Hello,
This is my first time posting here although I've used your forums to help solve problems in the past. I'd like to start by thanking everyone for the info I've found.
We recently purchased a second aquarium from a friend. It is a 135 Gallon tank that was fully cycled with live rock and and substrate. We didn't transport the water, however, so we decided to give the tank a couple weeks to cycle with new water before adding fish. Then we added the 3 small damsels he left us and allowed the levels to normalize again. But now we've decided to throw in some real fish.
Yesterday we added a good sized lunar wrasse, niger trigger, and a med volitain lion fish. I know that it's normal for the ammonia to spike a little after adding new fish, but how much is acceptable? It looks like our ammonia has gone up to about .25 ppm. How long will the fish be OK in those levels?
You didn't just add a fish. You added 3 good sized fish at the same time.
Ammonia levels change everytime you add any fish. Typically, fish are added at a much slower rate and the rise in ammonia is undetected because the tank can adjust to small changes in bioload quickly.
If the liverock is well established, it should be able to process the additional ammonia before it causes any problems. A water change wouldn't hurt either.
You didn't just add a fish. You added 3 good sized fish at the same time.
Ammonia levels change everytime you add any fish. Typically, fish are added at a much slower rate and the rise in ammonia is undetected because the tank can adjust to small changes in bioload quickly.
If the liverock is well established, it should be able to process the additional ammonia before it causes any problems. A water change wouldn't hurt either.
I know, but I was hoping the liverock would handle it. It used to support a 4 foot eel.
Would doing a water change interrupt the cycle, or is that only an issue during the initial cycle?
Doing a waterchange does nothing to prevent or extend the cycle. That is a myth.
The bacteria level in the liverock is ever changing. The bacteria within the rock adapt to the current bioload of the tank. The fact that it was used in a tank that had a large bioload means nothing now. During the few weeks that you let the tank cycle, the bacteria level has decreased to match the bioload in the new setup.
Just got back from my local fish store. Grabbed some water and gave them some of mine to double check my test results. They didn't detect any ammonia, but I retested again here and it's measuring even worse. A friend suggest I test my other tank (55gal running almost a year) to verify my test kit is OK, but I just used it all up.
Being down to the last few drops of test solution, is it possible that the bottom of the droppers is too concentrated and that's why the colors coming in stronger? Has anyone ever noticed that in their experience? I think I'm going to go back to the store to pick up a new test kit.
My friend also suggested I look at other indicators: fish color, breathing rate, activity, etc., to judge if the fish were under any stress from water conditions. They really look fine. I hope it turns out my test kit is no longer accurate.
Uh, oops. That could be it, I haven't been shaking the bottles. Oh well, lesson learned.
Just got a new test kit and retested. Everything looks OK. Might have just been a test alarm. Thanks for the help.
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