Will .5 ppm ammonia kill my zoa frags?

smith1571 · 05/21/2007, 08:30 PM

I checked my ammonia level and it said "stress" Someware between .5 and 1. I need to go to sleep I dont have time to do a water change. Are my new zoathad frags going to be ok?

smith1571 · 05/22/2007, 05:21 AM

How long will it take to go back to 0 on its own?

Tang Salad · 05/22/2007, 05:22 AM

Do a water change ASAP.

Is this a new or heavily stocked tank?

frederickk · 05/22/2007, 01:49 PM

A few water change

smith1571 · 05/22/2007, 04:21 PM

It a one year old tank with an eel, pinktail trigger and 15 zoa frags. Everything was fine untill 2 days ago. I took out all the sand in my tank last week It was about 2" deep maybe thats the problem?

paran · 05/22/2007, 04:29 PM

It's possible your beneficial bacteria was living in/on that sand you took out. Hopefully you're not cycling again.

smith1571 · 05/22/2007, 08:11 PM

It feels like i am!

Bonebrake · 05/22/2007, 08:20 PM

It was a very bad idea to remove the entire sandbed in one shot, but it is too late now. You better start doing water changes. Temporarily stop feeding your tank (feed absolutely nothing for three or four days) and do a 75% ASAP and monitor the ammonia, if it goes above 0.25 ppm do another 75% and continue this process until it reaches 0.00 ppm permanently. This is really the only choice you have if you want to ensure all of your livestock survives. If you really don't care and it doesn't go above 0.5 ppm then ride it out, but I really think one 75% change should do the trick.

smith1571 · 05/22/2007, 09:43 PM

I really cant tell what the exact reading is. It could be .5 or 1 or higher.
I was told to remove a sand bed because it was too shallow to be effective so thats what i did. It might not actually be the issue anyway.
I have 100g of water so a 75% water change is gonna be a big deal. The water is so dirty I don't think it would help. My problem was that i didn't have enough flow. I just got two new pumps today to stir everything up.

Heres a question?
What is the most effective Filtration? Whether natural or chemical? I have the skimmer and thats it.
What is the next step?????
1. filter sock
2.cheato
3.Carbon
4 Live rock
5 some sort of chemical additive
6 Something I haven't thought of yet.?????
Could someone tell me in what order of impotence these things are?

mskohl · 05/22/2007, 10:53 PM

OMG.

You are in a new cycle. If you don't want to do water changes, look for someone to babysit your inhabitants.

Do you have a refugium/sump?
1. Have a lot of porous live rock in the tank
2. Have a refugium w/ 6" of sand and rubble and cheato
3. Run filter floss or carbon between the baffles
4. Skimmer

None of these will immediately fix your problem if you don't already have them.

luvmylo · 05/23/2007, 12:08 AM

I use LR and a skimmer. that's it. I'm sure I don't have to tell you but I would do more research next time you make such a drastic change

luvmylo · 05/23/2007, 12:09 AM

you could also add a product called "stability". See if your lfs has some. I've used it once and it works great. The lfs where I work sells a lot of it.

atzak · 05/23/2007, 06:34 AM

Get some bio-spira ASAP, and do some large waterchanges.

05/21/2007, 08:30 PM	#1
smith1571 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 183	Will .5 ppm ammonia kill my zoa frags? I checked my ammonia level and it said "stress" Someware between .5 and 1. I need to go to sleep I dont have time to do a water change. Are my new zoathad frags going to be ok?

05/22/2007, 05:22 AM	#3
Tang Salad Algae skeptic Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: 78702 Posts: 3,098	Do a water change ASAP. Is this a new or heavily stocked tank? __________________ Your algae is not special. Current Tank Info: TBD ADA 120-P SPS NLPS

05/22/2007, 04:29 PM	#6
paran Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bismarck, ND Posts: 75	It's possible your beneficial bacteria was living in/on that sand you took out. Hopefully you're not cycling again. __________________ Guy - "I wish I had more money to spend on my tank" Reply - "I wish I had the money back of everything I've ever killed in my tank!" Current Tank Info: 55 gallon mixed reef, 10 gallon nano, 55 gallon freshwater

05/22/2007, 10:53 PM	#10
mskohl Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Stilwell, KS Posts: 2,114	OMG. You are in a new cycle. If you don't want to do water changes, look for someone to babysit your inhabitants. Do you have a refugium/sump? 1. Have a lot of porous live rock in the tank 2. Have a refugium w/ 6" of sand and rubble and cheato 3. Run filter floss or carbon between the baffles 4. Skimmer None of these will immediately fix your problem if you don't already have them. __________________ Current tanks: 225g mixed reef and a 75g lps and softy

05/23/2007, 06:34 AM	#13
atzak Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Jupiter NC Posts: 1,191	Get some bio-spira ASAP, and do some large waterchanges. __________________ smokers suck butts Current Tank Info: 210 reef, 55 gallon planted fresh water

05/22/2007, 05:21 AM	#2
smith1571 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 183	How long will it take to go back to 0 on its own?

05/22/2007, 01:49 PM	#4
frederickk Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 2,712	A few water change

05/22/2007, 04:21 PM	#5
smith1571 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 183	It a one year old tank with an eel, pinktail trigger and 15 zoa frags. Everything was fine untill 2 days ago. I took out all the sand in my tank last week It was about 2" deep maybe thats the problem?

05/22/2007, 08:11 PM	#7
smith1571 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 183	It feels like i am!

05/22/2007, 08:20 PM	#8
Bonebrake Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Danville, PA Posts: 519	It was a very bad idea to remove the entire sandbed in one shot, but it is too late now. You better start doing water changes. Temporarily stop feeding your tank (feed absolutely nothing for three or four days) and do a 75% ASAP and monitor the ammonia, if it goes above 0.25 ppm do another 75% and continue this process until it reaches 0.00 ppm permanently. This is really the only choice you have if you want to ensure all of your livestock survives. If you really don't care and it doesn't go above 0.5 ppm then ride it out, but I really think one 75% change should do the trick.

05/22/2007, 09:43 PM	#9
smith1571 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 183	I really cant tell what the exact reading is. It could be .5 or 1 or higher. I was told to remove a sand bed because it was too shallow to be effective so thats what i did. It might not actually be the issue anyway. I have 100g of water so a 75% water change is gonna be a big deal. The water is so dirty I don't think it would help. My problem was that i didn't have enough flow. I just got two new pumps today to stir everything up. Heres a question? What is the most effective Filtration? Whether natural or chemical? I have the skimmer and thats it. What is the next step????? 1. filter sock 2.cheato 3.Carbon 4 Live rock 5 some sort of chemical additive 6 Something I haven't thought of yet.????? Could someone tell me in what order of impotence these things are?

05/23/2007, 12:08 AM	#11
luvmylo Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 64	I use LR and a skimmer. that's it. I'm sure I don't have to tell you but I would do more research next time you make such a drastic change

05/23/2007, 12:09 AM	#12
luvmylo Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 64	you could also add a product called "stability". See if your lfs has some. I've used it once and it works great. The lfs where I work sells a lot of it.