ammonia

[Justin_NY]

couple months ago i read over the internet regarding the bio ball that produce nitrate. i been using the wet/dry filter almost one year with my tank. my nitrate never drop from 20. so i decided to take down the wet/dry filter and put plenum system in my tank, with 4 inches arogonite sand. the system work really well, and i am really impress with it. since than my nitrate is 0. add to the system i also add about 60 pds live rock and 45 pds from my recent LR.
recently i never check my ammonia no more, 2 weeks ago i test my water and the result my ammonia is 0.25. do u think this is dangerous. i am concern about it. all my live stock doing really well, even my galaxia is starting to spread to another rock. i change my water every week 6 gallon . my main tank is 55 gallon. with 30 gallon sump and 10 gallon refugium. it has 2 skimmer cpr back pack and MTC Pro 4500 and also K2R calcium reactor. pls i want to hear u opinion guys
thank you :roll:

 

[Len]

.25ppm is a very high figure. I would personally confirm this reading with another test kit to make sure it is accurate. Any tank over a few months old should not have levels this high (fact is, ammonia levels should be undetectable with affordable test kits). Your setup sounds fine, so my best guess is the test is inaccurate. Another possibility is you have a heavily stocked reef with many high metabolism organisms such as fishes. You didn't give us a stocking list, so this is only a speculation. Another speculation is you used Amquel at some point in your tank's history; Amquel is known to cause inaccurately high levels of ammonia in most test kits. Yet another possibility is your source water (for water changes or top off). Check the ammonia levels of those to make sure they are not excessive.

That's about all I can think of for now. Let us know about any more pertinent information.

 

[Tangy1]

.25ppm is a very high figure.

I think I'm in trouble in that case. I did a CC - DSB swap in the first week of March. I ended up doing a 100% water change. My tank is looking great and the red cyno that was growing on the sand is slowly going away. However when I test I get results on ammonia .5 ppm and nitrate 5 ppm. If this is too high what steps should I do to correct the situation. These test results have been consitent for the last month. I have been holding off on buying any new snails until the ammonia was lower but it just doesnt seem to want to dip further. I am using salifert test kits. The tank is 110 gal, 55 gal sump, 130 lbs LR.

Thanks for any help in reducing my NH3 and NO3

 

[danmhippo]

Usually in everone's tank, there is a couple spots where uneaten food ends up to. Unless you have critters that recently die-off giving you high ammonia reading, I would check these crevices and use a powerful powerhead periodically blow out detritus accumulated in these spots.

I would also suggest you to get another brand of test kits to test.

 

[Len]

In nearly every circumstance where NH3 levels are high and organisms are still thriving, the test kit is to blame. It bares reminding that aquarium test kits are not entirely accurate, and observation should be trusted more then test results. At .5ppm NH3, your organisms should exhibit noticable decline in health (labored respiration, bleeding at gills, lack of appetite, etc.). Let your animals tell you how they feel.

Keep in mind test kits go bad over time. Most kits last for 6-12 months, so if yours is older then that, you need new kits. Liquids, like Salifert, become inaccurate in under a year (remember to estimate the shelf life of the kit on your vendor's shelf too). A good way to see if your test has gone sour is to measure the NH3 of pure distilled water. If you get any readings, throw the test kit out. In any case, a second/newer test kit should be used to compare results.

Some NH3 test kits also confuse NH3 and NH4 (ammonium). In the higher pH conditions of marine systems, interference is less likely, but still a possibility.

If NH3 is still truly high, I recommend a substantial water change (or series of them) with 100% tested freshwater. Employing algae, macro and micro, will help control ammonia levels. Increasing nutrient export mechanisms like skimmers will help too. Unfortunately, media like Zeolite can't be used in marine systems.

5ppm NO3 is perfectly acceptable.

 

[Justin_NY]

inside my tank i have yellow tang, elibi angel, fire fish, small pink anthias, 5 damsel, arrow crab, 1 turbo snail, and purple sea slug. my coral are elegence, red mushroom, green mushroom, 2 leather, colt, galaxia, button polyp, star poly, hammer.

 

[Anonymous]

Just a thought here, but does your water supply contain chloramines? Our local supply recently switched to chloramines and I was warned that if you do not use a good DI cartridge with your RO unit, you may be adding significant ammonia to your tank which could prove deadly to your inhabitants.

That said, I agree that your test kit is faulty. Hard to imagine your livestock doing well with ammonia that high.

mitch

 

[Len]

Your stocking levels are a little high for a 55 gallon, but they really shouldn't present a problem for a MTC 4500 plus a CPR. In light of the observation that you're fish are doing great, I would attribute the high ammonia reading to an inaccurate test kit. Again, test kits go bad, and should be replaced every year at most.

FWIW, assimilative denitrification does revert NO3 back to NH3. However, the NH3 should be readily uptaken by photosynthetic organisms, namely algaes. If you're still really concerned (and I don't think you should be), add some more macroalgae to your refugium. Macroalgae will effectively assimiliate any available ammonia present in the water.

 

[Tangy1]

This has been a useful thread for me. I have been very concerned and curious about my NH3 levels. My fish are doing great and I have had the youngest for 2 years. I have several 2 year old hermits in the tank as well as some recent addition snails. There hasn't been any noticeable die off of any of the clean up crew. I have been eager to add more snails since I'm pretty sure I am operating at a minimum (~20 on a 110 gal).

Obviously my brand new salifert test kit is not calibrated for lower end readings. "<.5" is the lowest it will go. What is a reliable low end NH3 test kit that most reefers use?

Thank you all for the insight. I will consider each scenario. I will run a test on my RO/DI water for NH3 and wait to here back for you all about better test kits that I should investigate!

 

[Justin_NY]

thank you so much guys. i buy a different test kit and the result is 0. i am really happy about it. yes ,i do use ro/di unit for my tank. thank you so much guys

 

[Tangy1]

yusalisda,
What kind of test kit did you buy to do your new ammonia testing?