Ammo!!!!!!

[Bighead278]

Wow, I just tested my water and my ammo is 8.0 or higher! It might be lower because I'm not in natural sunlight. Should I add Amquel+ or Ammo-lock to lower this because I don't want the Life I still have to die. My tank I think is going thruogh another cycle and I don't want anything else to die.

[Caesar777]

Water change.

[victoly]

I thought it would be, remember the other post? Your tank hadnt cycled yet when you tested so early. sorry man, take your stuff out. its possible your stuff will die before you can waterchange away the ammonia and have a sufficient bacterial colony built. In essence you may be waterchanging out the chemicals that are required to complete the initial cycling of the tank.

[RobD]

Get a bucket, mix new salt, take out the livestock you think is still salvageable. Keep an eye on the things you salvage and if something dies, take it out right away.

 

Do at least a 50% water change on the main tank. If you have a skimmer, use it on the tank as well.

 

This will be a good start on salvaging your tank. Start thinking about a plan to finish recovering it that you can start tommorrow.

 

Don't bother trying for the magic bullet with the chemicals.

 

Sorry to hear about the meltdown, make sure you give it at least two or three weeks after a complete cycle before slowly adding livestock again.

 

Btw, with all the die off, I'd suggest you just consider you are starting to cycle your tank from day one again.

 

Good luck with getting things stable.

[Bighead278]

Your kidding me right, I just finnished the water change.

[Caesar777]

Well, if you didn't let it finish cycling as you may or may not have been told (didn't see the thread, myself) then you should have known better.

 

Certainly there is no magic bullet--as there never is in life--hence my note for a water change.

 

Sorry, bud.

[Bighead278]

Thanks victoly, Robd, and Caesar777. This is going to be the sec time I start from day 1 .

[RobD]

Nope, I'm not kidding. If you just did a water change, it sounds like your tank isn't fully cycled and with all the die off it will be going through another cycle. I'm not suggesting back to back water changes, but you might need to do a few large waterchanges over the next week. Sorry about the bad news. It wouldn't seem that bad to me if you could save some of it, vs the hassle of doing a couple of water changes.

 

If you have a spare powerhead and heater, it won't be too hard to set up a holding tank/bucket for the lifestock you're trying to save. With an unstable tank, you have a better chance of saving it if it isn't getting hammered by a cycle.

 

If we're crossing wires on some of this, it's difficult to know the whole story over the internet, so as much as what I'm telling you is correct, you are the one who can see and make the final call on it.

 

Good luck with it.

[reefin300]

They are all right big head. i had similar readings on my ammo however didn't have any live stock in. I waited it out and 3 weeks later the cycle was fully complete and I was able to start adding slowly. take your time, no rush.

[RobD]

Hey Bighead,

 

Don't worry about starting from day one again. These tanks are challenging and you always learn something. One of the additional reasons I'm suggesting changing out more water is so that you don't leave a bunch of fuel for algae growth in the tank when your cycle is completed. Most tanks will have an algae growth cycle the first 6 months or when the tank gets out of equalibrium. So if you're careful and fully cycle and don't overstock or over feed, you won't be posting about hair algae overgrowing your tank in 2 or 3 months