RDFISHGUY Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 This was the condition of my 230 gallon tank for the past 2 weeks. All is clear now but this guy endured a lot. Ammonia hit as high as 2.4mg/L which is pretty deadly in a ph of 8.2. After that the nitrite went to 1.6mg/L. It stayed this high for over a week. Finally went back to normal with a lot of Prime and Stability. At least I didn't have to do any water changes as its set up on an automatic water change system. I believe the initial cause was adding 2 large plecos. I then increased the amount of fresh water to compensate for the extra waste but I went a little higher volume than the fresh water filter system could handle and I ended up pushing too much chloramine into the system. Then my pump that doses my Prime broke and I had to totally recycle the system. Here are some pics when it was its worst. The tank from across the room. In the middle just off to the right is the ray. Closer shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Yikes !!! Hope all comes out well!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraken Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 (edited) Sounds brutel, is the tank stable now? If so your lucky. :thumbs: Edited March 9, 2009 by Kraken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happeboy Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Not that I have big tanks yet, but that is why I would be afraid to automate. Technology great when it works but oh so touchy. hope all's well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORVETTE Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 looks like amjor algea bloom, my ray tank did the same thing. no lights for a few days and a uv sterilizer did the trick for me. Hope everything works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudy Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 looks like amjor algea bloom, my ray tank did the same thing. no lights for a few days and a uv sterilizer did the trick for me. Hope everything works out. Exactly what I was going to say. Glad it is ok Ryan :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDFISHGUY Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Not algae, but likely a bacterial bloom. Here it is this morning: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Not sure why the water looks greenish in the pic above, it was actually cloudy/white, aka a bacterial bloom, aka new sump syndrome. Apparently enough of the established bacteria died off in the transfer/set up of the sump, and adding the 2 large shite monsters tipped the scales. Thankfully the addition of lots of Prime kept the "free" ammonia to near zero, and technically should have even helped neutralize the toxicity of the nitrites while they were spiking. Things could have been much worse ......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudy Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Ryan was there any burn on the disc from the ammonia? I am not sure how long he has been exposed to the ammonia but just from experience watch that the stomach of the ray has not shrunken due to the ammonia spike. Some times this will occur and the ray will attempt to eat but can't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDFISHGUY Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Thanks for the tip but he seems to be eating and pooping normally. No burns on the disc. His behavior never changed through this whole mess. What can I say. Prime is a wonderful thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 With the amount of Prime going into that tank, there wouldn't have been any "free" ammonia present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDFISHGUY Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 With the amount of Prime going into that tank, there wouldn't have been any "free" ammonia present. Not totally true Neil. When the dosing pump broke there was no prime going into the tank the ammonia alerts tipped me off to the problem. I tested the water to make sure it was really happening because it had been a week since the first ammonia spike. Once I figured out the problem I dosed the tank manually but there was exposure for a short period. How long? How much? Obviously not long enough or high enough to do any damage because I was home to check it. Had I been at work who knows when Erin would've figured it out? It could've been much worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Interesting. Theoretically you shouldn't have seen a spike in ammonia due to the tap water, as without Prime the chlorine/ammonia bond wouldn't have been split, hence no free ammonia should have been present. I would continue to feed very lightly for the next few weeks & give the bacteria a chance to build up in your sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatpuffer Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 Didn't see this til now...that fatty would have survived anything...LOL. Js Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDFISHGUY Posted March 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 Look at the difference between post 1 picture 2 and the picture from post # 7. Any betting man would've bet against me... including ME! The only way I new it would be OK- is that I was home to test the water every day. You don't just leave a fish worth $200+ in these conditions. Prime was a key component in treating the ammonia and nitrite spike. I also used Seachem Stability (approx 1 week) and Laguna-phosphate control + the use of filter floss approx 20 hrs before clarification. Draw your own conclusions. The Laguna -Phosphate control had an expiration date of June 2008. It seemed like a last resort! The jug was almost full! The results - better than expected! The questions remaining... was it the filter floss or was it the phosphate control- the answer.... Who cares? The tank cleared up and the fish all survived! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.