Random Ammonia Spike?

mony97

mony97

Member
I tested my water this morning and was alarmed when the ammonia read near 1.0 (I would say closer to .50 than 1 but still higher than .50).
All of my fish and cleaner shrimp seem fine and are swimming all around and have been eating healthy. Nothing has died within the past couple of weeks outside of maybe a few snails but no wipe outs and no loss of fish. So am at loss to where this spike may have come from.
The tank is a 65g with a week old 10g sump and protein skimmer. The tank has been set up since mid Dec. and have had consistently perfect levels until today. No new fish have been added since mid to late Feb. and no other changes have been made to the tank outside of the sump and new lights.
Any ideas on what may have caused this? The only thing I can I can think of that may have contributed is after adding the sump (10 new gallons of salt) I then did a 10g water change a few days later so all in all a 20g change within a 3 to 4 day period. Also before this the lights in the tank had been off for 4 days prior to help with a small cyano outbreak.
Any help would be great as to how to safely and effectively resolve this issue! Thank You..
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
faulty test kit or test if all other factors involving your tank are the same
Also before this the lights in the tank had been off for 4 days prior to help with a small cyano outbreak.
this would have only raised your nitrates if you had cyano die off
 
mony97

mony97

Member
When I tested for ammonia I tested all my other parameters and were all fine, no trites, pH was fine and low trates?
 
mony97

mony97

Member
After this morning I did do a second test for ammonia and yielded the same resaults? The water does smell a little funny if thats any indication?
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
Hopefully the cyano is all gone now and you can turn the lights back on.
Sounds like the dying cyano caused the spike which exceeded the aerobic bacteria's ability to reduce them. All the fish seem fine so I think once lights are returned and corraline or macro algaes consume the ammonia.
my .02
 
mony97

mony97

Member
I was thinking it may be the test kit my LFS was closed today so was unable to stop there but I plan on having my water tested tomorrow and see what there tet says and go from there.
No new fish and have not messed with the sand..
Yeah the cyano seems to be gone for good, and I have had the lights on now for about 4/5 days so hopefully it will come around?
Thanks for all the help, and keep any other suggestions or ideas coming ;)
 
nanomantis

nanomantis

Member
When you swapped out your sump, did you replace the biological media or clean it? Did you have some old filtration that housed your biological that was removed from the system?
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
After all this time, if the fish are still not showing signs of distress, there is no ammonia in your tank. They would be at least stressed by now, if not dead.
Do you use a water conditioner? If yes, what test kit are you using.
 
mony97

mony97

Member
Originally Posted by NanoMantis
http:///forum/post/3246953
When you swapped out your sump, did you replace the biological media or clean it? Did you have some old filtration that housed your biological that was removed from the system?
When I added the new sump I completely removed a w/d filter from the system and introduced a new sump with no media from the w/d used in the new system. I thought that this may be the issue as well the new sump has no bacteria build up yet to support the system. But my bio load is very low right now, cuc, 2 ocellaris, two spot hogfish, and a cleaner shrimp.
And yeah no signs of any stress I fed them last night as usual and the little monsters ate like pigs. No heavy breathing, no resting at the top or bottom, nothing.. My cleaner shrimp had even molted the night before I checked my water? So I do agree with you there my test might be way off. Also I do not use any products on my tank so no declore etc. The only thing I can think of is the silicone or acrylic might be giving me a false positive (the silicone was NOT mold inhibiting)
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
You're using test strips? There's your problem. You need to get a decent test kit.
It's impossible IMO to have fish sitting in ammonia at that level for that long and not be showing it.
 
mony97

mony97

Member
yes it is ;) Thanks for all the help everyone, that was a little stressful I went to bed last night thinking I would wake up to find all my fish had died..
 
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