moovinfast Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 So one or two of our corals weren't looking happy so we decided to test the water. And everything looked fine except the ammonia. Ive been having a hard time figuring out why the ammonia in our tank showed up suddenly. Its always been 0 since our first cycle. Its a 72 gallon with a 20 gallon sump and 120+lbs of live rock. We have 2 small clown fish, a blenny, a coral beauty, 3 chrommies and a bubble anemone and a carpet anemone. We did a 15 gallon water change 2 days ago and tested the water yesterday and the ammonia was still high. So I looked for anything dead in the tank. Took out a zoa frag that never opened since we got it and looked like it was melting. Also cleaned out the overflow. Didnt find anything dead in the tank or sump. So today I did another water change of 20 gallons. And here are the results a few after hours after: Ph 8.2-8.4 Temp 79 Salinity 1.025 Nitrate 0-5 nitrite 0 P04 0 Ammonia .5 I think its from our salt. We just changed salts the water change before. What should I do? Everything else looks happy except for one zoa frag. From left to right. 1.Water from tank 2.Ro/di water with salt 3. Ro/di water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 are you using an api test kit? it might have gone bad if thats the case, mine was showing an extremely high amount of ammonia, and i went and had it tested with a salifert kit, and my ammonia was 0, my test kit has gone bad and i now need to get a new one lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Seachem reef salt or marine salt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Yes its an API kit. But it hasn't tested high before and I took the water in to Petco (its the only fish place around here) and they tested it with whatever their strips are and it came out the same as our test but their ammonia read .3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Seachem Reef salt. Blue bucket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 ive been told for years that the strips just arent reliable at all, if i could make a recommendation, take a trip to seahorse or rose city down in portland, they're both great stores, and have them test your water, just to make sure your kit isnt bad. on a side note, ive never heard of ammonia being affected by the brand of salt, you may have had something die in your tank, a crap, snail, something, and that could be what is causing the ammonia spike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 The tube in the middle is left over Fresh Ro/di water with salt that I used for the water change. Never went into the tank. And the Seahorse would be a 2 hour trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 ouch, thats a rough trip, but i feel your pain, its over an hour for me how long did you let the water sit before you did the change? i try to let my new water sit with a powerhead and heater for at least 24 hours before i do a change, just to give everything a chance to stabilize. that could be whats causing the spike, if thats the case, id recommend mixing up new water, and letting it set for at least 24 hours and then doing a 25% or better change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Yes its an API kit. But it hasn't tested high before and I took the water in to Petco (its the only fish place around here) and they tested it with whatever their strips are and it came out the same as our test but their ammonia read .3 In my experience, the test strips arent accurate. I have some and they never read the same as Salifert or API tests for the same water. I would do the same checks with another kit. Im on my 6th bucket of Seachem Reef Salt and have never measured any ammonia in a freshly mixed batch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 The water mixed with a Powerhead and heater for 18-20 hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Well if I get this right, by looking at the pic and what's been written, you have amonia in your ro/di water before ya add salt? why would ya blame the salt for high amonia then? when was the last time ya changed the carbon block in your ro/di? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Oh and whare are people getting the test strip thing? I dont see a pic of any test strip being used, just cheep water test kit. I would recomend getting your water tested at a LFS to make sure your test kit is still acurate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 Its hard to tell in the pic, but the tube on the far right is just the ro/di water and it looks like 0ppm in person. The strip thing comes from earlier. I took a sample of the water to our LFS which is Petco. They use the strips to test the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwcoralfarm Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I have never tested ammonia from a fresh batch of salt water. Do you have much for a cleaner crew, are you sure there is nothing dead? I would say that chances are if you tested a few days prior and then again now and they were that different that one of the tests (probably the first one) has failed to test correctly. Just do another water change and get a new test kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I would think if you really had ammonia in your water that you would have some nitrites also. I would get hold of stylaster (Roy) and see if he has a more reliable test kit to compare your results with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 I just picked up my GOC frag from him, but he couldn't find an ammonia test kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Its hard to tell in the pic' date=' but the tube on the far right is just the ro/di water and it looks like 0ppm in person. The strip thing comes from earlier. I took a sample of the water to our LFS which is Petco. They use the strips to test the water.[/quote'] My bad! The salifert test i use is clear when there is nothing so I was just thinking to fast, sorry. seriously though how long has your tank been setup? I think I can talk for most when I say that if its an established tank and you arnt detecting any nitrates or nitrites then ya shouldnt need to test for amonia! I usualy only test for nitrate's cuz if they show up the odds of nitrites being presint are better so at that point I will test for nitrites and the same for amonia, I only test for it if I test posative for nitrite. Its logical and saves $ on test kits. sure ya need all of them but you wont be going through all of them so fast. I replace my amonia kit once a year and normaly dont even need to use it but I replace my nitrate test kit every 3 monthes or so. cuz I use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted November 3, 2009 Author Share Posted November 3, 2009 its been up and running 4 months since the first cycle. Maybe Ill just ignore the ammonia test kit since nitrites and nitrates are 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racefan Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Matt at Pet Works on Commerce will test it using a titration test kit. I would not necessarily do anything but get your water tested there but he will do it without using strips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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