Amonnia Spike......Help

K

kjd_0214

Guest
Ive had my tank cycleing for about a month now with live rock and sand. I never had a big spike in ammonia only a little. I also never noticed a spike in NItrite or tratejust small amounts..... Put fish in and for a couple of weeks it has been the same. Now out of the blue my amonnia has spiked and nitrite has jumped little. Lots green algae in the tank now. I did a large water change..... Whats goin on My rock wont die off will..... Help Im confused
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
Well it sounds like your going through a cycle. A little bit more info will help others help you though, like How many & what kind of fish you added & when? All at once or ?? How often & how much do you feed them & what do you feed them? What size tank? What type of filtration? How much LR & was is cured or not when you added it? Dont mean to ask so many questions but this info will help you get some answers.
Escape
 
K

kjd_0214

Guest
two clowns, Koran Angel, Diamond Goby. Have a cleaner crew. Had an anenome but it died. All this was brought from my other tank. I feed them every other day. The tank is a 58 gallon with about 90 lbs of cured live rock and it also has live sand. The filtration is a wet dry that is rated for a 75 gallon tank. Sorry for the first post with the limited info.
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
It looks like you have a pretty good set up, maybe you just added too much bio-load too fast. Do you still have your other tank set up? If so I would reccomend moving those fish back into it if possible until the cycle is complete. Otherwise you will most likely loose some of them during the cycle process. Some of your LR will die off too. So if you move the fish back to where they came from then just let nature run its course is what I would do. If not can you have a friend or lfs hold them for you until your cycle is done?
Escape
 
K

kjd_0214

Guest
tis wierd cause the amonnia has been this high for several days now and is not showing any problems with the fish they are perfectly fine. I dont have the other tank set up anymore.im just going to let the cycle go through and see what happens. thanks...anyone else have anything
 
aquapro_1

aquapro_1

Member
How much are you feeding and what? You may be feeding too much. Checked all the corals. You lost one & if another died can cause a spike. Do you remove uneaten foods? May be overfeeding the cleaning crew. High ammonia puts the fish in stress. They will lose their protective coat. When it escalates to trite, then the fish will show it. You do know that will happen soon. Ammonia only stays for a few days & then changes. Do daily water changes. Remove uneaten food. Cut back to 1 feeding a day.
Also lr. They tend to have die offs. Causing tank to recycle. Check the lr for brown, white or black patches. If so, remove immediately!!
 
aquapro_1

aquapro_1

Member
Algae problem, huh, sounds like overfeeding. Also shorten the time the lights are on. NO doesn't stop algae from grown. BUT definitely slows it down!! Maybe buy more cleaners like hermits to eat the algae.
 
K

kjd_0214

Guest
what kind of patches am I looking for on the rocks.......pics help alot
 
aquapro_1

aquapro_1

Member
I have no pics. When looking at the rock, do you see any "slime" that is white, brown or black?
To help you through the process, there are some excellent books. Fenner's Conscientious Marine Aquarist and Tullock's Natural Reef Aquariums are both really helpful for developing an understanding of the workings of marine tanks.
 
K

kjd_0214

Guest
I had a tank before this one and have several books on saltwater tanks. None of the rock has any slime that is those colors just the normal algae colors
 
jacksdad

jacksdad

Member
JMHO but I think you added too many fish at one time. Your tank, even if the cycle is finished isn't established enough to handle that type of bio-load. By the sound of it, however I would say that your tank is still cyling and I would suggest moving the fish until you are sure about the condition of the water. Again just my opinion.
Bob
 
K

kjd_0214

Guest
I have 24 gallon nanno that has had 2 inches of sand and about 3 inches of water in it about to be taken down. should I use that and how should I set it up for the fish. I have two clowns, koran, and goby
 
aquapro_1

aquapro_1

Member
Hold on to your seats..the ride has taken off!!
Your tank IS recycling. Frequent water changes can't hurt more then the params. No stopping this, now. This is a time you wish you had a qt!Got a friend nearby to house things?? If not just kiss it all goodbye.
This is why I waited 3mo to COMPLETELY cycle my tank. Extreme, some say, but I lost my entire tank in 2 weeks after the 6wk peroid. I cycled 2 tanks. I kept bouncing them between the tanks. No original fish from my start ever made it!!
 
K

kjd_0214

Guest
will the rock die....IM not worried to much about the fish......
 
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