Help! Soaring Ammonia...

whaler

whaler

New Member
Hi gang.
My ammonia just went through the roof. I think the cause is 1) A dying fish my wife saw but didn't remove - now it's carcas is lost in the rocks AND, possibly, 1/2 kirill which was placed for a coral banded, but may not have been found. (You know, you put the food in front of the coral banded, but a damsel swoops in and knocks it back in to the rocks...)
I have a large and hearty cleaning crew with a couple dozen hermits, some emerald crabs, and a boat-load of snails and others. I've also got a star.
This is a 150 gallon tank with a grand total of 12 inches of fish in it, so it is not much of a bio load.
I awoke to cloudy water (after a ten gallon water change last night). The polyps and other corals were looking puckered and unhappy, so I ran to test the water. Avery parameter was great, except the ammonia - which has long been at zero. It had jumped to .5.
I dosed the tank with Amquel and then sat down to write here.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
If it is the dead 1 inch fish and krill causing the problem, how long will it take to resolve? (You know, we've lost fish before - five or six times - witout ANY spike in NH3...I don't get it.)
Whaler-out. :help:
 
fishieness

fishieness

Active Member
get a feeding stick or even a shish-kabob stick. Stick a piece of kirll on there, and feed it to your CBS that way. Thats how ive been doing it and he'll attack it and take it off of the stick. That way you wont ahve loose pieces around.
 
whaler

whaler

New Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
When was the last time you checked the ammonia (prior to the spike)?
I think it was the day before yesterday. The krill incident was that night; Beat-up/dieing was reported yesterday - already lost by the time I got home.
When I did my water change last night I added some phytoplankton/zooplex/and calcium at a doseage about half of what is recommended for my size tank. I swirled the stuff around in my new water and then added it to the tank. In the morning, this morning, everything looked awful and the water was cloudy.
I'm about to do another 10% water change.
Sheesh...I was really excited too, as I just installed new halide lights in my canopy. This morning was supposed to be their first chance to run...
 
dskidmore

dskidmore

Active Member
Not much to be done besides frequent water changes, cutting feedings to a minimum, and time.
Was that live phytoplankton or preserved? Preserved would have aggrivated the problem.
 
whaler

whaler

New Member
Could preserved have created the problem? I aks because it's a medium-large tank, and one or two small dead things normally would not even register on the chemical tests.
 
dskidmore

dskidmore

Active Member
Hopefully you're not adding enough phytoplankton at once to be the source of the problem. The fish that died should have more mass than the phytoplankton.
The fact that you were unable to recover the dead body is probably the biggest cause of the problem. If a fish dies and is promptly removed, it should not cause much of a spike. A fish rotting in the tank somewhere is a big problem.
 
whaler

whaler

New Member
We're talking about a Damsel about the size of a quarter. I didn't worry about it much, initially, because I have a large cleanup crew, and I thought the crabs would make short order of it.
I now have about 200 pounds of live rock in my tank, and there are nooks and crannies all over the place. I clean by vacuuming, and forcing water jets/baster jest into tight places to blast out the mess periodically so it's picket up by the filter - but I don't ever pull out all the rock.
I have lost fish before. Early on there were some compatibility problems, and I lost about five fish in three weeks. I never saw so much as a blip in ammonia level.
I'm wondering if the zooplex had gone bad - and I basically poured in concentrated ammonia.
I added the Amquel this morning and did another 15 gallon water change. After running for eight or ten hours, the ammonia level is reading zero, and most of the inhabitants are looking cheery again. The Xenia and one patch of star polyps have not come back out. I hope they're out again tomorrow...
How do you know if the xenia is down for the count?
 
dskidmore

dskidmore

Active Member
It sounds like you have things back under control.
Xenia usually disinigrates rapidly if it's going to die. If it's still hanging on, it should have a good chance of recovery.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I would agree that a fish of that size should really not register as much of a ammonia spike in that tank. So I am concerned about it. I would ensure that everything is working at 100% which I am sure you have already done. Any filter pads/sponges should be rinsed of course. Carbon is a good plan.
Do you use tap water or RO water?
 
dskidmore

dskidmore

Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
LOL, I'm finally "respectable" ...can hold my head up high around those other mods now. :D :cheer:
Oh, you've been respectable for quite awhile now. It's wise advise, not post count, that earns my respect.
 
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