Enough ammonia to destroy Tokyo

[craig_08]

First of all, I have had (set up, cycled, maintained) many saltwater tanks throughout my history with saltwater from large aggressive to pico reef. That being said, I have never seen anything like this.
I recently bought one of the nano rock packs (10-15 lbs) from the good Drs. I put the rock in a 20 gallon tank with 10 gallons of saltwater, put it in the closet with a powerhead and a turboflotor 1000 multi to cycle. The skimmer was pulling out some of the nastiest crud I have ever seen from a skimmer. After 2 days I tested the water for ammonia using Tetratest laborett (I know, I know, I currently misplaced my Salifert kits) and the reading was off the charts. I immediately did a 50% waterchange and waited. An hour later I retested and the reading still came back over 5.0.
What can I do to keep the ammonia from killing everything on my rock? Should I just let it ride or keep up with the huge water changes? Is the kit off? I tested my 24 nanocube that has all kinds of happy coral and critters and it gave an ammonia reading of around 1. I have gotten rock from Premium Aquatics in the past so I have never really had a cycle problem. Help?

 

[kzoo]

Did you clean the rock at all? If it was out of the water for anytime you will have die off. Best to always scrub each rock and rinse well with salt water. I would try that now and keep changing the water and skimming. You never know there may be a fish, crab or what ever that died in the rock.

 

[coral1119]

I'm having the same problem. I started a new 55 gal with 60 pounds of live sand and 60 pounds of live rock. All the other parameters are fine, but the ammonia is OFF THE CHART. My skimmer is picking up a lot of gunk too! I have not done a water change though. I don't think it has to do with the water. I'm assuming it's part of the cycle? My setup is a week old.

 

[reefkprz]

sounds like your test kit may be bad if your testing a 1 on ammonia in a tank that isnt showing any bad signs and has been established for a while my guess is your test kit is either to old or got overheated which can throw their accuracy off.

 

[kzoo]

If you put new rock in your tank without curing it you will create a cycle.I think that craig 08 is curing his rock to put in his tank.

 

[coral1119]

Ohh, yeh my setup is brand new, not established. Are extremely high ammonia levels normal in the beginning of the cycle procces?

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by coral1119
Ohh, yeh my setup is brand new, not established. Are extremely high ammonia levels normal in the beginning of the cycle procces?
yes you should do water changes to keep them around 1 though going much higher cann kill off the benificial things your trying to grow, I have hit ammonia peaks of 5 when recuring old sand I just let it ride though because I wasnt really in a rush.

 

[kzoo]

Why do water change in a cycle ?

 

[reefkprz]

because there are some organisms on the rock that will live through a cycle but if your ammonia gets too high they die off too. its a way of getting the most biodiversity out of your existing rock as possible.

 

[craig_08]

Kzoo,
You are right, I am cycling the rock to go into another tank. I feel like it is a great possibility that the tests have gone bad. They had been up in the attic for a while exposed to the temperatures. I didn't clean the rock off so that could be a big part of the problem. I will try doing that then doing another big water change after work. I am also going to get a new test kit, hehe. Thanks for the responses.