High Ammonia

[jmestayer1]

I tested my water last night and my readings were:
Calcium 500
Ammonia 1.5 :scared:
Nitrite 0
PH 8
Hardness 10
Salinity 1.022
20 gal with:
2 damels
1 sixline wrasse
1 cleaner shrimp
2 peppermint shrimps
2 snails
mushrooms and sun polyps
Since my ammonia was so high I did a 25% water change(my first one!) and vaccummed the crushed coral(I know, I am going to live sand soon). Is this the correct thing to do. How many water changes should I do and how often before my ammonia gets under control? Also, I want to raise my salinity, how should I do this? For the water change I mixed my water with the salt in a large bucket with a heater and powerhead for about two hours. Is this correct? :help:

 

[jfingers088]

You need to let your new saltwater mix for 24 to 48 hours that is not going to dissolve in 2 hours. To raise your salinity take out some water of your tank and just get the new water to 1.027 to 1.028 so it can balance out.

 

[f14peter]

As fingers said, better to brew your water 24 or more hours. However, for an emergency (And I would say ammonia of 1.5 in an inhabited tank qualifies as an emergency), you probably did the right thing. Other than removing the livestock to an alternate tank (certainly the best option), changing water would probably be number one priority . . . as well as finding out what caused the ammonia spike and dealing with that.
I'd be whipping up another batch of water right now for a change tomorrow.
You said it was your first water change, how old is the tank and the inevitable question, has it cycled?

 

[jmestayer1]

Oh yes, it has cycled! It is 4 months old, and yes, I should have done a water change sooner, once a week, which is why my ammonia has spiked, I think! I do have water going now for the water changes over the next few days. Thank you so much for the help.

 

[1journeyman]

No, lack of water changes will not cause a spike in ammonia. There is another cause:
Added any live rock recently?
Anything die?
Add too much too quickly?

 

[jmestayer1]

I had a snail die and it decompossed in the tank. Could this be the reason. The ammonia spike scared me last night, but today my cleaner shrimp molted! Isn't this a good sign??????

 

[gmidd]

While I'm no expert, I would think you'd need more of a cleaning crew. With just a few snails I bet your getting alot of food waste building up in the sand.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by Jmestayer1
I had a snail die and it decompossed in the tank. Could this be the reason. The ammonia spike scared me last night, but today my cleaner shrimp molted! Isn't this a good sign??????
Inverts can molt when they are stressed.
Your bio load may be high. Damsels are messy and many get big. How big are yours?

 

[jmestayer1]

They are still very little, about 2 inches, top. I have been trying to get them out for 2 weeks now, they are impossible to catch. I don't care for them and want to return them to LFS. So, a larger cleanup crew? What should I add?

 

[gmidd]

Depending on the size of your tank you can use SWF reef packages for a good idea of what you'll need.