THIS MORNING I CHECKED MY AMMONIA LEVEL AND IT WENT FROM 0.3 TO 1.2 AND LET ME TELL YOU THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO SO I TOOK ALL THE LIFE STOCK OUT INCLUDING MY LION AND MY SHARK EGG AND MOVED THEM TO MY NEWLY 29 GALLON TANK. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE 29 GALLON TANK HAS ONLY BEEN SET UP FOR 2 DAYS WHICH IS NOT CYCLED YET ONLY HAS THE NEW LIVE SAND BUT GUESS WHAT NOT LIKE I HAVE A CHOICE. SO TODAY AFTER WORK I WILL TAKE OUT ATLEAST 50% OF THE WATER OF MY 55 GALLON AND PUT NOTHING BUT TAP WATER WITH STRSS COAT AND SALT CAUSE I JUST CAN'T AFORD THE RO WATER RIGHT NOW SO GUYS IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGESTIONS PLEASE LET ME KNOW CAUSE I DON'T EAVEN KNOW IF MY STOCK IS GONA MAKE IT BY THE TIME I GET OF WORK. :frustrat: :frustrat: :frustrat:
Lets Just Hope......
- Thread starter grunt
- Start date
ReefWannabe
Reefing newb
First off Caps kills lol. How long has this tank been running? Are you sure nothing died in there to make it spike so fast? Ive seen many people use tap, it hurts on nitrates, but never seen ammonia spike from it. It could possibly be from adding the large lionfish with not enough biological filtration yet???
minireefer
Reefing newb
agreed on the biological.the filter you have you said is new.How long has the rock been in there?.What kind(brand) of test do you use some are expired right off the self.Some have the expiration dated on the bottle but not in plain enbglish.If they are expired they will give all kinds of fake #$* readings.I have used a seachem amonia badge thats work good.Is there a way to get your water tested elseware like from a buddy or a LFS.Also test your tap strate out facet. good luck man
It Just Doesn't Stop!
eaven petland tested the water for me. i just did a 50% water change with tap and clorine etc. remover with salt mixed and the ammonia is worse! with a 2.4 and i just don't get it. the one rock is fiji and the rest was aquaculture all clean end everything from petland 50 pounds total. the tank was running for 3 weeks with a new bag of live sand. 2 bags worth of live sand and 29 gallons of water from my previous tank that was running for 2 months. the test kits are from nutrafin 16 dollars each with an expiration date of 2009. it only took 24 hours of that lion to be there and it spiked. moved all my stock to my newly set up 29 gallon again that has only been running for 3 days, today i checked and i have an ammonia of 0.3 with the stock istill in there. i can't do anything else than just throw ammo lock in the 29 were the stock is and hopefully leave the 55 running alone with the skimmer and all. i don't know how long it will take for that 55 gal to fall in it's place and hope that the stock in my 29 gal doesn't die on me before then. :frustrat: :frustrat:
eaven petland tested the water for me. i just did a 50% water change with tap and clorine etc. remover with salt mixed and the ammonia is worse! with a 2.4 and i just don't get it. the one rock is fiji and the rest was aquaculture all clean end everything from petland 50 pounds total. the tank was running for 3 weeks with a new bag of live sand. 2 bags worth of live sand and 29 gallons of water from my previous tank that was running for 2 months. the test kits are from nutrafin 16 dollars each with an expiration date of 2009. it only took 24 hours of that lion to be there and it spiked. moved all my stock to my newly set up 29 gallon again that has only been running for 3 days, today i checked and i have an ammonia of 0.3 with the stock istill in there. i can't do anything else than just throw ammo lock in the 29 were the stock is and hopefully leave the 55 running alone with the skimmer and all. i don't know how long it will take for that 55 gal to fall in it's place and hope that the stock in my 29 gal doesn't die on me before then. :frustrat: :frustrat:
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ReefWannabe
Reefing newb
only 3 weeks? its still cycling. When you put the fish in there you threw the tank all off balance. Just give it time to finish the cycle so that your tank can actually handle accepting the fish.
well
well today i decided to just sell everything and quit. joking jeje anyways u think that i can hack it by just keeping everything i got right now in my 29 galllon and do like 2 or three gallon water changes everyday till my 55 gallon gets back on track? or do you think it might just kill everything in there by doing this? this is the only standing chance i got so what's it gona be?
well today i decided to just sell everything and quit. joking jeje anyways u think that i can hack it by just keeping everything i got right now in my 29 galllon and do like 2 or three gallon water changes everyday till my 55 gallon gets back on track? or do you think it might just kill everything in there by doing this? this is the only standing chance i got so what's it gona be?
My 2 cents worth. your system (55) was not yet matured enough for the bio load you added. lions expel a mentionable amount of urine and poop if feeding properly. your bacteria bed is not established well enough for a bio load like that. so, what to do. I personally feel you have not done yourself any good by putting the stock in a smaller system that is not cycled yet and is weaker than the 55. suggest you do water changes on the 55 to help control the ammonia levels but it will be a fighting battle as the water changes will prolong the cycle. your animals stand a better chance in the 55 than the 29, or you could take some of the animals back to the lfs and just sit for the next 2 to 3 months until things settle out. anyways, you really need to read the helpful articles on page one of the article forum. if you have then you missed the part about being patient. patients is measured in months not days and weeks. revisit the articles and in the meantime work on the 55 to stablize it, however, once animals are back in you will experiance the same problem until the system cycles through and the bacteria bed builds sufficiently. put everything back in 55 and do water changes to control ammonia, feed sparingly until cycled. sorry to hear of your troubles. good luck.
ReefWannabe
Reefing newb
totally agree. The 29 will be doing the same as the 55 very soon. Either you could ask if the store could hold them, or sell them back until the tank is ready. OR put them back in the 55 and hope they can soldier through. Alot of fish are hardy and can take it, but im not sure about the lion, their usually pretty touchy. Unless you have a friends house they could sleepover for a month :D Once your tank has cycled, start with small fish next time if you get ri of your current fish. Starting with big fish isnt the easiest way, and probably will have you quitting unless you have tons of patience.
ok so...
ok so i took the volitan and the shark egg to the petstore to hold them for me till i get back on track. now i got left 1 green chromi and 4 turbo snails in my 29 gallon which is 0.3 in ammonia. now on the 55 i did a 50% water change a day ago and checked the ammonia today and it's still 3.7 with no stock in it skimmer and everything running and abot 40 pounds of live rock. now please what's the procedure to make these tanks specially the 55 gal to get it back on track? should i leave them running and don't do anything to them ? or what should i do to make things right from a fresh start? u guys been alot of help so far so lets help jorge get this right ! :bowdown:
ok so i took the volitan and the shark egg to the petstore to hold them for me till i get back on track. now i got left 1 green chromi and 4 turbo snails in my 29 gallon which is 0.3 in ammonia. now on the 55 i did a 50% water change a day ago and checked the ammonia today and it's still 3.7 with no stock in it skimmer and everything running and abot 40 pounds of live rock. now please what's the procedure to make these tanks specially the 55 gal to get it back on track? should i leave them running and don't do anything to them ? or what should i do to make things right from a fresh start? u guys been alot of help so far so lets help jorge get this right ! :bowdown:
ReefWannabe
Reefing newb
Its possible the chrmois will survive the ordeal. My cousins survived far worse. The snails tho may not make it. The cycle can take anywhere from 2 weeks - 2 months. Mine took right at around 1 1/2 month. Once the ammonia and nitrite drop to 0, your ready, but still not to add all the fish back at once. I added 2 clowns to my tank first, but their an inch long each and small. The volitian probably is what brought this on. Just remember to wait and be patient. Add your livestock slowly, 1 each month if you must. Im shooting for 1 or a pair each 6 weeks, unless longer time is needed.
A suggestion with regard to using tap water. You can use distilled water and it would be much safer for your tank. You can probably buy Distilled water for like 64 cents a gallon at WalMart. The salts mix well in it and it's got much less contaminants than regular tap water. :D
minireefer
Reefing newb
Besides all the other info have test the the premixed water with salt added before it goes into the tank.This will tell you what you a re starting.If it is any more than 0 you got some tap water issues or some bad salt.What type are you using?
testing testing
ok so i went ahead and mixed salt with tap water and stress coat and i got an ammonia of 0.1. i tested salt with a little bit of ro water that i had left and it's giving me reading of 0.1 also. so could it be the salt then? i knew it was not me danm it it's the stuff i'm using
ok so i went ahead and mixed salt with tap water and stress coat and i got an ammonia of 0.1. i tested salt with a little bit of ro water that i had left and it's giving me reading of 0.1 also. so could it be the salt then? i knew it was not me danm it it's the stuff i'm using
ReefWannabe
Reefing newb
Its not the salt. You just got new tank syndrom. If you try to add things to fast the tank wont be able to handle it and crash, which is basically what yours started to do.
minireefer
Reefing newb
AgreedReefWannabe said:
.1 reading out of the fresh made saltwater says its good or at least ok for use
In your tank 3.7 ouch.The tank cant handle the new bio-load yet maybe do to the new filter setup causing a mini cycle.How is the nitrite?Watch fishes breathing if it become rapid the amonia is becoming to toxic.This stuff my help bio-spirla or cycle.They are used in to give the cycle process a kick start and complete earlier than normal.
hope it balances out for you.
well.
got no bio in my 55 gallon right now and i added yesterday some seachem prime to get rid of ammonia etc. which the lfs recommended and some nutrafin cycle fluid to speed up the cycle. so far both my tanks are now reading 6.3 and 5 on nitrate and i don't know how my green chromi, 1 conch, and 4 mexican snails are still alive. i have spent so much money on live sand this and that and there is no way in hell that after all these water changes the ammonia is just gona go nuts on me. and i'm just not going to get anymore live sand that is just costs too much. all i can do is just leave them running for like a month like that and sell my lion and the shark egg that are sitting in my lfs which they are letting me keep them for a week now for free. so i hope the tanks atleast the empty 55 gallon one cycles and gets that danm ammonia down for once so i can atleast enjoy the saltwater world for at least more than a day.
got no bio in my 55 gallon right now and i added yesterday some seachem prime to get rid of ammonia etc. which the lfs recommended and some nutrafin cycle fluid to speed up the cycle. so far both my tanks are now reading 6.3 and 5 on nitrate and i don't know how my green chromi, 1 conch, and 4 mexican snails are still alive. i have spent so much money on live sand this and that and there is no way in hell that after all these water changes the ammonia is just gona go nuts on me. and i'm just not going to get anymore live sand that is just costs too much. all i can do is just leave them running for like a month like that and sell my lion and the shark egg that are sitting in my lfs which they are letting me keep them for a week now for free. so i hope the tanks atleast the empty 55 gallon one cycles and gets that danm ammonia down for once so i can atleast enjoy the saltwater world for at least more than a day.
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ReefWannabe
Reefing newb
Ok, you dont want it to just go away by dosing the tank with chemicals. You have to wait it out. Your stuck now doing the part you didnt do to begin with lol. Over the course of the next few weeks, youll see everything gradually lower on its own naturally. Once the ammonia AND nitrite say 0 after a few weeks, then if your chrmois is still kicking it, check to be sure your cleanup crew is still there. Once everthing is stable add another fish, but only 1. Im almost possitive its the lionfish that threw it off though, since hes probably a decent sized fish already.
You can also read in jhnrb (john's) articles for more help and reading.
You can also read in jhnrb (john's) articles for more help and reading.
yeah
well he is only 3 inches long and at the same time i added that 350 penguin brand new dual bio wheel filter which i don't know if that really makes a change but i'm gona hold my breath to your sugestion and wait it out cause u just gave me motivation to just wait cause all that money i have spent hurts alot to not be able to enjoy it. thanx man i'll keep updating this junk eaven though u guys must me tired of my a$$ by now jeje :bowdown:
well he is only 3 inches long and at the same time i added that 350 penguin brand new dual bio wheel filter which i don't know if that really makes a change but i'm gona hold my breath to your sugestion and wait it out cause u just gave me motivation to just wait cause all that money i have spent hurts alot to not be able to enjoy it. thanx man i'll keep updating this junk eaven though u guys must me tired of my a$$ by now jeje :bowdown:
ReefWannabe
Reefing newb
Nah, we all here to helpout. You shoulda seen how many threads i posted asking stuff when i started LOL, that was horrible. But even if you sold back the fish you have now and just waited, the investement you'de loose on the fish, is nothing compared to what the longterm costs of what your reef tank could be like. Like johns been posting about his since i joined a few months back... And he still has months to go before its done. Youll learn the best feature to have in this hobby other than money lol is patience!!!
