Ammonia spike, please help!

[megtrax17]

So recently I decided it was time to upgrade my 40 gallon reef system to a 60 gallon reef system. So far everything looks amazing. However I had a random ammonia spike. I used to not have a skimmer or media reactor till now. The system had been running for two years! So it’s very well established. When I moved everything I even kept all the old water and moved it along with the sand. I added 2 new rocks and 2 more bags of new carribsea live sand.

When I switched everything over my 6 line wrasse went missing. I assumed he either burried himself in the sand or hid in a rock and got stuck there and possibly died. The tank has been running about 3 weeks and no sign of him! So I presume dead. I looked everywhere and can’t find him. This is my best guess of where the ammonia may be coming from. I have all kinds of corals, mostly soft. A flame hawkish, 2 clowns, a flame angel, a baby blue tang that’s less than an 1” big (that yes I know will outgrow the tank one day and I do plan to go bigger), a diamond back goby, a cleaner shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 8-12 turbo snails, 10 nassarious snails, 1 tiger conch, 1 tuxedo urchin, 1 orange linka starfish, and 2 long tentacle anemones. Nothing is acting weird, all very very active! Everything is open and happy looking.

The day I noticed this I did a water change right away and my darn Hygger heater decided to act up and nearly killed everything in my tank! The heater was fully submerged the whole time while I ran to the store to grab emergency salt and some connections to my pump because I just invested in a RO DI unit instead of jugs of distilled water. I caught it when the temp hit 95 (I’ve since bought a temp controller eventhough one is built into my Hygger heater ‍). The only thing that died from that disaster was my pulsing Xenia that I had JUST got. Everything else survived. I have a Refugium with Chaeto as well. The spike was before the heater incident anyways but I’m sure it didn’t help! I also got a few other new corals as I mainly had mushrooms before.

My parameters are:
Ammonia 0.5 on first day then 0.25 after change, then 0.5 again and did another change, now 1-2!!!!
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
PH 8.0
Phosphate 0.25
Calcium 33 (640) (I know this is high and that’s a whole other issue)
KH 8 drops 143.2
Magnesium 1260

I use top marine reef salt.

What can I do? I’m going to literally die if I lose everything… I’ve been dosing prime daily, I ordered ammlock (which I heavily read reviews on, it comes tomorrow), I purchased dr Tim’s bacteria starter which is on its way, and lastly I purchased a Red Sea test kid since the one I’m using is api and I’m questioning at this point if it’s accurate, which is also on its way.

Here’s my tank and sump.

 

[rennjidk]

IF you transferred all of the rock, sand, and water over from a 2yo tank, you probably kicked up a lot of trapped detritus and decaying food. A sixline isn't going to cause a spike in a 60g tank. Also, you're testing with an API kit? Don't pay attention to the .25 reading. You will never achieve true zero as it's sensitive to ANY presence of Nh3/4 which will always be a constant. I honestly wouldn't do much of anything else, outside of WCs. Your nitrifying bacteria will adjust in hours, not days.

 

[megtrax17]

IF you transferred all of the rock, sand, and water over from a 2yo tank, you probably kicked up a lot of trapped detritus and decaying food. A sixline isn't going to cause a spike in a 60g tank. Also, you're testing with an API kit? Don't pay attention to the .25 reading. You will never achieve true zero as it's sensitive to ANY presence of Nh3/4 which will always be a constant. I honestly wouldn't do much of anything else, outside of WCs. Your nitrifying bacteria will adjust in hours, not days.

I haven’t done a change in about 2 days and it’s just gone up, should I do another change? I definitely have been hesitant to add chemicals! Worried I’ll make it worse! Shouldn’t the bacteria have taken care of it by now?

 

[rennjidk]

Also, I don't know your lighting schedule, but I'd leave the fuge light on 24/7 until you get stable again. It should eat up a lot of the spike.

 

[megtrax17]

Also, I don't know your lighting schedule, but I'd leave the fuge light on 24/7 until you get stable again. It should eat up a lot of the spike.

It turns on when my main light turns off, so about 12 hours overnight. I actually really appreciate that advice because I’m facing diatoms or Dino’s (I haven’t had a chance to check which one yet) and I know it’s from the switch!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Calcium 33 (640) (I know this is high and that’s a whole other issue)

What does that mean?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Did you rinse the sand before adding to your tank? If not, then you ruffled up and added 2 years of stale dirt, poop, and rotten food into your new tank, thats why an ammonia spike. You should not ruffle up an old sandbed, and likewise if you transfer an old sandbed to a new tank, you have to rinse and clean it thoroughly.

 

[megtrax17]

Did you rinse the sand before adding to your tank? If not, then you ruffled up and added 2 years of stale dirt, poop, and rotten food into your new tank, thats why an ammonia spike. You should not ruffle up an old sandbed, and likewise if you transfer an old sandbed to a new tank, you have to rinse and clean it thoroughly.

It didn’t have a lot of coral before so I constantly moved the rock and vaccumed it every cleaning, I actually only moved maybe a 3rd of the old sand over but I’m guessing that is the culprit based on other members responses as well. Lesson learned!

 

[Rickarded-Reefer]

So recently I decided it was time to upgrade my 40 gallon reef system to a 60 gallon reef system. So far everything looks amazing. However I had a random ammonia spike. I used to not have a skimmer or media reactor till now. The system had been running for two years! So it’s very well established. When I moved everything I even kept all the old water and moved it along with the sand. I added 2 new rocks and 2 more bags of new carribsea live sand.

When I switched everything over my 6 line wrasse went missing. I assumed he either burried himself in the sand or hid in a rock and got stuck there and possibly died. The tank has been running about 3 weeks and no sign of him! So I presume dead. I looked everywhere and can’t find him. This is my best guess of where the ammonia may be coming from. I have all kinds of corals, mostly soft. A flame hawkish, 2 clowns, a flame angel, a baby blue tang that’s less than an 1” big (that yes I know will outgrow the tank one day and I do plan to go bigger), a diamond back goby, a cleaner shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 8-12 turbo snails, 10 nassarious snails, 1 tiger conch, 1 tuxedo urchin, 1 orange linka starfish, and 2 long tentacle anemones. Nothing is acting weird, all very very active! Everything is open and happy looking.

The day I noticed this I did a water change right away and my darn Hygger heater decided to act up and nearly killed everything in my tank! The heater was fully submerged the whole time while I ran to the store to grab emergency salt and some connections to my pump because I just invested in a RO DI unit instead of jugs of distilled water. I caught it when the temp hit 95 (I’ve since bought a temp controller eventhough one is built into my Hygger heater ‍). The only thing that died from that disaster was my pulsing Xenia that I had JUST got. Everything else survived. I have a Refugium with Chaeto as well. The spike was before the heater incident anyways but I’m sure it didn’t help! I also got a few other new corals as I mainly had mushrooms before.

My parameters are:
Ammonia 0.5 on first day then 0.25 after change, then 0.5 again and did another change, now 1-2!!!!
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
PH 8.0
Phosphate 0.25
Calcium 33 (640) (I know this is high and that’s a whole other issue)
KH 8 drops 143.2
Magnesium 1260

I use top marine reef salt.

What can I do? I’m going to literally die if I lose everything… I’ve been dosing prime daily, I ordered ammlock (which I heavily read reviews on, it comes tomorrow), I purchased dr Tim’s bacteria starter which is on its way, and lastly I purchased a Red Sea test kid since the one I’m using is api and I’m questioning at this point if it’s accurate, which is also on its way.

Here’s my tank and sump.

Sounds like you're doing all the right things... The recent move / upgrade probably did stir some things up. Did you keep the rocks wet while it sat out, or leave them out of the water. Possibly if left out of water to long, some of the beneficial bacteria can die off which is what helps with the denitrifying process. But turning off the skimmer for 24-48 hours after adding some Dr. Tim's or Microbacter should help repopulate pretty quickly. I would be more incline to go with the API test kit is giving a slight misreading. Those always have a + or - variable to them. I use the Hanna version, but even then I still typically have 0.5 on my readings. Heavy bio load though with 18 fish in a 90 cube...

I'm not seeing any power heads in the tank, besides your current sump filtration set up, what are you running in the main display tank for additional flow? That's a HUGE benefit for gas exchange in the water column, surface agitation is a must. If it's there, and the magnet scraper is hiding it, my bad!

 

[MnFish1]

So recently I decided it was time to upgrade my 40 gallon reef system to a 60 gallon reef system. So far everything looks amazing. However I had a random ammonia spike. I used to not have a skimmer or media reactor till now. The system had been running for two years! So it’s very well established. When I moved everything I even kept all the old water and moved it along with the sand. I added 2 new rocks and 2 more bags of new carribsea live sand.

When I switched everything over my 6 line wrasse went missing. I assumed he either burried himself in the sand or hid in a rock and got stuck there and possibly died. The tank has been running about 3 weeks and no sign of him! So I presume dead. I looked everywhere and can’t find him. This is my best guess of where the ammonia may be coming from. I have all kinds of corals, mostly soft. A flame hawkish, 2 clowns, a flame angel, a baby blue tang that’s less than an 1” big (that yes I know will outgrow the tank one day and I do plan to go bigger), a diamond back goby, a cleaner shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 8-12 turbo snails, 10 nassarious snails, 1 tiger conch, 1 tuxedo urchin, 1 orange linka starfish, and 2 long tentacle anemones. Nothing is acting weird, all very very active! Everything is open and happy looking.

The day I noticed this I did a water change right away and my darn Hygger heater decided to act up and nearly killed everything in my tank! The heater was fully submerged the whole time while I ran to the store to grab emergency salt and some connections to my pump because I just invested in a RO DI unit instead of jugs of distilled water. I caught it when the temp hit 95 (I’ve since bought a temp controller eventhough one is built into my Hygger heater ‍). The only thing that died from that disaster was my pulsing Xenia that I had JUST got. Everything else survived. I have a Refugium with Chaeto as well. The spike was before the heater incident anyways but I’m sure it didn’t help! I also got a few other new corals as I mainly had mushrooms before.

My parameters are:
Ammonia 0.5 on first day then 0.25 after change, then 0.5 again and did another change, now 1-2!!!!
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
PH 8.0
Phosphate 0.25
Calcium 33 (640) (I know this is high and that’s a whole other issue)
KH 8 drops 143.2
Magnesium 1260

I use top marine reef salt.

What can I do? I’m going to literally die if I lose everything… I’ve been dosing prime daily, I ordered ammlock (which I heavily read reviews on, it comes tomorrow), I purchased dr Tim’s bacteria starter which is on its way, and lastly I purchased a Red Sea test kid since the one I’m using is api and I’m questioning at this point if it’s accurate, which is also on its way.

Here’s my tank and sump.

I would make absolutely sure that your test is accurate and that you're performing it correctly. Moving stuff alone rarely causes problems - HOWEVER, there are many threads which suggest that moving sand without rinsing well will cause a problem. (Most people don't move sand). I would do a large water change and keep monitoring ammonia. PS agree with adding Fritz 9000 or another bottled bacteria product containing nitrifiers.

 

[rennjidk]

What does that mean?

I think she was counting reagent drops and the 640 is ppm. Api gives you a little table that is formatted like that if I recall correctly.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think she was counting reagent drops and the 640 is ppm. Api gives you a little table that is formatted like that if I recall correctly.

Ah, OK. I never used an API calcium kit. Thx.

 

[megtrax17]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things... The recent move / upgrade probably did stir some things up. Did you keep the rocks wet while it sat out, or leave them out of the water. Possibly if left out of water to long, some of the beneficial bacteria can die off which is what helps with the denitrifying process. But turning off the skimmer for 24-48 hours after adding some Dr. Tim's or Microbacter should help repopulate pretty quickly. I would be more incline to go with the API test kit is giving a slight misreading. Those always have a + or - variable to them. I use the Hanna version, but even then I still typically have 0.5 on my readings. Heavy bio load though with 18 fish in a 90 cube...

I'm not seeing any power heads in the tank, besides your current sump filtration set up, what are you running in the main display tank for additional flow? That's a HUGE benefit for gas exchange in the water column, surface agitation is a must. If it's there, and the magnet scraper is hiding it, my bad!

I kept the rocks wet and submerged the entire time! I only moved 1/3rd of the sand but after other members responses realized I shouldn’t have and so that’s most likely the cause! I do have a power head but I just got new nems so I’m waiting for my nem guard for my power head to come! They won’t stop moving around and I’ve lost a few in the past by suicide lol!!! I don’t even know why I bother with the magnent scraper.. I forget it’s there 95% of the time and use a razor blade instead haha! The return nozzle is behind the magnet scraper and is pointed at the surface. My new test lit comes tomorrow though!

 

[megtrax17]

I would make absolutely sure that your test is accurate and that you're performing it correctly. Moving stuff alone rarely causes problems - HOWEVER, there are many threads which suggest that moving sand without rinsing well will cause a problem. (Most people don't move sand). I would do a large water change and keep monitoring ammonia. PS agree with adding Fritz 9000 or another bottled bacteria product containing nitrifiers.

Lesson learned I’m guessing this was my issue. I moved 1/3rd of the sand with the change. Dr tims bacteria and a new test kit are arriving tomorrow!

 

[megtrax17]

Ah, OK. I never used an API calcium kit. Thx.

Yes what rennjidk said it was the api calcium kit! Based on the recommendations I’m way over the drop count! Sorry if that was confusing! Calcium is reading 640 based on the drop count math.

 

[Seansea]

Add the dr tims. Within 24 hours ammonia will be gone

 

[megtrax17]

Add the dr tims. Within 24 hours ammonia will be gone

It comes tomorrow!! I’m so ready for it to be here already haha! I did another water change tonight and everything in the tank is very active and seemed pretty happy about it!

 

[Rickarded-Reefer]

I kept the rocks wet and submerged the entire time! I only moved 1/3rd of the sand but after other members responses realized I shouldn’t have and so that’s most likely the cause! I do have a power head but I just got new nems so I’m waiting for my nem guard for my power head to come! They won’t stop moving around and I’ve lost a few in the past by suicide lol!!! I don’t even know why I bother with the magnent scraper.. I forget it’s there 95% of the time and use a razor blade instead haha! The return nozzle is behind the magnet scraper and is pointed at the surface. My new test lit comes tomorrow though!

I feel you on the scrapper

I have a Flipper, only thing that it’s good for is the soft side every other day to keep the glass clear for viewing. But the blade on it IMO is trash. You need a razor blade scraper as a must for the heavy lifting. I use some cheapy one off Amazon. All stainless steel and the razors can get replaced easily. Even Coraline Algae doesn’t stand a chance against that thing.

I’ve lost my fair share of Nems… They’re not the brightest animals in our tanks, that’s for sure.

 

[megtrax17]

I feel you on the scrapper

I have a Flipper, only thing that it’s good for is the soft side every other day to keep the glass clear for viewing. But the blade on it IMO is trash. You need a razor blade scraper as a must for the heavy lifting. I use some cheapy one off Amazon. All stainless steel and the razors can get replaced easily. Even Coraline Algae doesn’t stand a chance against that thing.

I’ve lost my fair share of Nems… They’re not the brightest animals in our tanks, that’s for sure.

Same… I have a razor with a 4in blade I use regularly. I learned my lesson on the nems. Probably getting rid of one for coral space… they keep making some of my corals very unhappy ha!

The reason for the new test kit is because I’m questioning the accuracy considering nothing is acting out of whack. Corals are opening every day and the fish are showing no signs of heavy breathing or stress. I change my filter socks about every 3-5 days. It has me completely stumped. It hopped up to 2ppm the other day and I was rushing around the house for an emergency water change. I’ve kept it below 0.5 since then with 5 gallon water changes. My other things was maybe adding a bunch of corals at once threw off the bioload as well (I went coral happy at a coral auction).

 

[megtrax17]

So recently I decided it was time to upgrade my 40 gallon reef system to a 60 gallon reef system. So far everything looks amazing. However I had a random ammonia spike. I used to not have a skimmer or media reactor till now. The system had been running for two years! So it’s very well established. When I moved everything I even kept all the old water and moved it along with the sand. I added 2 new rocks and 2 more bags of new carribsea live sand.

When I switched everything over my 6 line wrasse went missing. I assumed he either burried himself in the sand or hid in a rock and got stuck there and possibly died. The tank has been running about 3 weeks and no sign of him! So I presume dead. I looked everywhere and can’t find him. This is my best guess of where the ammonia may be coming from. I have all kinds of corals, mostly soft. A flame hawkish, 2 clowns, a flame angel, a baby blue tang that’s less than an 1” big (that yes I know will outgrow the tank one day and I do plan to go bigger), a diamond back goby, a cleaner shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 8-12 turbo snails, 10 nassarious snails, 1 tiger conch, 1 tuxedo urchin, 1 orange linka starfish, and 2 long tentacle anemones. Nothing is acting weird, all very very active! Everything is open and happy looking.

The day I noticed this I did a water change right away and my darn Hygger heater decided to act up and nearly killed everything in my tank! The heater was fully submerged the whole time while I ran to the store to grab emergency salt and some connections to my pump because I just invested in a RO DI unit instead of jugs of distilled water. I caught it when the temp hit 95 (I’ve since bought a temp controller eventhough one is built into my Hygger heater ‍). The only thing that died from that disaster was my pulsing Xenia that I had JUST got. Everything else survived. I have a Refugium with Chaeto as well. The spike was before the heater incident anyways but I’m sure it didn’t help! I also got a few other new corals as I mainly had mushrooms before.

My parameters are:
Ammonia 0.5 on first day then 0.25 after change, then 0.5 again and did another change, now 1-2!!!!
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
PH 8.0
Phosphate 0.25
Calcium 33 (640) (I know this is high and that’s a whole other issue)
KH 8 drops 143.2
Magnesium 1260

I use top marine reef salt.

What can I do? I’m going to literally die if I lose everything… I’ve been dosing prime daily, I ordered ammlock (which I heavily read reviews on, it comes tomorrow), I purchased dr Tim’s bacteria starter which is on its way, and lastly I purchased a Red Sea test kid since the one I’m using is api and I’m questioning at this point if it’s accurate, which is also on its way.

Here’s my tank and sump.

Red Sea vs api. I think api reading is high. Red Sea I believe is showing a safe level so I’m good to stop stressing now right?