High Ammonia and Nitrates

[aquasalt]

I have a 90 gallon tank that has been set up for about 9 months now. I am running it with about a 1 inch sandbed, plenty of LR, a 20 gallon sump, RS 80 Euroreef skimmer. Current inhabitants are a Hippo Tang, 2 Firefish, and a damsel. Yesterday my banggaii died and a skunk cleaner shrimp went missing. I also lost a Kole Tang that was in the tank for about a month a couple of weeks ago.

I tested water params last night and again this morning:

pH = 8.2
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 15 to 20
Ammonia = also high (my guess 10 to 15)

I have not added any new LR in a while and QT all my fish for 3 to 4 weeks. I feed once every other day on average. Flakes, frozen, and nori.

I carry out approx. 20% water changes any given month and use RO-DI water obtained from a vending machine at a local supermarket.

I plan to perform 5 gallon water changes every day for the next week or so, but am wondering what else I can do. I am thinking about replacing the substrate and re-working my aquascape. I also started using a 100 filter sock

I obtained the sand from the previous owner of the tank and wonder if it is saturated with detritus. Of course, I recognize that the recent deaths will also have contributed to the higher levels, but wonder if they were a cause.

What would you do!?

[Wiskey]

Is the plan to tear down the tank and re- do it? If so I would replace the sand just because it's not that pricey and a good way to clean up the tank.

Do you know why the Kole tang died? Did it have any deaseases? Him dieing could have caused the spike, if that is the case it might settle down pretty quick.

Whiskey

[aquasalt]

Thanks Whiskey. I think the Kole died from undernourishment. The Hippo has been dominating that tank and would beat him to any food. But I can't be certain of that. I had him in QT for 4 weeks (no problems) and in his first week in the DT his mouth swelled up (mouth fungus?). The problem solved itself pretty quick with some help from the cleaner shrimp.

I was planning on taking out all Live Rock, scrubbing it, and re-aquascaping the tank in the near future, so I guess that would qualify as "re-doing" the tank.

The problem becomes even more pressing now that I have a bluejaw trigger waiting patiently in QT.

Could I pull the sandbed out in one move or would that likely raise the ammonia and nitrates to unbearable levels? What's my best approach?

[Wiskey]

It is a 1" sandbed right?

You could pull it all out,.. but if it were me I would do this,.. While you've got the LR out,.. Drain the tank all the way down,.. then shovel the sandbed out, put a new one in, then re-fill the tank.

You can expect an Ammonia spike with what your doing to the LR anyway,.. so this way you can get it all out of the way at once, and keep the fish in Q till it's over.

Whiskey

[fish.freak]

the nitrate levels arent that bad. When you say you guess the Ammonia is 10-15 is that the range it appears on the kit or is it just a guess. At 15 I think the tank would be dead, so bring a sample to lfs to check.

Yes I say pull the sb out and replace if desired, keep the rock as wet as possible to avoid any die off and you should be ok.

[aquasalt]

Actually it's probably between one and two inches. Will my tank cycle all together, or will I avoid this by "recycling" the water from the tank once the bed has been replaced? I'm a little nervous about QTing all fish in the 29 gallon.

[fish.freak]

mini cycle it will be fine, I just swapped to bb w/o any problems. Add carbon and skimm wet for a week or two.

[aquasalt]

Thanks Fish-Freak. I said 10 to 15 on ammonia because I find hard to match on the colorchart. I'm probably colorblind!

As far as sand is concerned, what would you recommend? Is assume that my LR will seed my sandbed overtime. Is that correct?

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by aquasalt

Thanks Fish-Freak. I said 10 to 15 on ammonia because I find hard to match on the colorchart. I'm probably colorblind!

As far as sand is concerned, what would you recommend? Is assume that my LR will seed my sandbed overtime. Is that correct?

Are you sure that's not 1.0 - 1.5? That's the way I read it.

I would take a bit of the surface sand from your current sand bed and add that too the new - just as a precaution. Past that your LR will sead it.

Whiskey

[aquasalt]

You're probably right, Whiskey. Thanks. I just called my LFS and they sell 20 lbs of Live Sand (seeded) for $24.99. How many bags do you think it would take to get to a DEEP Sand Bed of 3 or 4 inches?

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by aquasalt

You're probably right, Whiskey. Thanks. I just called my LFS and they sell 20 lbs of Live Sand (seeded) for $24.99. How many bags do you think it would take to get to a DEEP Sand Bed of 3 or 4 inches?

I haven't heard mention of corals,.. Is this a FOWLR Tank?

If so I really would stick with about an inch of sand that way you can keep it clean.

Whiskey

[aquasalt]

Yeah, it's FOWLR for the time being.

[aquasalt]

Why would you advise against a DSB in an FOWLR? At this point I fully expect someone to jump in and tell me to go BB. lol

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by aquasalt

Why would you advise against a DSB in an FOWLR? At this point I fully expect someone to jump in and tell me to go BB. lol

In an FOWLR you tend to feed very heavy and this will load up a DSB quickly and lead to Algae issues.

If you have an SSB you can syphon the sand and keep it fairly clean - but if you disturb a DSB it is really bad news so it has to be replaced when full.

Whiskey

[Loverotties]

Too many Tangs and WAY TO HIGH Amonia(it should be 0),I can't believe anyting is alive.