Help Asap!!!!

[pre-2k]

On Mon. Feb. 12/06 I did a 20% water change on my 120gal. I checked my ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph levels. My ph was at 8.2; nitrite is at zero; nitrate was at 20ppm; and ammonia was at 0.5ppm. A couple of days later I did another water change of 10%. My levels all remained the same. And today i did a 50% water change and checked the levels and they all are still the same. I did not add anything new to the tank in the last 2 weeks and feeding is the same (once a day), the only thing I added new was reef roids.

Tank Info:
-120gal
-170 + lbs of LR
-3-4 inches of sandbed
-1 tang, 2 yellow wrasse, 1 dragon goby, 1 zebra goby, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 per. clown, 1 blue damsel, 1 ladder goby, 1 horseshoe crab, 1 molly, 1 leopard wrasse
-4 assorted anemones, star polyps, fox coral, pulsing xenia, button polyps, toadstools, assorted mushrooms, flower pot
-inverts
- tank has been established for 5 months
-also have a 30gal sump, protein skimmer, cannister filter, overflow box
-lighting-2-175w MH, 2-VHO actinics, 4-40w Pcs

Can anybody help me solve the levels of nitrate and ammonia in my tank???

[mr_alberta]

Did you check the levels of the source water? Another possibility is bad/inaccurate test kits.

[pre-2k]

Hi Mr. Alberta just wondering what u mean when u said source water. Do u mean tap water?

[pre-2k]

also, my test kit is new, just got it 2 months ago-its a saltwater master liquid test kit

[mr_alberta]

I mean test the water you are using to make new saltwater. Also, regardless of when you got your test kit, you should compare it to another (take a sample to the store or a buddy to test).

[pre-2k]

just tested my source water and the ph is 7.4, nitrite is zero, nitrate is zero and ammonia is 1.0ppm

[Ruth]

IMO your test kit is out of whack if your getting that high of ammonia from your source water. Are you using an RODI filter kit or just using straight tap water? My experience is that "most" tap water is not very good to use for reef keeping and I would highly recommend that you use RODI water for your source water.
If I was you I would take a water sample into your LFS and have them test it or if you have a friend with a different set of test kits have them test it to see if you get the same readings.

[Beverly]

Pre-2k's test kit is accurate. She is using Edmonton tapwater which is treated with chloramine. Chloramine is a compound of chlorine and ammonia, and there is about 1 ppm ammonia in Edmonton's tapwater. When chloramine is neutralized with, say, Prime, non-toxic ammonium is formed. Many test kits will read the ammonium as ammonia.

However, ammonium will still be processed in the tank by bacteria into nitrite then into nitrate. Really, to solve this problem, RO or distilled water should be used instead of tapwater.

[pre-2k]

going to my LFS today but this has NEVER happen b4 ???????? with tap water .................... i guess ill have to c what happen to day

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by pre-2k

going to my LFS today but this has NEVER happen b4 ???????? with tap water

If you've been using tapwater all this time, you have been adding about 1 ppm ammonia/ammonium in your new salt water. In the spring, with all kinds of extra stuff in the river's water, ammonia levels probably rise above 1 ppm when they increase the chloramine levels. Your lfs may not know this, but I hope they do.

BTW, what test kit are you using? Are you using a dechlorinator along with your salt in the tapwater?

I did a quick test of unsalted tapwater using an Aquarium Pharmaceutical ammonia test kit:

Tapwater without Prime - 1 ppm ammonia

Tapwater Treated with Prime - 0 pmm ammonia

The fact is that ammonia is present in Edmonton's tapwater. After treatment with a dechlorinator, Edmonton's tapwater will have the same amount of ammonium as there was of ammonia before using a dechlorinator.