Ammonia Spike!!

[loans_n_fishes]

Maybe just have the LFS test the water?? It may be a waste, but I would do yet another water change and add the rest of that biospira.

I can't imagine why it would continue to climb.... :huh

Hope everything works out ok!

[loans_n_fishes]

I suggest searching for something rotting away....maybe under the rocks??

[matt]

So, you don't know the source of the ammonia? You could try taking live rock that you know is okay and your fish and inverts out and setting up a new tank, but that probably means everything left in your tank will die. Can you describe your tank more, specifically, do you have a sand bed? And, what animals are in your tank, like fish, corals, etc....

If it were my tank and I had alot of expensive animals, I'd want to get them out, but it means setting up a new tank or at least a few tubs of clean, new water that you can put live rock and a few animals in. Hopefully, when you're removing the live rock you'll find something dead that's causing the ammonia. If you're not missing any big animals, take a good look and sniff at every piece of liverock as you remove it, maybe you'll find the culprit; something that died in one of the rocks. Assuming all the rock checks out, then you need to check the sand, if you have a sand bed. By check I mean really smell it and look for any signs of dead animals or decay in the sand. You'll have to scoop out some, smell, etc. If you had a well functioning mature tank (how long has it been set up?) and suddenly you spiked to 2.0 PPM, something big must have died, or another possibility, I guess, is that something toxic like copper got into your system and started killing off the bio filter and small inverts. If that's the case, and I hope it's not, you're probably looking at a complete teardown and rebuild. Good luck!

[loans_n_fishes]

Here's a link to potential reasons for an ammonia spike:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/beg...l_ntstable.htm

You probably knew most (if not all) of these, but just thought I would throw it out there. ^_^

Let us know how it's going.

[Bill S]

I think at this point, if this were mine, I'd do what matt suggested. Looks like your tank is crashing. I'd get a tub and basically set up new. Take live rock that you KNOW is ok, and put it in there along with your live inhabitants. Then you can work on the tank.

[betiuminside]

Last readings... the same... but now that I am thinking... when ever I put the ammo-lcok in the tank the first day... in the bottle stated that the reading will be off for some time... so... actually the treatment of ammo-lock is up to 6-7 days...

I took my water to the LFS and they tested the same readings as me. So... I guess I can't know for sure after more days... where the ammonia is at....
the anemone ate today and all the fish (hippo,false,coral beauty, mandarin and dragon goby still fine.. and eating like crazy... I fed a half of a frozen cube.. and it was gone in 1 min.

So I am going to do another 20% water change today... and inform.

[loans_n_fishes]

Well, as long as nobody is acting weird, sounds like the ammolock is throwing off your results. I'd leave it as is now.

[betiuminside]

YUP... Fish looks healthy and anemone is half open.... so... I think I am going to survive this... thanks angela.... again. :wub

[loans_n_fishes]

Well, maybe I can re-imburse you for the bacteria this weekend. ^_^ I'll give you a call later to arrange it.