couple days ago.
(my wife was feeding before she went to work and I was feeding when I got home, 2 hours apart)