Stubborn amonia levels, HELP!!!

[disaster]

We added 20 snails to our tank that were purchased from swf.com. Half were dead or died the first day. Our Amonia levels have not been the same. We ha done 2, 25% water changes 2 days apart, then did a 50 % water change last night. We also added ammo lock twice 2 days apart and last night added aquaQuel plus which is suppose to eliminate amonia, nirates and nitrites. Our amonia levels still remain around 1.0. Any advise???? :help:

 

[promisetbg]

Stop adding chemicals, first! Can you give a little more detail to the situation? Has this tank been cycled with liverock, sand, and a bacterial source such as shrimp or food? What test kit are you using?

 

[disaster]

Yes, I beleive the tank has cycled. We started the tank around the first of the year. We have live rock, sand substrate, we have had fish in the tank since the 3rd week of January. Started with damsels, we have had alot of alge, a starfish which has died. a few clowns(also dead, an anemone which is doing fine. a lawnmower blenny which seems fine. And a small yellow tang which is doing fine. Also I should tell you the damsels went back to the lfs after they killed the clowns. We are using a test kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. It is always hard to compare the green color on the chart with the green color of the water in the tube because since the levels went up the colors are not completely similar.

 

[promisetbg]

I would take a water sample & have your LFS confirm the amount. Ammonia just does'nt stay high without a reason/source. Either something is dead, you are overfeeding, disturbing the sandbed, or something. What is the source for your water? Are you using RO/DI water, and have you tested it for ammonia straight up? Some water plants treat with chloride, the end result is water with ammonia. Some people have to run an extra canister on their RO/DI with Ammo chips to eliminate the ammonia.

 

[earlybird]

What kind of test kit are you using? Aquarium Pharaceuticals Ammonia tests seem to always read 0.25.

 

[disaster]

We don't seem to have any more dead snails in the tank but you brought up something that may have contributed to the amonia levels. When we did the water changes we vacuumed the sand while we were removing the water. We seem to have alot of diatom alge on the top of the sand. So we thought while we were changing the water we would kill 2 birds with 1 stone and get rid of some of the alge too. Our water is RO water from Culligan. I will test it out of the bottle. Thanks

 

[disaster]

Originally Posted by earlybird
What kind of test kit are you using? Aquarium Pharaceuticals Ammonia tests seem to always read 0.25.
We are using a Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit but, we have never had a reading above 0 until now. We are new to this so our knowledge and experience is very limited. Learning as we go!

 

[earlybird]

Originally Posted by disaster
We are using a Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit but, we have never had a reading above 0 until now. We are new to this so our knowledge and experience is very limited. Learning as we go!
Still something to consider. Bring a sample to your LFS for a second opinion.
Yes vacuuming the sand could and probably will cause a spike of levels. You shouldn't have to vacuum the sand ever, just make sure there is good flow across the sand.
FYI- diatom algae is good. I know it's an eye sore but every new tank goes through this stage, it is healthy. It will generally go away on its own but a clean up crew will help speed the process.
Good luck