Ammonia Spike

Supraz

Supraz

Reefing newb
I got rock from TBS and my first shipment was ok however i ended up with some gorilla crabs. After not being able to catch the with traps i decided to give them a freshwater bath when i got my second shipment of rock cause i knew i would be rearranging. I dipped everything in freshwater to remove some of the hitchhikers and got the tank all set up. I have noticed that my turbo snails are really moving. I also have one sea cucumber that smelled a little 'strange'. I tested the ammonia after i got everything set up and I saw i went from 0 to about 1. I did a 5 gallon water change in the process of adding removing rocks. Tank is 29G btw.

This morning I tested again and its still at about 1. I did another 5 gallon water change and it didnt really seem to make a difference when I retested. I was thinking of removing the snails and the one stinky cucumber. Anyone have any other tips? How frequently can I do these 5 gallon water changes?
 
Richard also included some sponges with my shipment. I put two in the tank. Could those be causing an issue?
 
When you dipped the rock in fresh water,you killed some of the bacteria and alot of the life on and inside the rock.Thats where your ammonia is coming from.
You'll want to do enough and big enough water changes to keep that ammonia down.
Yeah,Its gonna prolong the cycle thats been kicked off,but it'll perserve what life is left hopefully.
 
I only have one extra heater and all my jugs are 5G.... So I can only do 5G at a time. Is it safe to do mutilple water changes a day?
 
I picked up an 11g trash can from walmart when I had to start my water changes. It was only like 8 or 10 bucks and is more than big enough for any water change we should have to do
 
Thanks Sarah! I already did 2 today. One in the morning and one at lunch. I plan on getting my saltwater jugs refilled and ill do two tonight at once.

BL1 how are u transfering the water from the 11G trash can to the tank?!

Andysgirl I have 4 5G jugs but only one heater. When I get them refilled I plan on getting a small 50W heater.
 
if you get the jug up off the floor you can make a siphon. or even put a little on/ off valve in the bottom. drain it into a smaller bucket or just run a line to the tank. add some silicon and there you have it
 
I had planned on going to my LFS today prior to the ammonia spike because i was have high NO3 in my tank.. Should I continue with my plan to buy a chaeto for my fuge or will the high ammonia levels kill the chaeto? I was also going to get something to boost my PH as it will not get above about 7.8-7.9. Is it ok to do this while i have ammonia problems?
 
The chaeto will be fine with the ammonia. I wouldn't mess with the pH while you have elevated ammonia. Wait for it to drop down to zero before you try additives. Anything you try to add now will be complicated by the presence of ammonia.
 
I did a 10G water change in my tank last night and tested the ammonia afterward and didn't really notice a change. It was still at 1.0; This morning its still at 1.0 maybe a little more. I don't feel like I'm making any progress in this. Do I just keep doing a water change in the morning, afternoon, and evening? This is my first tank and Ive never experienced this. Thanks for the advice.
 
Doing water changes while your tank is cycling will always prolong the cycle, drag it out and make it last longer. But if you want your animals to survive, that's what you have to do. That's why it sucks to have anything living in your tank when ammonia or nitrites spike. :(
 

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