having ammonia spike--Amquel+ or water change?

[LaurieC]

I added two percs and three shrimp on Sat. and my ammonia tested 0.2 milligrams/L this morning so I did a 10G water change (approx. 20% water change). I have a 55G Fowlr with 55lbs live rock plus live sand. The tank has been running since first week of Aug. and had cycled. I tested again tonight and the ammonia is o.2 milligrams/L. All tests:

SG: 1.022
Ph: 8.2
A: 0.2
Ni: 0.2
Na: less than 10 (almost clear, but 10 is the lowest on my chart)
Alk: 3.5 meg/L
CA: 440

Should I add AmQuel+ tonight or wait and do another water change in the morning? THank you!!

 

[OzoneParkGuy]

hmmm .... Not sure u should be adding anything as i think your tank is still cycling Laurie. Please hold off on purchasing anything else for your tank for another 2 weeks and see if you get 0.0 readings on Amm Nitrite and Nitrate. The levels should not have risen on just those 2 percs and inverts in a 55gallon. Also do not do a water change untill the Nitrogen cycle has passed. Doing a water change just slows the process and starts it all over again.

 

[KathyC]

I agree, the tank wasn't done with it's cycle.

I don't advocate chemicals like this is a SW tank but Amquel + will make the ammonia (and nitrite) in there less harmful to the fish and from what I understand it will not slow down the cycle.
Better to get the fish and shrimp out of there if at all possible and skip the Amquel+.
If you do go with the Amquel+ (only the + does this) you will NOT be able to test accurately for Ammonia until it is completely gone out of the tank.

You would need to use an entirely - and not easy to find at LFS - type of ammonia kit that utilizes 'pellets' instead of liquid reagents to get an accurate reading.

You could also do repeated water changes to keep the ammonia level as low as possible, but of course that will extend your cycle further, but it will also help your livestock out. 'Breathing' ammonia is no good for them

 

[LaurieC]

I had a cycle and then had "O" on all tests for two weeks so added a cuc (6 hermits, 6 nassarius snails, 6 turbos) and three Chromis. They have all been great for past two weeks--all tests "0" so I added the percs and the three shrimp (which I drip acclimated over 24 hours) on Sat. Now I have a spike. Maybe I'm feeding them too much? I've been giving them either half a frozen brine or algea cube in the morning a bit of dry flake in the evenings. If it's a spike which I can ride out, I'd rather so I don't prolong, but I can't take the fish out (long story but I moved a piece of LR with apistasia into my QT and got an ammonia spike there so it's working itself out). I'm leary about the AmQuel+ for the reason you point out about testing. I had it on hand in case of a huge, emergency spike. I keep checking on the tank and everyone in it looks good--no signs of stress or heavy breathing. Do you think it's ok to leave it alone until the morning and test again? If it's over 0.2 then what is best to do--the water change?

 

[LaurieC]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the the great advice. Since everyone in tank looked ok and not stressed, I waited to do anything until this morning and tested everything again:
SG: 1.022 (little low, decreased when I added some fresh water to make up the water change yesterday am)
Ph: 8.0
A: more like 0.05 little tiny bit of yellow but no where like yesterday's 0.2
Ni: 0.2
Na: less than 10 (lowest reading on test chart)
Alk: 3
CA: 390 (I'd been adding a 2part buffer so maybe went down due to water changes?)
I am super relieved to see things going in the right direction. I have not done another water change. I plan to get another test (have been using Marineland, will get Salivert) at lunch and retest to double check. So, so glad I didn't add AmQuel+ Maybe sometimes you just have to let mother nature take it's course. Big relief. No new fishies for at least a month!