A serious ammonia problem

[barkleyfox]

I recently spent a few days away visiting my girlfriend, from last Thursday to Sunday, July 1st. Before I left, I set my Eheim auto fish feeder to dispense flakes. When I got back home, I noticed the feeder was malfunctioning - it was spinning non-stop, dropping flakes everywhere. The bottom of the tank was covered in flakes. I quickly did a water change to remove as many flakes as possible. Later, about 4 hours after, I checked my water parameters: pH was normal, KH 10, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 10 ppm, Salinity 1.023. However, my ammonia was between 0.2 and 0.4 ppm. I've never had an ammonia spike before, and I'm worried about what to do next. I've heard that an ammonia spike usually leads to a Nitrite spike, then a Nitrate spike. My clown fish is acting strange, my Blenny seems fine, but I haven't seen my orchid dottyback yet - I'm afraid the worst. My inverts - snail, shrimp, and crabs - seem okay. I'm not an expert, so please explain it to me like I'm a beginner. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[dirtknight9]

You gotta do a massive water change, like, ASAP, and while you're at it, search for your missing orchid dottyback, see if you can find it, and if it's dead, get it out of the tank, don't wanna make things worse.

[Korvu1]

I recently had a similar experience, albeit without an auto feeder. We left our tank unattended for four days, and our fish were perfectly fine without food.

In addition to the water change you've already done, I'd suggest thoroughly vacuuming the gravel. That's likely where the excess food is decomposing and contributing to the ammonia spike. I'd recommend monitoring your water parameters daily and performing water changes as needed to get your levels back under control.

[rivulet9]

Geez, I think your tank's got some issues, dude. I had an ammonia spike in my 12-gallon tank, and it only reached 0.25 ppm - nothing died. The nitrates did jump to 80 ppm, but they're back down to 10 ppm now. Your fish might just be hiding, stressed and scared, so it's not coming out. I've had fish die from bullying before, and the ammonia level was still at 0.25 ppm when it happened. Just keep doing water changes and give your tank a break for a bit. Don't stress your fish by searching for a dead fish everywhere.

If the ammonia level doesn't change or goes up in a few days, then do a huge water change and look for the fish. Maybe he's just hiding.

[zenko9]

my buddy had a nasty ammonia spike, got to .3 ppm and it was game over for all 14 fish in his 125 us gal tank. 13 fish died in 3 days, just one survivor, a yellow tang that's still kicking 2 years on, so yeah, luck of the draw, i guess.

[microb]

Sorry to bother, might get some grief about this, but have you considered using SeaChem Prime? It's in my sig, just a thought, good luck with the tank.

[zenko9]

For me, I don't add much to my tank - just food and sea salt during water changes. I also give my corals a calcium boost every other day. If my water gets out of whack, a water change usually sorts it out.

[microb]

no the op...

[rivulet9]

My tank's pretty low maintenance, only additives I use are food, sea salt, Calcium for my corals, and Bicarb to keep the alk stable.

[zenko9]

if you're needing to add extra stuff, there's a good chance your tank's got an underlying issue, not saying it's the case every time, but it's possible something's causing your water to go haywire, that's why you're having to use additives and all that.