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Ajilon 
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 Topic: Slight ammonia spike
Posted: June 05 2008 at 2:46pm |
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I just ran all my tests and the same nano that had the stray voltage is reflecting a slight ammonia and nitrate spike.
50% water change??
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cl2ysta1
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Posted: June 05 2008 at 3:35pm |
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yup
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I <3 Boxers
Achilles tang lover
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Ajilon
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Posted: June 05 2008 at 3:38pm |
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I figured so much. I've got 5 gallons heating as we speak.
would this be a good time to clean the sand bed or will I make things worse? I usually clean the sand to the bottom in small sections when I do my regular water changes, but with this being a nano, there's not a whole lot of margin for error.
How long do I need to wait to retest with accurate results?
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cl2ysta1
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Posted: June 05 2008 at 3:44pm |
should be right away. You can put an airstone in there also should help out.
also before you do the water change check your PH if it is low.. your ammonia is not toxic to the fish. if you try to do a water change this will raise your PH and make that ammonia toxic....
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I <3 Boxers
Achilles tang lover
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Ajilon
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Posted: June 05 2008 at 3:51pm |
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ph was coming in at 8.0
Phos: 1.0
Calcium 340
Nitrates 10
ammonia: 0.3
nitrite 0
alk: 140
mag: 1170
I have some major adjustments to make. What do you recommend?
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SSpargur
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Posted: June 05 2008 at 3:57pm |
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Big water change like you're doing now. Then after that retest to see where you're at with your levels and dose accordingly.
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Sean Spargur
West Valley, UT
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: June 06 2008 at 5:42pm |
I wouldn't do a water change. Those numbers aren't seriously off. Even the ammonia is no big deal, because it goes away fast. I'll bet the coral look just fine. Am I right?
If it was my tank and I was worried about it, I'd leave the lights on longer or overnight to let the algae take care of the N. If I had no macroalgae in the tank, I'd just throw a small ball of cheato in there and let it eat up the N compounds.
Perhaps I've been at this hobby too long, but I find that the less I mess with it, the better it does. Too many hobbyists try to control things instead of letting the tank take care of itself. N compounds are food for algae. Algae is food for the critters and snails in the tank, which in turn provides food for the fish. 
Edited by Mark Peterson - June 06 2008 at 5:44pm
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Ajilon
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Posted: June 06 2008 at 5:56pm |
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All of the corals except the xenia that I just fragged were fine. The silvertip wilted and died this morning.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: June 06 2008 at 6:38pm |
Oh, one more thing about the algae. It's growth will reduce the phosphate level.
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