Ammonia Spike!!

[moebious]

Jenn, I don't know what to say about the Mandarin except i knew better. Although i added copepods, i still have copepods and the mandarin was actually eating frozen brine shrimp. I was hoping it would last until i got the 55 stocked.

Blixem, I do live in Winder but i don't get off work until midnight. At this point i don't think the clown would survive the cycle or the shock. I just don't know what to do. More Amquel+ and water changes? I could try Stability like Courterbobby is, but i would have to find an LFS that has it and is closer than an hour away.

Courterbobby, i'm glad you got it sorted out:yes:.

 

[courterbobby]

moebious;538794 wrote: Courturebobby, I noticed in your first post that you are using an ammonia absorber. I don't know anything about them; is it possible that thing is saturated?

The one I have in there now is good I put it in yesterday, but I am cleaning the other two I have tonight

 

[moebious]

Clown died. Removed avatar. No fish for a while.:sad:

 

[courterbobby]

moebious;538986 wrote: Clown died. Removed avatar. No fish for a while.:sad:

Don't give up. Trust me when I say that I was overdue for something to happen to me. I have never really had any major issues with my tanks before as far as water parameters are concerned.
Just hurdles we have to leap.
Sorry for you losses

 

[courterbobby]

I do not have any sand sifters in my 80g tank because I am scared they will jump. I have had no luck with sand sifters in a tank without a top. I need to make one.
My sand bed falls within that "limbo" so to speak. Its about 3 to 4 inches deep. Not a deep sand bed, but not a thin one either. I am thinking about a thin one when I get my 225 up and going

 

[cr500_af]

Assault;539014 wrote: I had a 2 inch sand bed, and vacuumed every two weeks, plus my engineer goby went through every square inch of exposed sand, If my sand got disturbed, my amonia stayed a 0

Maintaining it regularly is what you can thank for that. If sand is stirred/vacuumed etc on a regular basis, it is pretty safe. If it stays undisturbed for a long time and THEN gets moved, that's when the nasty stuff is a problem. You may have already known that; just posting for anyone who may be reading.

 

[courterbobby]

Just an update, I have added the second dose of stability today along with another dose of amquel plus. Xenia is starting to un-shrivel and clove polyps are looking like they are turning around also (starting to perk up a little). Finishing up a 5 gallon water change and then ill test the water. Also, the clown is not breathing heavily anymore.

 

[courterbobby]

Ammonia finally seems to be coming down. I just tested and we are almost at .5 according to my API test kit, so cut in half almost. I actually ran out of amquel and picked up some Seachem Prime. I have been dosing Seachem Prime and Stability according to the directions every day at the same time.
I did a 10 gallon water change today, and I am geared up to do another 10 gallon water change tomorrow.
Both clowns are a sleep right now, but both seem to be breathing heavily now, along with my yellow tang who sleeps where I can see him, but that just might be a night thing bc O2 levels drop at night? They do not seem to be breathing heavily during the day, though there is noticeably increase in breathing rate (assuming from dosing chemicals that deplete oxygen, but 2 power head still pointed at the surface). The clowns hung out under a rock ledge all day, but ate just fine when I fed them today and the yellow tang was a little piggy.
I am still worried about the well being of my babies I just hate that this happened to them. The corals are looking better, xenia was moving their little fingers like they wanted to pulse but didn't actually let them out of their "fist", and I can see that the clove polyps are perking up, but still not the best color (they seem to be closed up tonight, which is a good sign bc since the spike they have not closed at night just stayed limp).
I am doing everything within my power to keep everyone healthy, but I am just so dang worried and scared to take my eyes off the tank. It might sound silly to some but these are my babies and not just an ornamental piece to impress onlookers.

 

[moebious]

It doesn't sound silly to me. I feel the same way. All my little buddies gone.:sad: And the worst part is i didn't learn anything from it. What caused the spike and why didn't water changes and Amquel help. I really hope you have better luck than i did. I ordered some stability to cycle the 55 and i'll put that in the 12 and see what happens.

 

[courterbobby]

Ammonia is still heading downwards. we are below .5 on the api, but still above .25. I have been doing 10g water changes every day along still with prime and stability. Everything in the tank is looking great again!
Thanks for the advice guys! I am going to test my trates and see if I stopped a cycle from happening.

 

[courterbobby]

Well all said and done good news is ammonia is now testing 0 per API test kit, bad news is I did have a cycle. I just tested the tirtes and they are on the way down. they are at 2.5ppm and trates are at 10 to 20ppm both per seachem test kit. I haven't lost and more corals, but I have lost two fish. Now is the nitrite to blame? IDK it's a possibility, but also I have noticed fishes bumping into urchins also which is a possibility also. I need to get to the bottom of this though... The two fish that have died kicked the bucket in the past two days which leads me to believe they were under a lot of stress from the cycle or something in the environment has taken them out (urchins, pistols, crabs).

 

[drnecropolis]

That amount of Nitrite is toxic to everything and doing serious damage to them.. Its not the urchin..

 

[courterbobby]

I followed the directions on the prime bottle for emergency nitrite problems. I have been dosing it every day since the mishap. Everyone else is alright and all corals are good. I am geared up for their weekly water change tomorrow also.