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Post by scoobnoob on Feb 17, 2015 20:07:10 GMT -5
So one of my friends referred someone to me with tank troubles...The tank is a 29 gallon reef, it was given to her by her father whom used a deep sandbed 3-4" a ton of live rock, it came with corals and several fish. After the move all the fish died. I assume moving the sand bed destroyed the anaerobic bacteria as all the sand was moved out of the tank. Next after the tank had been setup for a while it cracked. The owner immediately got another tank, and rinsed all the sand prior to putting it back in the tank. She has not been able to get her Ammonia level down. This was all prior to me meeting her in October. Since October I've been supplying her with premixed saltwater using RO water, we replaced the skimmer, and used an entire bottle of Microbacter 7. The ammonia has gone from .5 to .25, after continued water changes it is between 0 and .25 We used a polyfilter and it turned bright yellow. She has kept a clownfish in the through all of this and feeds it a quarter of a cube of Mysis every other day. Her last reading was Nitrate .15, Nitrite 0 Ammonia approx .12 It appears that there is no bacteria breaking down the Ammonia to Nitrite. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? I would have assumed if it was cycling out again it would have re-established itself by now.
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Post by scoobnoob on Feb 17, 2015 20:08:26 GMT -5
She does a 2.5 gallon water change weekly and has been since october
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Feb 17, 2015 20:11:10 GMT -5
Is there a cat litter box anywhere near the tank?
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Post by scoobnoob on Feb 17, 2015 20:36:07 GMT -5
In the bathroom no more than 8 ft away....
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Feb 17, 2015 20:42:44 GMT -5
I would have them move it as far away as possible. Anytime a cat uses the litter box, they stir up and release amonnia into the air. Cat pee is a prime example. If enough amonia is in the air or being released into the same area as the tank, the protein skimmer can draw in amonia from the air and inject them directly into the aquarium water.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Feb 17, 2015 20:46:02 GMT -5
Not to mention if they have a cat it could be peeing directly into the tank... Cats are sneaky little bastards! Lol  seriously.... Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards |
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Feb 17, 2015 20:51:10 GMT -5
All it takes is one ninja cat to dribble a little go go juice in a tank to mess shit up lol
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Post by jasonandsarah on Feb 17, 2015 20:52:45 GMT -5
All it takes is one ninja cat to dribble a little go go juice in a tank to mess shit up lol LMFAO! |
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Post by scoobnoob on Feb 17, 2015 21:17:49 GMT -5
I really didn't expect this as an answer. I guess its kind of obvious but I never would've realized it. I've never had cats as I'm pretty well allergic to them. I just googled this and saw some testing done on the effects of a litter box on a tank in the area of a cat box and without the cat box on reef central. Thank you Ryan I never would've got this without your help, also thank you both for making the dialogue on this thread so entertaining...LOL.
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Post by spotfin on Feb 18, 2015 6:10:00 GMT -5
Sounds like the tank bacteria got wiped out, twice. She might want to scrap the dsb and as start over again. How about a series of larger water changes? Interesting that there is no nitrite, but nitrate. Also, maybe cut the feeding back. A whole cube of mysis seems a lot for one fish. Good luck.
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Post by Syntax on Feb 18, 2015 6:41:23 GMT -5
Can the skimmer air line be "plumbed" outside? You can also try Dr. Tims "All in One", that seems to be a product that has many good reviews, I've also used it with very good results.
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Post by scoobnoob on Feb 18, 2015 7:16:35 GMT -5
She's feeding 1/4 cube every other day. The skimmer line cant be plumbed else where. She really hated the idea of scrapping her sand bed. Even after the poly filter she was still having ammonia and the pad was bright yellow. I told her to take a cup of the mix water I gave her and leave it beside the tank, if it tests positive for ammonia then its likely the litter box.
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Post by fermentedhiker on Feb 18, 2015 7:32:22 GMT -5
interesting idea. I have trouble accepting that the skimmer could pull more ammonia from the air than the bacteria in the tank could deal with. When you consider how much concentrated ammonia we dose a tank to cycle it and have gone in 24 hours. Now if she were a crazy cat lady with a dozen cats and didn't clean up after them maybe But the test you're having her do should prove that one way or the other. I'm thinking multiple die offs(a cascade situation). Disturbing the sandbed so thoroughly(the deep part is now mixed with the shallow and vice versa) led to a massive die off of the various bacteria involved in NNR and Sulfur reduction. This toxicity in turn has caused further die off within the live rock which is feeding the crash further. Solutions other than time? I'd dose prime for the clowns sake even though it won't actually help the cycle. A dose of Tims or biospora would probably speed things up, as well as skimming wet for the duration. Just my 2 cents |
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Post by jasonandsarah on Feb 18, 2015 9:42:57 GMT -5
Do you know if she or previous owner used any meds in the tank? Could there be something stopping the bacteria from repopulating? Like residual meds (antibiotics)
Also have you run carbon to remove anything that could of been added?
My guess would be that there's no nitrites and some nitrates because the nitrates are left over from when the tank was cycled and producing nitrates.
Sent from my SM-N910R4 using proboards
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Post by scoobnoob on Feb 18, 2015 18:42:08 GMT -5
I've had her running carbon since October too. I just can't believe it hasn't cycled again after 4 months. I started my new setup the same time I started helping her and its been stocked since December. I'll let everyone know how this ammonia test turns out with the mix water. Its only two cats and her place is quite clean.
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seriously....
