So i was looking at my tank and everything seemed fine! fish swimming around and than i spot that my cleaner shrimp dead... i think its been dead for at least 3-5 hours cause zebra was eating it.. I checked ammonia and it was like 4ppm.... I panicked and didn't know what to do, i made a 50% water change... I don't know what else to do now.,.. Can the ammonia spiked cause of the dead shrimp??? i did add the firefish yesterday.. but i don't think that caused the spike...what else can i do to treat this
Have/had A Huge Ammonia Spike
- Thread starter Albz
- Start date
shamous113
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2015
- Location
- Stratford
Some prime will bind the ammonia.
shamous113
Active Member
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- Dec 11, 2015
- Location
- Stratford
what does it read after the water change?
ThePaliga
New Member
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- Nov 16, 2015
- Location
- Amherstburg
Have you done any recent re-scaping?
No but after panicking i tried to see maybe it was my filefish so i took a rock out lol so i did mess up but that was after leading its spiked.... Tested now and it went down to 0 !!! yes
ThePaliga
New Member
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- Nov 16, 2015
- Location
- Amherstburg
Good! But you need to figure out the root cause
I think it was the dead shrimp...
shamous113
Active Member
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- Dec 11, 2015
- Location
- Stratford
Joshbrookkate
Member
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- Apr 9, 2015
- Location
- Windsor
Good idea to get some prime to have on hand.
yeah ima get some and some ammonia pads.
Joshbrookkate
Member
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- Apr 9, 2015
- Location
- Windsor
I keep both on hand and have used them both.
So these kinda spikes sometimes happen to anyones tanks?
Chef G
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- Dec 27, 2014
- Location
- Sarnia, Ontario
how old is your tank?
S
sirhc13
Guest
Imo...this should be a warning not to move too quickly. If I remember correctly your tank is pretty new...can't remember off hand the size but believe it's also less than 40g.
I'm fairly new to the hobby...only about 1yr. Everyone is super excited when starting their tanks, I was...and lost approx $400 in fish bc of my inexperience and blind excitement.
My system is over 300g water volume so I can get away with a few more mistakes than a smaller tank would be able to.
I'm fairly new to the hobby...only about 1yr. Everyone is super excited when starting their tanks, I was...and lost approx $400 in fish bc of my inexperience and blind excitement.
My system is over 300g water volume so I can get away with a few more mistakes than a smaller tank would be able to.
Chef G
Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2014
- Location
- Sarnia, Ontario
how many fish/livestock do you have? If your tank is fairly new, then you may be adding livestock too quickly! You may need to let it cycle more to build up bacteria theres 2 types that your tank needs to build up.. one converts ammonia the other converts nitrates, the more livestock you have the more nitrogen/ammonia (poop) you will have in your water if the bacteria isnt there in the proper numbers you will see spikes. What I would recommend because you already have livestock and dont want to loose any due to dangerous spikes is get a bacteria booster to help "boom" your bacteria fauna.
One I recommend is ATM Colony True Nitrifying Bacteria can be found at bigalsonline or sealifecentral.ca and can get it shipped to your door.
also as you do light feedings bacteria will grow from leftovers and fish poop, just be careful I wouldn't add anything new for at least a month until you have stable water params for atleast 4 water changes IMO.
One I recommend is ATM Colony True Nitrifying Bacteria can be found at bigalsonline or sealifecentral.ca and can get it shipped to your door.
also as you do light feedings bacteria will grow from leftovers and fish poop, just be careful I wouldn't add anything new for at least a month until you have stable water params for atleast 4 water changes IMO.
Well, my tank is like 3 months old now. have 4 fish, 2 clowns and watchman and firefish... I checked my ammonia just now and its still at 0. I think the cause was from the dead shrimp... I did add lots of live bacteria in a bottle. I added colony plus biospira... Never really had any spikes just this one! i won't be adding more fish to the tank...
Joshbrookkate
Member
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2015
- Location
- Windsor
Things h
Things do happen in a tank requiring the use of Prime or Polyfilter pad. Especially in a new tank.
Things like a dead fish. On an older tank with lots of live rock, the impact of decaying matter may not be an issue. But on a new tank, the bacteria may not be established enough to process the ammonia quickly enough. Adding Prime or pad helps to do this. And if there is a chain reaction of dieoffs in a tank of any age, Prime helps to deal with the ammonia buildup.
Polyfilter pads are helpful when there may be an issue with something harmful added to the tank. I have used it "just in case" when I thought maybe there was an issue. The pad changes colour depending on what is in the tank. This is helpful then to both deal with the problem and diagnose it.
Good luck!
Things do happen in a tank requiring the use of Prime or Polyfilter pad. Especially in a new tank.
Things like a dead fish. On an older tank with lots of live rock, the impact of decaying matter may not be an issue. But on a new tank, the bacteria may not be established enough to process the ammonia quickly enough. Adding Prime or pad helps to do this. And if there is a chain reaction of dieoffs in a tank of any age, Prime helps to deal with the ammonia buildup.
Polyfilter pads are helpful when there may be an issue with something harmful added to the tank. I have used it "just in case" when I thought maybe there was an issue. The pad changes colour depending on what is in the tank. This is helpful then to both deal with the problem and diagnose it.
Good luck!