Weirdness....Ammonia and Nitrites

discusking

discusking

Member
Yeah so my tank has been running for over a month and I just added an anemone and it is doing great and has for the last couple of days, however now the Amonia and nitrates have spiked at .5 for Ammonia and .5 for Nitrites. I think that this might be normal b/c i just added a new animal, but it has been like this for about three days. Is this normal or anything I should be alarmed about?
 
leigh

leigh

Active Member
I would be alarmed. Anemone's are inverts so they do not add to the bioload really--I would not expect any changes in ammonia and nitrites. How old are your test kits? Are you sure they haven't just gone bad? What's your bioload like?
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
I would check the test kits like leigh said. I would take a sample to a LFS and have them check the readings to be sure.
also what does your anemone look. 1 month is rather early to add a delicate animal like an anemone to a tank there is to much going on in a new tank. usually its best to wait till 6months to a year for the system to mature before adding one.
but on the other hand you already ave it so.
is there anything in the tank that might have died and causeing a spike?
arge snail anything like that.
also what if anything have you added besides the anemone?
all this can play a role in where the ammonia is coming from.
but as far as being alarmed YES ammonia should never be at a detectable limit. if there is ammonia in the tank then there is something out of wack there.
Mike
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Just out of curiosity did you have a ammonia/nitrite spike prior to adding the anonome? What did you use to initiate the cycle origionally? It could be that your 1 month old system is just now starting to cycle. If that is the case your recent addition may be in trouble...they don't handle ammonia well at all...and nitrite could be deadly also. :cool:
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