Problems with cats: ammonia?

[rdnelson]

JBDreefs;1039306 wrote: Agreed, seems strange. I will pickup a new nitrite kit today as well. The one I have is old. I wonder if the fact that this isn't a normal "cycling of the tank" explains the lack of nitrite.

I am also going to take a sample of water to the LFS.

Not following that. If something is consuming the ammonia it should have nitrite as a by product. In turn, if something is consuming the nitrite you should have nitrate.

 

[jbdreefs]

I hear you Rich, and frankly, none of any of this makes any sense. We don't have a house full of air saturated with ammonia to the point that out noise hairs singe or have difficulty breathing. I would also argue that nothing, regarding the cats, has changed much, if at all, in the last 6 months. I would think that the bacteria population in my tank grew to a point that it could handle the "extra" ammonia when it first cycled and reached an equilibrium.

My thoughts on the low nitrite are as follows: there was already a healthy population of nitrifying bacteria in the aquarium. A sudden increase in ammonia doesn't lead to a sudden increase in nitrite, but rather, the increase in nitrite happens gradually... As fast as the first population can convert the ammonia to nitrite. Is the delay slow enough to allow for proper growth of the 2nd wave of bacteria? I don't know. Just throwing out ideas.

Also, while I am not getting a reading on nitrite, the nitrates are certainly there. With the number of water changes I have done 15 ppm is high. This tells me the nitrifying process is completing: ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate.

I wonder if it is possible that I killed off the first round of beneficial bacteria but none of the rest?

I don't know the answers. It is all strange. I am just happy to see improvement and I hope it continues. I am debating another water change this morning.

 

[jbdreefs]

nitrite: 0 - salifert
Phosphate - .025 - nyos

 

[rdnelson]

JBDreefs;1039314 wrote: I hear you Rich, and frankly, none of any of this makes any sense. We don't have a house full of air saturated with ammonia to the point that out noise hairs singe or have difficulty breathing. I would also argue that nothing, regarding the cats, has changed much, if at all, in the last 6 months. I would think that the bacteria population in my tank grew to a point that it could handle the "extra" ammonia when it first cycled and reached an equilibrium.

My thoughts on the low nitrite are as follows: there was already a healthy population of nitrifying bacteria in the aquarium. A sudden increase in ammonia doesn't lead to a sudden increase in nitrite, but rather, the increase in nitrite happens gradually... As fast as the first population can convert the ammonia to nitrite. Is the delay slow enough to allow for proper growth of the 2nd wave of bacteria? I don't know. Just throwing out ideas.

Also, while I am not getting a reading on nitrite, the nitrates are certainly there. With the number of water changes I have done 15 ppm is high. This tells me the nitrifying process is completing: ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate.

I wonder if it is possible that I killed off the first round of beneficial bacteria but none of the rest?

I don't know the answers. It is all strange. I am just happy to see improvement and I hope it continues. I am debating another water change this morning.

Ok I misunderstood. I thought earlier you said nitrate was low. But it'll it is up I can understand high ammonia and high nitrate but no nitrite.

1. The bacteria was capable of handling normal amounts of ammonia. Sudden increase means the bacteria can't keep up. Ammonia rises.

2. The available bacteria consumes all the ammonia it can and creates nitrite. Since that bacteria is already synced with the other it has capacity to process all the nitrite produced.

 

[jbdreefs]

API test read 0, or near 0, this morning. It was a "dirty" yellow.

I will run another Red Sea test this evening.

I am very close to recovery. I just hope most everything recovers. I definitely lost my red monti cap. acros seem really mad. Nearly all corals have lost most of its color but are hanging on.

 

[russ-iv]

im glad you're on the road to recovery. hopefully the corals pull through. you mentioned before that your wife is a clean freak.

she wouldnt happen to use lysol would she?

 

[jbdreefs]

Her traditional cleaner of choice is bleach. We have Lysol, but I don't typically see it used.