Will a water change suffice??

ivycharlaine

ivycharlaine

Member
I had a fish die yesterday and I removed him and checked my numbers and they were all fine. So all of a sudden they have skyrocketed. Last night everything was fine, now my readings are the following:
Ammonia .25
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 20
Are these really bad?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by ivycharlaine
http:///forum/post/2995706
I had a fish die yesterday and I removed him and checked my numbers and they were all fine. So all of a sudden they have skyrocketed. Last night everything was fine, now my readings are the following:
Ammonia .25
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 20
Are these really bad?
Well they are not good...you really want 0 readings..especially ammonia
How old did you say the tank was?
IDK what size it is, but YES do a good water change as soon as you can...what do you use for water?
 
naclh2o nut

naclh2o nut

Member
This could be from the fish death. How old is tank and what fish did you lose?
Those are not numbers you want for any length of time esp. the ammo.
Recheck tomorrow unless you have water on hand for a water change then go ahead. If you need to wait then recheck before change if they improve then you just increased your filteration level.

I am not sure of your equipement, so this could be just a mini cycle after death.
What was your trates before? I would look at getting those down and trying to maintain at or under 10.
 
ivycharlaine

ivycharlaine

Member
my tank is 6 months old and is a 45g FOWLR. My nitrates were at about 10-15 the past few days and ammonia and nitrite was at 0. This all happened between last night and today. I just did a water change of about 20%, is that enough? are my other fish and serpent star going to die?
 
naclh2o nut

naclh2o nut

Member
Probably not, recheck levels. If they are down then water change was good. If not make some more water and recheck tomorow.
I just had a new shrimp die, no changes in levels yet. I will recheck tonight and again in the AM, after work and before bed. That is the best way to tell how tank is doing!
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I have had fish die, that I never found and never had an ammonia spike...that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen...just keep an eye on your levels, and have water ready...one w/c may not bring it down to 0...so be ready
 
woody189

woody189

Member
How much LR do you have??
If you have the recommended 45lbs, then I don't think the death would cause a spike, especially since it was probably a small fish considering you tank size. It could have, but I don't think it should have.
 
socal57che

socal57che

Active Member
Originally Posted by woody189
http:///forum/post/2996233
How much LR do you have??
If you have the recommended 45lbs, then I don't think the death would cause a spike, especially since it was probably a small fish considering you tank size. It could have, but I don't think it should have.
She also had a dead snail, which is why I suggested that she check water params in the other thread.
I would do another water change and try to get ammoia, nitrites to zero to avoid possible higher nitrates. Keep an eye on everything and you should be fine. IMO, your serpent star is the most delicate specimen. Watch him.
 
ivycharlaine

ivycharlaine

Member
AHHHHHHHH I found the source of my problems. So this morning I checked my water again and all the numbers were still high and there was no change. So I then realized that I haven't seen my diamond Goby in a few days....hmmmm.... I had to pick up half of my live rock, but I found him dead and fuzzy underneath a rock
poor thing! Well I removed him immediately, but I don't have water ready for another water change
what should I do?? I don't want anything else to die!!!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
I had a .25 ammonia spike, I was all panicked. .25 is hardly traceable...0 is perfect .25 is just above that. If the ammonia is not climbing everything should be fine.
 
woody189

woody189

Member
Go the a LFS. I live in Jersey too, and most LFS's around here sell mixed SW. It's about $1.25 a gallon or something. Just take a few buckets and do a waterchange.
 
ivycharlaine

ivycharlaine

Member
Originally Posted by woody189
http:///forum/post/2996621
Go the a LFS. I live in Jersey too, and most LFS's around here sell mixed SW. It's about $1.25 a gallon or something. Just take a few buckets and do a waterchange.
I just did that, I'm going to wait an hour or two and then recheck the water parameters. I just pray they start dropping
 
ivycharlaine

ivycharlaine

Member
Ok so i just checked the parameters.
Ammonia--borderline 0
Nitrites- borderline 0
Nitrates- 10
I did about a 40% water change, will this suffice? Ammonia and Nitrite are very close to 0 but not quite. Should I just wait it out?? Will it continue to drop?
 
woody189

woody189

Member
Originally Posted by ivycharlaine
http:///forum/post/2996738
Ok so i just checked the parameters.
Ammonia--borderline 0
Nitrites- borderline 0
Nitrates- 10
I did about a 40% water change, will this suffice? Ammonia and Nitrite are very close to 0 but not quite. Should I just wait it out?? Will it continue to drop?
I think 40% is fine for now. Start mixing some new water now though. Retest before you go to bed, and 1st thing in the morning. If the levels are back up again, then do another WC. Otherwise just leave it.
I don't think huge WC's are usually the best thing. But you gotta do what you gotta do. If you do have to do another one, probably do like 10-15%, not another 40%.
I don't see why they would go back up though, being as though you already removed the dead fish.
How much LR do you have?
 
ivycharlaine

ivycharlaine

Member
Originally Posted by woody189
http:///forum/post/2997040
I think 40% is fine for now. Start mixing some new water now though. Retest before you go to bed, and 1st thing in the morning. If the levels are back up again, then do another WC. Otherwise just leave it.
I don't think huge WC's are usually the best thing. But you gotta do what you gotta do. If you do have to do another one, probably do like 10-15%, not another 40%.
I don't see why they would go back up though, being as though you already removed the dead fish.
How much LR do you have?
I have a little under 50 pounds rock, but only half of it is fully live, the othe
Half of it is base rock that was recently added. I also have about 40 pounds of live sand too. I'm gonna check the levels again in the morning, hopefully it will all be fine, I mixed u some water just in case.
 
socal57che

socal57che

Active Member
Originally Posted by ivycharlaine
http:///forum/post/2996494
AHHHHHHHH I found the source of my problems. So this morning I checked my water again and all the numbers were still high and there was no change. So I then realized that I haven't seen my diamond Goby in a few days....hmmmm.... I had to pick up half of my live rock, but I found him dead and fuzzy underneath a rock
poor thing! Well I removed him immediately, but I don't have water ready for another water change
what should I do?? I don't want anything else to die!!!

Sad, but very cool. This is why testing the water is important. Water parameters are how the tank tells us what is going on in there. We saw an increase in ammonia, nitrite and nitrate then looked for the cause. Catching the initial ammonia spike is what we want to shoot for in the future. After a few years looking at the same tank, you can spot changes before you even test the water. You will just know when something is not quite right.
Remember when changing water sources like going from your salt mix to premix from the LFS that you need to try to match PH as well as temp and SG.
Sorry you lost livestock, but you learned how to read and evaluate water tests, effectively solving a problem. Most all of the issues we deal with can be traced to water quality or can be tracked down using water tests.

Happy Reefing!!
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Just between you and me the amount of live rock you have or do not have has nothing to do with your spike in ammonia or nitrites
 
woody189

woody189

Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/2997896
Just between you and me the amount of live rock you have or do not have has nothing to do with your spike in ammonia or nitrites
I was under the impression that if you have more LR that it will help the ammonia convert to nitrate much quicker, and that if you have enough, you won't even see the spike.
Is that wrong?
 
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