Ammonia only crash.

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nfored

nfored

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 4, 2008
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Missouri
As stated in my other post I am having a second major crash. Last one lasted a few weeks but both times only ammonia spiked I never saw so much as a blip from nitrite. How do you only loose one type of bb especially if the one you lost feeds the one you have not lost.

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If I understand this correctly u don't read any ammonia?
Well that's step 1in the process, now u should be getting nitrites and nitrates soon, u have the bb that converts ammonia to nitrite and soon the other bb that coverts nitrite to nitrate.... Ammonia is bad so that's good, nitrite is still toxic but not as bad from a ppm perspective.



Go S. Vettel #1 rb8
 
I have a question to clarify what you are saying. Your ammonia went up but your nitrites didnt, did your nitrates stay the same? If both bacteria died, I figure your nitrates would level off. Also, if your bb bacteria (that converts ammonia to nitrites) died are you sure the remaining bacteria (that converts nitrites to nitrates) didnt die too? If the '1st' bacteria died off, nitrites wouldnt go up, but with no nitrites, what would be feeding the '2nd' bacteria to keep alive? (Assuming they didnt die along with the '1st' bacteria of course)
 
The second crash was just detected so I don't have good data on it yet.

First crash Ammonia started creeping up was dosing prime daily, ammonia got to 4ppm before doing 100% water change a week after the WC the ammonia was 0; during the week after the water change the ammonia was 1ppm as that's what I get from tap. Now no time during the ammonia spike or after did nitrite ever spike not even 0.25 always always 0 new test kit for both api liquid. Now the nitrates honestly I didn't test because they always are high 40ppm to 60ppm in all my tanks except my marine. So while I can't say that the nitrite to nitrate bacteria was a live or dead by looking at rises in nitrate I can say it must not have died because once the ammonia started processing again there should have been a rise of some kind in nitrite also.

F1 vet are you sure you don't have it backwards I was sure ammonia while toxic and deadly was not as toxic and deadly as nitrite.
 
Not pulling this from technical experience but what F1 vet said is what Ive rwad and heard time and time again that ammonia is worse.

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It sounds like your bb that converts nitrite to nitrate is doing okay as you said. Could it be possible something did happen to only the ammonia processing bacteria? I havent read up on the two types in some time and dont remember a lot of detail. It could be that something other than food supply affected your ammonia processing bacteria and that the nitrafying bacteria wasnt sensitive to it. From what I have seen the bacteria can survive a while without a constant food supply
 
If your tap seriously has 1ppm ammonia which I doubt, then u need to dig a well....

Go S. Vettel #1 rb8
 
f1 I have had 1ppm for 6 years now, as do a lot of other people in KC from our chlormine levels, years ago when I first started keeping fish I had the bright idea to use those water dispensers outside of stores that sold "pure" water not culligan but just a no name brand, when I test their water it also had 1ppm. I very well could be confused about nitrite being worse then ammonia no big deal really in the end they are both bad, I just started this because I was really confused the first time I lost only the ammonia bacteria, but never posted.

I must ask though why seriously doubt? is it also unheard of that my tap is 20ppm nitrate?

edit: Yes I have read the kc water reports and no they don't say 1ppm ammonia but neither do they say 20ppm nitrate yet the fact remains thats what comes out of my tap.
 
Now that we have established that theres ammonia, whats your water change schedule and when does your city treat its water? Also what do they use? I know you said you use prime to condition water but if they recently added extra chlorine or chloramines for all I know it could have affected your bacteria level

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