Need advice ammonia and nitrite with live stock

[Manta]

I just checked my ammonia and nitrite and the ammonia is at about 1ppm .I have been using bottled distilled water but I don't have any on hand right now or prepared ,could I use tap water and mix some for on hour or 2 and do a 50% water Change for now.:help

 

[Dre]

Yes you can, what level is the nitrite? Is this a new tank?

 

[Manta]

To be honest I am not sure I am using a nitrite test kit from a freshwater test,but the ammonia is API salt water test.it is very light color purple maybe 25ppm or 50.

 

[Manta]

I have 5 gallons of tap water that has been mixing for about an hour now,with a heater ,I have only 2 clowns and one hermit crab.The tank is new ,what I believe might of happened is there is about 3 pounds of live rock it came from 2.5 gallon tank,the sand was not live there is a small sponge filter that also came from the 2.5 gallon,maybe it was not enough for the 2 clown is this a mini cycle , the 2.5 that the rock and fillter came from only had a clown goby in it and a hermit crab

 

[LBC]

fish excrete ammonia

the smaller the system, the more everytime you add bio-load there will be at least a mini ammonia spike until the bacteria on/in surfaces including the LR, increase to process more ammonia

 

[KathyC]

To be honest I am not sure I am using a nitrite test kit from a freshwater test,but the ammonia is API salt water test.it is very light color purple maybe 25ppm or 50.

Both the API ammonia & nitrite (and the nitrate also) kits will give you an accurate reading for both SW & FW.

What size is this tank?
Can we assume it wasn't cycled?

Changing 50% of the water will only lower your ammonia by 50% - and that isn't enough

If you are unable to change 100% of the water, you need to get a product called Ammo-lock which will bind to the ammonia and make it less lethal to your fish. The longer you wait, the more damage being done to the fishes gills by the ammonia.

Please let us know what is happening so we can guide you further to rectify this issue.

 

[edd]

Both the API ammonia & nitrite (and the nitrate also) kits will give you an accurate reading for both SW & FW.

What size is this tank?
Can we assume it wasn't cycled?

Changing 50% of the water will only lower your ammonia by 50% - and that isn't enough

If you are unable to change 100% of the water, you need to get a product called Ammo-lock which will bind to the ammonia and make it less lethal to your fish. The longer you wait, the more damage being done to the fishes gills by the ammonia.

Please let us know what is happening so we can guide you further to rectify this issue.

kathy not to question a pro, but it says not to use amo lock with sw. it says on the carton you can reuse it after rinsing in sw cause sw releases the amp.
unless theirs a sw version.
i wouldn't use tap water, i think your rock will suck up the phosphates.

 

[KathyC]

kathy not to question a pro, but it says not to use amo lock with sw. it says on the carton you can reuse it after rinsing in sw cause sw releases the amp.
unless theirs a sw version.
i wouldn't use tap water, i think your rock will suck up the phosphates.

Hi Edd...carton? Do you have one of the older packages?
The Ammo-lock I'm talking about is a liquid and the materials do say safe for FW & SW use. I've used it a couple of times over the years in both FW & SW (QT only) tanks..
This is the product I'm referring to:
http://www.apifishcare.com/product.php?id=654#.UqeWME0o6M9

I'm also not in agreement that he should use tap water, but if he has no quick access to RO water, and we're only talking about 2.5 pounds of rock getting ruined by the tap water and the fish would at least stand a better chance if all of the water is changed. I'd rather he save the fish than the rock

We need more info from the OP on what size set up we are talking about too.

 

[edd]

kathy, yes it was a carton that i bought about a year ago and returned it. it wasn't a liquid, more like crushed coral. its a different product i was thinking of, amo chips made by api.
i knew not to question a pro.

 

[KathyC]

kathy, yes it was a carton that i bought about a year ago and returned it. it wasn't a liquid, more like crushed coral. its a different product i was thinking of, amo chips made by api.
i knew not to question a pro.

aww shucks..I just spend too much time hanging out with fish people
I knew what you were talking about when you said 'carton', but I couldn't put my finger on the name of the item. Close though, and good to know too!

 

[Sharkbait420]

Nitrite indicator is the same for fresh and saltwater. Go online and look the saltwatwr color chart. Do a water change and add prime for the short term. Add some more surface area for bacteria for the long term.

 

[Manta]

fish excrete ammonia

the smaller the system, the more everytime you add bio-load there will be at least a mini ammonia spike until the bacteria on/in surfaces including the LR, increase to process more ammonia

That's what I think might be part of the problem,should have started with just the first clownfish.

 

[Manta]

Nitrite indicator is the same for fresh and saltwater. Go online and look the saltwatwr color chart. Do a water change and add prime for the short term. Add some more surface area for bacteria for the long term.

Thanks I found the chart online ,that's what I figured because I have a nitrate and ammonia API test that I purchased not as a kit and they came with 2 charts in the boxes, one fresh and one for salt.I use prime as my water conditioner how much should I add to help with the ammonia ,it is a 10 gallon.

 

[Manta]

Thanks for your help Kathy ,it is a ten gallon tank ,the filter and the small amount of live rock came from a 2.5 gallon tank that I had a small yellow clown goby and 1 hermit crab .I think the bio load may be part of the problem .you answered my other post about dead rock ,i made a mistake I am pretty sure it is dry rock,but I also purchased one piece of live rock at the time and I added to the tank ,could it be die off from that rock that causing the ammonia problem or maybe it's not fully cured .sorry if these question's are stupid or don't make sense ,I am a newb to salt water.

 

[basiab]

No the questions are not stupid and they make lots of sense. They actually tell us a lot. So do yourself a favor and have Kathy walk you through the cycle process or better yet do a lot of reading.

 

[Sharkbait420]

I think it's a capful for 50 gallons. Look at the directions. You can't overdose on so you can add a little extra.

 

[KathyC]

I think it's a capful for 50 gallons. Look at the directions. You can't overdose on so you can add a little extra.

He has a 10G tank, so he would only use 1ml..5 X too much would be OD'ing a 10 g tank.


Manta..what's going on with the tank now?

 

[Manta]

Much better now thanks, I done A 50% water change that night and another two days later, I also cut back on there food. My nitrates went down to zero the ammonia dropped to 25 from 1. ppm ,I added 20 drops of prime when I did the the water changes,my 2 clowns seem to be doing well for now.

 

[KathyC]

Good :fish:
Don't cut back too much on the food. If there is food leftover after the fish eat, better to net or out or use a turkey baster to suck it out of the tank.


Water changes will keep you water in good shape, fish only live to do 2 things..eat & reproduce, please don't take that from them


A few more pieces of fully cured live rock will help by giving you more surface area for the bacteria that will change the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate.
You might want to add a 2nd hermit crab and perhaps a snail or 2.

 

[Manta]

Is it safe to add another hermit crab and a few snails now or should i wait until i have zero ammonia.