why is my ammonia getting higher?

[CDP13075]

My tank has been set up for 4 months and the past 3 months my No3, No2 and ammonia have been zero. Last weekend I took a chance and added a pearl bubble coral, which has looked very good in my tank compared to the store I got it from.
Two days ago my nitrates and ammonia went up. I was told to do a water change and I did. The nitrates are back to 0 but the ammonia is less than 50. I've been using bottled distilled water with no probelms. What could be causing the ammonia?
Out of curiosity, I tested some of the store's water that was in the bubble coral's bag when I got home and it was terrible. I didn't put all of their water in my tank. I slowly replaced it with water from my tank while the bag was floating. The coral still looks great and better now than it looked in their tank.
Should I be concerned about the ammonia. Everything else in my tank is fine. My two peppermint shrimp that I had to get b/c of the Aiptasia had molted a few days ago. I didn't fish the floating shrimp shells out of the tank b/c I couldn't reach them. Could this cause the problem?

my tank set up....
20g High
72 watts of PC lighting
Sea clone skimmer
2 powerheads
19 lbs LR
3" sand
1 sand sifter starfish- hitchhiker, that has grown quite a bit
4 red leg crabs
2 blue leg crabs
7 snails
2 firefish gobies
2 peppermint shrimp
1 pearl bubble coral
1 rock with yellow polyps.

This is my first SW tank. I confused by tha ammonia b/c everything
seems to be doing great. Feather dusters have popped up all over the LR. Even my polyps have multiplied.

[xL4zYx]

A snail could have died, or it could be the shells. Try taking the shells out. Maybe you need a water change?

[ShipMate]

Yep it seems like something died in your tank. It might be worth looking carefully for the source. Not a good idea to use the LFS water the coral comes in usually. Many quarantine their coral because of concerns of disease spread.

[ReefRelated]

Are you using RO/DI water? Do you have chloromines? Are you removing it all from your supply water? Chloromine is ammonia and chlorine. If your city uses chloromines and you aren't removing all of them, you could be adding amonia to your tank.

[CDP13075]

I did a head count and everyone is still alive. I'm going to get the shrimp shell things out.
I test the distilled water before I use it and it's been testing 0. As for the store water, I don't thing much got added. I drained the bag until just enough was left to cover the coral add let it float a while. I then used a syringe to pull more out and added the same amount of my tank water to it. Let it float some more and repeated several times.

I'm going to do another water change after I get the shrimp shells out. I'm also going to set up a 10g to use as quarantine before I add anything else.

[CDP13075]

yeah...I found the problem.

My husband bought the last distilled water and I didn't notice it was a different kind. I tested it and the ammonia is sky high.
I'm now working on the problem....Thanks for all the help

Christy

[mathman]

I don't know if this helps, but I have 5 or 6 peppermint shrimps and 3 cleaner shrimps. They molt like crazy all the time and I have never once taken the discarded shells out of my tank. My tank has only trace amounts, if any ammonia. I don't believe this is contributing to your problem.

[ReefRelated]

Originally posted by CDP13075
yeah...I found the problem.

My husband bought the last distilled water and I didn't notice it was a different kind. I tested it and the ammonia is sky high.
I'm now working on the problem....Thanks for all the help

Christy

;) I knew it was from your water source!

[CDP13075]

I tested today and I'm not happy.

Here's my readings

Temp 80
pH 8.2
Nitrites .25
Nitrates less than 10
Ammonia 2

It was down after the water change but it's back up now.

Everything in the tank looks great...feather dusters and polyps are out, fish look great, the crabs and snails are active and my sand sifter star is out and about. The peppermint shrimp are active too.
I have 2 questions now.
Can Amquel give a false reading for ammonia?

Could my tank be going thru a new tank syndrome?
I had read that established tanks can do this. If so, should I not worry about it unless things get higher. I'm so confused b/c everything in the tank looks great.

[ReefRelated]

I always recomend Salifert test kits. Try one of those first. Cheap or old tests kits can give false readings.

[3_high_low]

what's in there for fish?

[CDP13075]

I'll try a different test and see what it says. The one I use now says....Saltwater Master on the box.

What do you mean by...What's in there for the fish?

[3_high_low]

I mean how many, and what size fish. I missed it b4, now I see you have two gobies. Is that all? Fish, of coarse, excrete ammonia:).

[Reefs1]

I have a 20 gallon tank and I have a considerably larger amount of LR, about 36 pounds to be exact and I have never had an ammonia spike. In fact I skipped my cycle completely, and I attribute it to the large amount and quality of the LR I placed in my tank...I also plan on putting more in! I would suggest finding a place that sells good (cured) rock and adding it ASAP to aid in filtering whatever is causing your spike for the time being. Also you should turn your temp down a wee bit, if it is a reef tank you want, the temp should not be so high. I would stay around 76-80 max. I have also had very good luck with a refugium too. Good luck!

[CDP13075]

Only 2 fish.

I've turned the temp down earlier today

[Nicholas Ang]

maybe u r overfeeding huh?:frog:

[CDP13075]

I thought about that but I only feed a very small pinch once a day. I'm starting to think the Amquel is causing a false reading. It seems like if the ammonia was really as high as it's testing the fish would be stressed. It been testing high 2 days now and the fish are swimming normal, breathing normal and look great. The bubble coral looks great and so do the polpys. I'm going to keep testing and see what happens.

[Reefs1]

Be careful what you add to your tank! I would avoid chemical additives to try and control this outbreak of ammonia. Remember, cause and effect; If you add something synthetic like that, there will be a result somewhere else in the tank. Less science more nature.....Even if it means losing something so be it, thats your tank telling you what IT wants to do. It is just a spell, you will get through, especially with our help. Just be careful in trying to play the hand of God, it may result in a complete debacle and damage the overall health and balance of the tank.

[Evergreen]

Originally posted by CDP13075

My husband bought the last distilled water and I didn't notice it was a different kind. I tested it and the ammonia is sky high.
I'm now working on the problem....Thanks for all the help

Christy
I am curious to know what kind of bottled water contains ammonia!:confused:

[Reefs1]

Thats a great point! CDP13075 do you have any enemies? kiddin...

[ReefRelated]

Any water can easily have amonia if the water has been treated with chloromines. If you drink tap water in my city you will be drinking amonia. Some companies like Spectrapure actually make DI cartridges called AR (amonia removal). It sounds bad but anyone with chloromine knows the first warning your city gives you when or if they switch to chloromines is "chloromines are not safe for fish" Good filtration can remove these. Some of these bottled water companies may not use great filtration and don't completely remove the chloromines.

Chloromine = Amonia+Chlorine

[Evergreen]

Still I am curious to know what water company is bottling city tap water and selling it?

[ReefRelated]

They sell filtered city water right? If the city use chloromines and the company that filters it only uses sediment, carbon, and RO then they probably won't remove all chloromines. That would mean it could be possible amonia could be left in the water.

[lllosingit]

Originally posted by CDP13075



Can Amquel give a false reading for ammonia?
In my fresh water days I was always told that Amquel would screw up the test readings, How much I don't know?
Are you sure you didn't add Meds to the tank?
It sounds like your going thru a new cycle or you have something dead in the tank.
The shell from the shrimp molt would not be enough to cause any problems.

[CDP13075]

The distilled water that testing high for ammonia was the Wal-Mart brand. The other kind I usually gets test O for ammonia.


I'm happy today. The nitrites and nitrates are 0 and ammonia is less than 50...yeah it's going back down!!!
Still didn't find anything dead but my sand sifter star is looking rough. I'll be shocked if he dies b/c he was in the LR when I got it and survived the cycle. I'll keep an eye on him for the next several days.

[thedude]

Well, it sounds like your tank went through a cycle after the ammonia was added from the distilled water. Pretty surprising that ammonia came from distilled water. There must have been some contamination to the water after the distillation process. I don't think ammonia can pass along through the distillation.

I believe the Amquel products bind something to the ammonia molecule that makes it less harmful to critters. Your tank's bacteria can still digest it and cycle it out.

Just sit tight and wait out the cycle. And I wouldn't use that type of water again.

[CDP13075]

I've been using distilled water for a couple of months with no problems. I am still going to use it but I'll test every jug first. I don't want this to happen again. I'm hoping nothing dies from the high levels for 2 days. So far everything looks good except for the star.

This website has been alot of help.

Thanks a bunch

[jamison74]

i just tested the walmart ro/di water.....yep amonia! off the charts! i dont use it just had a bottle in the fridge for drinking came across this thread and was curious, so yet again my fish are pooping in better water than i am drinking!