Cant get ammonia levels to drop.

[Tj203]

I went from a 600 gallon to a 210. I took enough sand from the existing tank to cover the bottom of the new one I have four 4x4x8 Marine pure blocks, two 1x8x8 blocks, 2 brightwell bricks and two bags about the size of filter socks of biohome great way engineering. I probably have about a hundred fish ranging from 1 inch too 5 to 6 inchs. I have done at least three maybe four 75% water changes. And have been dumping 24 gallons an hour into the tank with my continuous water change system and the ammonia came down (it was quite high at 1ppm) to .25 too .50 it's hard for me to tell with the API test kit. I was able to get it down fairly quickly like I said but ever since around 2:00 today it seems to be stuck and does not seem to be getting any better. I'm going to go get some Prime first thing in the morning.
If I am not showing any nitrite but I have ammonia and nitrate does that mean I should be okay and it will convert all the ammonia fairly quickly or does that mean this tank needs to cycle and it is going to be a week or more before it will start reducing ammonia because I do not have any nitrite?

Would beneficial bacteria die off in 2 days if left in a tank with no fish? I left my media in my sump while I was transferring the fish over it always stayed wet and did not get cold.

I just find it hard to believe that with all this biomedia that I pulled off the other tank between the Marine pure blocks in the sand that this tank would build beneficial bacteria rapidly

 

[Azedenkae]

I went from a 600 gallon to a 210. I took enough sand from the existing tank to cover the bottom of the new one I have four 4x4x8 Marine pure blocks, two 1x8x8 blocks, 2 brightwell bricks and two bags about the size of filter socks of biohome great way engineering. I probably have about a hundred fish ranging from 1 inch too 5 to 6 inchs. I have done at least three maybe four 75% water changes. And have been dumping 24 gallons an hour into the tank with my continuous water change system and the ammonia came down (it was quite high at 1ppm) to .25 too .50 it's hard for me to tell with the API test kit. I was able to get it down fairly quickly like I said but ever since around 2:00 today it seems to be stuck and does not seem to be getting any better. I'm going to go get some Prime first thing in the morning.

Is it kinda just at 0.25ppm now? In many tanks, there is a minute amount of constant ammonia (expected, it is what is produced but yet to be consumed). And the API test kit can pick this up and register 0.25ppm, even if it is much less and effectively considered zero. P.S. there is evidence to suggest Prime does not actually detoxify ammonia at all.

If I am not showing any nitrite but I have ammonia and nitrate does that mean I should be okay and it will convert all the ammonia fairly quickly or does that mean this tank needs to cycle and it is going to be a week or more before it will start reducing ammonia because I do not have any nitrite?

You should be okay to be honest.

Would beneficial bacteria die off in 2 days if left in a tank with no fish? I left my media in my sump while I was transferring the fish over it always stayed wet and did not get cold.

Extremely unlikely. Nitrifiers are super resilient and go for weeks to months before even going dormant, let alone die off: https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/58/1/1/468326. Two days is nothing.

 

[Tj203]

Is it kinda just at 0.25ppm now? In many tanks, there is a minute amount of constant ammonia (expected, it is what is produced but yet to be consumed). And the API test kit can pick this up and register 0.25ppm, even if it is much less and effectively considered zero. P.S. there is evidence to suggest Prime does not actually detoxify ammonia at all.



You should be okay to be honest.



Extremely unlikely. Nitrifiers are super resilient and go for weeks to months before even going dormant, let alone die off: https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/58/1/1/468326. Two days is nothing.

I have never had ammonia show up with my other tanks. I also lost a pleco so I needed to do something after I dose the prime maybe it's a placebo effect in my head but the fish seems more active there was no clamped fins. As far as the beneficial bacteria that's what I assumed I just don't understand why my ammonia would have spiked over one PPM and not come down on its own then. Between the sand and all the MP blocks I should have enough space for the bacteria the colonize. I'm going to give it another day or two hopefully I see it drop

 

[DThompson]

Stirring up sand from the bottom of the tank can cause an ammonia spike from waste that was trapped in the sand itself. This could have happened when you transferred the sand from one tank to the other and that's my best guess for the spike in ammonia.

 

[Tj203]

Stirring up sand from the bottom of the tank can cause an ammonia spike from waste that was trapped in the sand itself. This could have happened when you transferred the sand from one tank to the other and that's my best guess for the spike in ammonia.

I think this is one of the first times posting on this forum that I actually got an answer that makes sense.

I could almost guarantee that's what happened I didn't even think of it but I don't vacuum my sand I know even when I was pulling it off I was getting bubbles of sulfur