Jump to content
ReefCleaners.org

How many water changes has one made in a day? Hhheeeaaaalllllppp!


Blr26995

Recommended Posts

I had my tank cycled this is my first sw tank 24g. I purchased dry "live" rock from a dealer (sounds illegal) whom when asked if it'd effect my tank said no just add it in there. I told him I had read it'll cause a spike he said no he's never had issues it'll be fine. I do have a cleaner crew purple firefish and a blood red fire shrimp... Well going on day 4 and water numbers are at

Ammonia 0.50ppm

Nitrite 0.25ppm

Nitrate between 5.0 and 10ppm can't really agree on which..

 

I've done a partial water change already this morning and these numbers are where I'm at after that , I'm freaking out about my poor live stock in there.

 

Is it ok to do more then one water change a day in this situation? Please haaalllpp!!! I should have trusted my gut.. ?

Link to comment
  • Replies 87
  • Created
  • Last Reply

You can do unlimited water changes, no worries. Just keep temperature and salinity stable :)

Try 30% or so perhaps

 

Harry potta is so good to me sir!!! Dobby appreciates the fast responses!!! Oh thank you! This will hopefully pass with in the week hopefully? Or can it take longer?

Link to comment

I would also suggest dosing in some bottled bacteria like Microbacter7 daily to be safe, since you already have some livestock in there. (At least until test levels return to normal)

Link to comment

I'd pull out the new rock and cycle it in a bucket with a powerhead until ammonia becomes undetectable. When it comes to rock, I don't trust that it is fully cured or free of organics. I always cure it in a separate container before adding it to a tank with livestock.

Link to comment

The rock is at the bottom of the tank holding everything up it'd be a pain to pull out. When cycling rock in a bucket do you need to put in an air stone or anything to put oxygen in the water? I'm using an API testing kit. Yes I know I've heard they aren't good? I'll look for some of the microbacter... And I have prim I added to the water. After another water change levels are as follows

Ammonia 0.25

Nitrite 0 ppm

Nitrate 5.0 ppm

Link to comment

The rock is at the bottom of the tank holding everything up it'd be a pain to pull out.

Sounds like the ammonia level is going down, so I won't press it. I would guess it'll be fine. However, reworking the aquascape is easier than starting over due to a tank crash.

 

When cycling rock in a bucket do you need to put in an air stone or anything to put oxygen in the water?

A spare powerhead for flow is all you need.

 

I'm using an API testing kit. Yes I know I've heard they aren't good?

They are fine. Just don't get their phosphate kit (because it's a high range kit).

 

I'll look for some of the microbacter.

If you can't find it, you could use Dr.Tim's One and Only as a nitrifying bacteria culture instead.
Link to comment

Yea that is true about reshaping. I was staring at it fighting with myself. At the moment I don't have an extra pump. Not till my other it's shipped. Ok the kit I have it came with the high range ph . What should I be using? Ok so that's not a liquid that should be used frequently then. Thank you so much! I was thinking about those color ranges so much last night i dreamt about them.

Sounds like the ammonia level is going down, so I won't press it. I would guess it'll be fine. However, reworking the aquascape is easier than starting over due to a tank crash.A spare powerhead for flow is all you need.They are fine. Just don't get their phosphate kit (because it's a high range kit).If you can't find it, you could use Dr.Tim's One and Only as a nitrifying bacteria culture instead.

Link to comment

Their pH kit is fine. However, I don't bother testing pH, mainly because I wouldn't try to adjust it. Unless you have a CO2 problem, proper alkalinity is all you really need to care about.

 

Also, I don't bother testing nitrite. It isn't toxic at marine pH levels, plus it just tends to shadow ammonia (which is what you should be concerned about).

 

If you don't have an extra powerhead, an air stone will work too.

Link to comment
squamptonbc

API ammonia tests suck. I have yet to ever have one show 0. 0.25 with API has always been the norm, so I just don't use any product they make anymore, very inconsistent test kits in my experience.

 

Get a Sea Chem test or Salifert test kit, they are both much better in my experience.

 

Another issue with API is their test tubes, the line on them isn't always accurate, use a syringe and measure out the 5ml of water, good chance the line on the test tube isn't at the 5ml mark.

 

 

 

The rock is at the bottom of the tank holding everything up it'd be a pain to pull out. When cycling rock in a bucket do you need to put in an air stone or anything to put oxygen in the water? I'm using an API testing kit. Yes I know I've heard they aren't good? I'll look for some of the microbacter... And I have prim I added to the water. After another water change levels are as follows
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 5.0 ppm

Link to comment

API ammonia tests suck. I have yet to ever have one show 0. 0.25 with API has always been the norm, so I just don't use any product they make anymore, very inconsistent test kits in my experience.

 

Get a Sea Chem test or Salifert test kit, they are both much better in my experience.

 

Another issue with API is their test tubes, the line on them isn't always accurate, use a syringe and measure out the 5ml of water, good chance the line on the test tube isn't at the 5ml mark.

 

Thank you for explaining that for me. I've heard them downed but never a reason really why they could be or are inaccurate.

Link to comment

API ammonia tests suck. I have yet to ever have one show 0.0 (0.25 with API has always been the norm)

This has not been my experience. I have personally posted dozens of API ammonia test results (taken over the years with different API test kits) which show undetectable amounts of ammonia.

An API ammonia test result (taken today) from one of my mature tanks:

070116a.jpg

#undetectable

Lighting and viewing angle might account for some of the reports (although you can't rule out test inaccuracies and user errors). However, I believe that a good percentage of these reports are from people who were cycling their tank, and actually still had some total ammonia in the water (probably less than 0.25 ppm, but still not undetectable). While there might be better kits available, I feel that this perception gets perpetrated unfairly (sometimes by people who have never used the kit).
Link to comment
CronicReefer

If API was soooo inaccurate I doubt they would have been in use for so long. I'm willing to bet 99% of issues are lighting or people unaware of how common colorblindness really is. I use Red Sea solely because I can see the colors most accurately although the purple nitrate test is impossible for me to read accurately.

Link to comment
squamptonbc

And why I said in my experience. I don't like them and will not recommend them to be used. I have not found them accurate, nor are their test tubes accurate and if they cannot manage to get a test tube accurate, well quality control is lacking in my opinion and experience.

 

It all boils down to experience with a product, you have good ones with API, I didn't, so our opinions on the matter will differ.

 

 

 

 

This has not been my experience. I have personally posted dozens of API ammonia test results (taken over the years with different API test kits) which show undetectable amounts of ammonia.
Lighting and viewing angle might account for some of the reports (although you can't rule out test inaccuracies and user errors). However, I believe that a good percentage of these reports are from people who were cycling their tank, and actually still had some total ammonia in the water (probably less than 0.25 ppm, but still not undetectable). While there might be better kits available, I feel that this perception gets perpetrated unfairly (sometimes by people who have never used the kit).

Link to comment

I've seen forum posts where the line is off before too, so I thought I'd do a little experiment. Here's an API tube that I filled using 5 ml from a syringe:
071216a.jpg
As you can see, it is a little off (assuming I accurately measured). So would this make any appreciable difference to the test results? Let's take a look.

I filled three API test tubes (yeah, I've purchased multiple API ammonia kits throughout the years, so I have a few) to 6 ml, 5 ml, and 4 ml respectively. Then I added the instructed 8 drops of each reagent to each tube, to perform an ammonia test.
071216b.jpg
It's not daylight yet, so I'm stuck with indoor lighting and the resulting shadows, but you get the idea. As you can see, the color is just slightly more intense on the 4 ml sample compared to the 6 ml sample; but the color doesn't really change (at least with my samples, which should have very low ammonia levels).

I suppose that the result of samples, that contain ammonia, might be different. However, with ammonia, we are more concerned about the presence of it than the actual numerical value. But still, later today, I'll dose some ammonia into some saltwater and repeat the experiment.

Link to comment

So here is the follow up. I filled a 5 gallon bucket with tank water from my 100 gallon reef, and added two drops of Dr.Tim's Ammonium Chloride to the bucket. Then I consecutively performed three API ammonia tests on that water (using 6 ml, 5 ml, and 4 ml samples respectively). Here is that result:
071216c.jpg

I further added three more drops of Dr.Tim's Ammonium Chloride to the bucket and consecutively performed three more API ammonia tests on the water (again using samples of 6 ml, 5 ml, and 4 ml). In this test, I noticed that the 6 ml sample took a little longer to darken than the other two samples, but by the 5 minute mark the results looked like this:
071216d.jpg

 

As you can see, even with a significant difference in tank water sample size, the results look fairly similar.

Link to comment

 

As you can see, even with a significant difference in tank water sample size, the results look fairly similar.

 

Wow really great stuff seabass !!!

 

Just figured I'd update. Another water change today and numbers are holding the same except nitrate.

 

Ammonia 0.25

Nitrite 0

Nitrate between 0 and 5.0

 

Nitrate takes me a bit to read I'm going with in between because I couldn't make my mind up it seemed like in between. Boy I sure am getting a system down for these water changes. Been a bubit of struggle getting the water in the tank only because I have to lift this 5 gallon bucket on my dresser to siphon it into the tank and my fibromyalgia is yelling at me. But it's getting done so I win!!! Everyone is looking great in the tank so far still so yay!!!! I'm hoping this rock is almost done causing trouble. It'll be a week on Thursday I'm almost out of salt.

Link to comment

Unfortunately, until the bacteria populations catch up, water changes will do little to nothing to lower ammonia overall. It's just a temporary drop by the percent of the water change, then the ammonia level climbs back to where it would have been without the water change. I've demonstrated this effect in a two part thread about Water Changes During the Cycle. However, water changes do help once ammonia levels start to drop on their own (an indication that bacteria populations can keep up with the production of ammonia).

I wasn't going to say anything, but you are experiencing pain due to fibromyalgia. I'll leave it up to you if you wish to continue doing water changes. You would probably be better off just dosing Seachem Prime every 24 to 48 hours. Note that Prime is known to affect Nessler based and salicylate based ammonia tests (like API). However, a gas exchange sensor, like the Seachem MultiTest ammonia kit can be used to detect ammonia when using Prime.

Link to comment

Unfortunately, until the bacteria populations catch up, water changes will do little to nothing to lower ammonia overall. It's just a temporary drop by the percent of the water change, then the ammonia level climbs back to where it would have been without the water change. I've demonstrated this effect in a two part thread about Water Changes During the Cycle. However, water changes do help once ammonia levels start to drop on their own (an indication that bacteria populations can keep up with the production of ammonia).

I wasn't going to say anything, but you are experiencing pain due to fibromyalgia. I'll leave it up to you if you wish to continue doing water changes. You would probably be better off just dosing Seachem Prime every 24 to 48 hours. Although Prime is known to affect Nessler based and salicylate based tests (like API); however, a gas exchange sensor, like the Seachem MultiTest ammonia kit can be used to detect ammonia when using Prime.

Wow that was allot of testing! Ugh... I don't wanna think I'm prolonging it...

When you say dose with prime what exactly does that mean? If I stop water changes will my livestock be ok with just dosing prime?

I won't get my new water pump in from Amazon till the end of this week probably since amazon hates you unless you have prime.... Or else by this point I'd rip the rock out as stated above and cycle separately.

Link to comment

Prime is a water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia (as I understand it, Prime converts free ammonia into ammonium). While it can be used to dechlorinate tap water, most reefers use it to deal with temporary ammonia spikes when livestock is in the tank, or when treating fish in a hospital tank.

Dosing instructions:

Use 1 capful (5 mL) for each 200 L (50 US gallons) of new water. For smaller volumes, please note each cap thread is approximately 1 mL. May be added to aquarium directly, but better if added to new water first. If adding directly to aquarium, base dose on aquarium volume. Sulfur odor is normal. For exceptionally high chloramine concentrations, a double dose may be used safely. To detoxify nitrite in an emergency, up to 5 times normal dose may be used. If temperature is > 30 °C (86 °F) and chlorine or ammonia levels are low, use a half dose.

 

If I stop water changes will my livestock be ok with just dosing prime?

Well, that's why we don't cycle tanks with livestock in them. But to answer your question... probably. It doesn't look like the ammonia spike is all that bad, and Prime "should" be able to keep up with detoxifying the free ammonia until bacteria populations can catch up.

Or else by this point I'd rip the rock out as stated above and cycle separately.

That's what I would have done. If it was dry rock, leaving it in a bucket with saltwater (and no powerhead) will be fine until you get a powerhead.

Link to comment

Prime is a water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia (as I understand it, Prime converts free ammonia into ammonium). While it can be used to dechlorinate tap water, most reefers use it to deal with temporary ammonia spikes when livestock is in the tank, or when treating fish in a hospital tank.

 

Dosing instructions:

 

 

 

Well, that's why we don't cycle tanks with livestock in them. But to answer your question... probably. It doesn't look like the ammonia spike is all that bad, and Prime "should" be able to keep up with detoxifying the free ammonia until bacteria populations can catch up.

 

Thanks for turning the knife a little. that's what I get for not using my noodle.

 

That's what I would have done. If it was dry rock, leaving it in a bucket with saltwater (and no powerhead) will be fine until you get a powerhead.

 

Ok so I just actually saw a post someone selling their used stuff yay!!! I'll be grabbing a heater and pump for $10. Hopefully he'll meet me today!!! Oh mylanta I'm happy. Phew so after I remove I should still dose my tank right?

 

This is where they are placed. What a pain.

20160713_140345_zpslo2aihvc.png

 

 

This is it all together Mr shrimp will lose his over hang but I may be able to figure something else out for him..

14684374010381826596561_zpsnsgz0byl.jpg

 

Thank you a bunch sea bass! I'm going to check water in a few mins I'll post shortly. Any other info I should know?

Link to comment

Nice looking tank Blr.

 

Yeah, after removing the rock I'd do a large water change and add Prime (if you have any). The other rocks should be able to handle the ammonia going forward. Then just wait until the rock is fully cured before putting it back in your tank. I know it's a pain, but that's the safest way to deal with the problem.

Link to comment

Nice looking tank Blr.

 

Yeah, after removing the rock I'd do a large water change and add Prime (if you have any). The other rocks should be able to handle the ammonia going forward. Then just wait until the rock is fully cured before putting it back in your tank. I know it's a pain, but that's the safest way to deal with the problem.

Thank you sir!! I'm trying to Create enough flat area for coral. So I checked my water and actually all numbers from yesterday's water change are still the same as far as ammonia and nitrate nitrate went up.

 

Ammonia 0.25

Nitrite 0

Nitrate 10ppm

 

I just added some prime to the tank as the guy on Facebook hasn't verified a time for pickup yet. aquarium people on Facebook over here are the worst. In one week I had one person back out of a sale (ai prime light) because they changed their mind another person told me they'd hold the items for me only to tell me on my way to get them they sold them to someone else. I tell ya this group has been such a big help to me so far it's great. So I really REALLY appreciate all in help and info!!!

Also my live coral is bubbling like crazy that's a good sign right?

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions


×
×
  • Create New...