Help Need Ideas

[Red Sox Fan]

Tank has been running great I have an aquapod 24 gallon I did my weekly water change lasy night I scrapped more sand then normal to get rid of the red and green coloring in it. I ended up using the last of the instant ocean salt. This morning everything looks like it is dying. Frogspawn and candy cane and zoos are the only really expensive stuff I have and it looks bad.
I have tested everything
ph 8.6
nitrate 4.0
nitrite 0.0
alk 2.5
pho 0.0
ammonia 2.5

I know nitrates and ammonia are high what do you do?

should i do another water change?
Ideas I need to get to work but want to fix this 1st if I can

Tank has been running about 6 months ammonia has read 0 for a long time

[Red Sox Fan]

my wife said at 5:00 this mornig frogspawn was out and looked good so this spike just started

[buffalobunch]

I would do another water change. It sounds like stirring up the sand made your ammonia and nitrates spike. Water change will bring down both. It also may be that your ph is a little high and the alk is a little low. What additives are you using? Has your tanks ph and alk always been at these levels?

[bajabum]

Something died, or your sand is anaerobic. Ph is from ammonia probably. Get the ammonia out quick either chemicaly or water change. The nitrite spike that is coming will do even more damage. Unfortunately you used the last of your salt. If you had a gallon of saltwater you could take everything out you want to protect and deal with the tank issue.

[Red Sox Fan]

went and got some salt

Can i put coral in a bucket of salt water and a pump temporarily?
Do I just do A water change?
What chemicals should I buy to help this?
I live 1 mile from petco and petsmart so they must carry it

[buffalobunch]

Yes you can take everything out and put it in a bucket for the day. Stick a powerhead in there and take care of getting water change done. I also have 20g of sw that has been made up for a week. You are more than welcome to come and get it if you need more water.

[oct2274]

don't do anymore water changes! it slows your cycle.......You should not have put corals in a tank that was cycling. You might want to have someone watch after those for you till your cycle is over. If you insist on having corals in your tank while your tank is cycling, use something like Amquel+ or Prime to keep your ammonia in check. Both of these are supposed to not interfere with the bacteria that help cycle your tank. You need to also raise your alk, your ph will fall on its own. Keep calcium, alk, and ph in check. NO MORE WATER CHANGES UNTIL YOUR TANK IS CYCLED!

[Red Sox Fan]

my tank has cycled has for a long time
I am just trying figure out what to do now.

Thanks Buffalo
I will move everything into the bucket and then go get another bucket and make more water changes.

[buffalobunch]

He said the tank has been running for 6 months. I agree with bajabum and something either died or some anaerobic bacteria was released from sand. Get the corals into fresh water and out of tank. Water changes are the only thing that is going to remove ammonia and nitrate. I prefer to not put chemicals into a reef tank even if they say they are reef safe.

[Red Sox Fan]

Thanks Buffalo

How much water change can I do?

24 gallon tank

[oct2274]

those two chemicals work fine, i've used them many times in more than one aquarium. If your tanks ammonia was 0 until you stirred the sand than water changes are ok too. If you move stuff to buckets, don't leave the stuff in there long. The ammonia will end up being higher in there than they were in the aquarium because there will be absolutely no bacteria in there to deal with the ammonia which will build up very quickly from the corals.

[Red Sox Fan]

Thank s for your hlp everyone
I am off to get a new bucket and the store for more water.

If anyone has ideas or think of something I need call me on my cell 602-570-8116

agian thanks

[sir_dudeguy]

don't do anymore water changes! it slows your cycle.

agreed w/the rest....This is not another cycle. Its just a spike, caused by either something dead or the sand like others have said. If you had read the very last sentence in the first post, you'd have seen that its been going for 6 months And another vote for no chemicals if you can get by w/out them. Only water changes will tell if you're gonna need them or not.

[Red Sox Fan]

I am back from the store

How gallons can I safely change at one time?

[sir_dudeguy]

In a 24 gallon? I'd say do like...5 gallons or so?? Should be a good starting point. Could prolly even do less if you wanted.

[buffalobunch]

you could safely do a 50% water change

[Doglover_50]

I think you could start small like Mike suggested, However, I'd try what buffalo mentioned because of the very risky waste products thave have/could show up. You could start with a large WC like 50%. I bought a used 12g and 24g JBJ nano up from the valley, only brought 40-50% of the water, so started with large WC and no problems..

I think in an established tank with rock, I'd start with one large WC like this. Then follow up smaller changes if needed. When I've been gone on vacations I have several times done 30% WCs (have fish and inverts and corals in the tanks), no problems.

***DON'T stir up the sand when you add water--use a saucer plate, or something like that.

And for future reference, unless you are having diatom bloom or some other huge algae nuisance, just let that red and green stay on the glass at the sand level. It sounds like that very well may have been the culprit--is so, hopefuly you can get it all solved pretty quickly.

[Red Sox Fan]

I have done 4 water changes so far today around 20% each time. Ammonia is still testing high.

The only thing left in my tank besides the rock and fish is xenia. It looks bad and discolored

Should I cut it and throw it away or over time it will come back..

My main question is with it looking like death could that also lead to my ammonia not stabalizing.

[oct2274]

if the xenia is dying it will definitely add to the ammonia levels in the tank. If you are still aren't able to get the ammonia down you can safely use the products i listed above to help instead of doing never ending water changes. You will want to continue checking for ammonia until you can go a couple of days without dosing. Some ammonia monitors/test will read there is still ammonia when using these products because they are converted into a non-toxic form of ammonia and some test can't tell the difference.

[Red Sox Fan]

thanks Oct2274

I will look online to see if petsmart carries it. Regrettfully no fish store for miles

[jenn_jeffery]

Originally posted by Red Sox Fan
thanks Oct2274

I will look online to see if petsmart carries it. Regrettfully no fish store for miles

They *should* carry it. Call ahead first and be sure it's in stock, as what they have on the website is different from what is in store....

[oct2274]

i get amquel+ from petsmart.

[Red Sox Fan]

so is it wise to throw the xenia away or to try to get it to recover

[sir_dudeguy]

I saw a bunch of amquel at the petco on baseline and stapley/cooper today... Dont remember the price though.

[Red Sox Fan]

thanks got it

I put it in the tank

Hopefully it works No idea how long it will take or if I should do another water change