Help! Ammonia spike

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ukgoffer

ukgoffer

Candiru
MFK Member
Aug 3, 2012
388
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46
Westport, CT
I have a 55 gallon brackish - 4 years old. Haven't lost a fish in years. Parameters have always been good and I do a 20% wc weekly. Last nights feeding was fine. Today I have two dead 8 inch scats and a dead 6 inch mono. After two 3/4 wc, my ammonia level is down to 1.5 ppm. My 5 inch red scat has large white canker sores near the nostrils and has been vomiting (i havent seen it before either but is the best way that i can describe it). The two smaller scats seem fine (2 inches) as do my 10 inch Columbian cat sharks and 12 inch Datinoid. Should I keep going with more wc? Not sure exactly what caused it. I have been feeding a bit heavier lately trying to get more food to one of my cats that is looking skinny. Maybe I got sloppy. Sick about it.
 
20% WC for that much fish in a tank that size sounds inadequate. I'm wondering if you had a big nitrate buildup. It could be that one of the fish passed and that caused the ammonia spike.

I could show the math but unless you have a lot of pothos in your process, my concern is you aren't getting good nitrate readings. Are you testing nitrates?

Given "normal" feeding, your fish sizes and that tank size, and assuming no pothos (or something similar), you probably had nitrates well over 100 ppm. Possibly 150-200.

Of course if you are barely feeding the fish (which I think is unlikely) then the readings could be lower.
 
Do you use prime? If not get some and use a full dose to help eliminate ammonia stress....keep doing w/c's and look into keeping your stock down or get a bigger(100g+) tank ....to the others who may post here please don't flame this guy over his stock...
 
Thanks for the note. This was originally a custom acrylic 120 gal brackish tank that blew a seam. The 55 gallon was my rescue and the stock has been thriving. I am planning on moving to a 240 gallon but haven't been able to yet. Nitrates are zero. Salinity is 1.018 - right where I want it to be. ph is 7.8 - 8.0. Blast away if you like but bar the ammonia spike, this tank and its fish have thrived. I got stupid and complacent with weekly wcs and stopped checking all my water parameters but even in the middle of this, ammonia was the only thing out of line. I've double checked my readings against both tap water and my LFS. Nobody is more gutted than I am after losing these guys. I started all of them less than an inch long so when they reach 10" to a foot you're definitely attached - and doing something right. I think my 6" red scat is going to go. Right now I'm doing what I can to make sure the cats and Dat are stable. I appreciate the help. Hope to see you this weekend in NJ.
 
Btw - I don't use prime. I will. I had some ammonia safe on hand that I used when it first happened.
For filtration, I have two eheim canisters on this tank - 2 eheim pro 3s at the moment - one with purigen added ti help filter the stains from my driftwood and the other with phosguard to help curb algae.
 
ukgoffer said:
Thanks for the note. This was originally a custom acrylic 120 gal brackish tank that blew a seam. The 55 gallon was my rescue and the stock has been thriving. I am planning on moving to a 240 gallon but haven't been able to yet. Nitrates are zero. Salinity is 1.018 - right where I want it to be. ph is 7.8 - 8.0. Blast away if you like but bar the ammonia spike, this tank and its fish have thrived. I got stupid and complacent with weekly wcs and stopped checking all my water parameters but even in the middle of this, ammonia was the only thing out of line. I've double checked my readings against both tap water and my LFS. Nobody is more gutted than I am after losing these guys. I started all of them less than an inch long so when they reach 10" to a foot you're definitely attached - and doing something right. I think my 6" red scat is going to go. Right now I'm doing what I can to make sure the cats and Dat are stable. I appreciate the help. Hope to see you this weekend in NJ.
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no blasting here,anybody can lose a tank.. especially a crowded one, good to hear that you have upgrade in mind.. EVERY OTHER DAY LARGE WATER CHANGES, if possible and full doses of prime SHOULD HELP,, although big w/c's will slow down the re-cycle,, good luck keep posting updates:)
 
ukgoffer said:
Nitrates are zero.
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Nitrites? Otherwise, I'm confused.

And really, in case my post sounded that way, no one's interested in "blasting" at someone who's trying to take of fish, especially after they just lost prized pets. If my post doesn't help, then I strongly advise that it be ignored.
 
Thanks - I'll check. I only have a freshwater testing kick for nitrites but I don't believe it matters. Lost the red scat this morning. I know have a red and two green scats - only about 4 inches long each - a large Dat and to shark cats. They look fine and my ammonia readings are near zero finally.
 
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