Ugghhhhhhh

Question

I just tested my water. High Nitrates and Ammonia. I am going to do a 20% ro/di h2o change, and vacumn the sand, incase there are any left over dead things there. Will this new salt water cause my Remora hob ps to overflow at the collection cup(exessive wet foam)? I have not added any purple up or anything else, just fresh ro/di salt water & PH to get it back to the 1.022 & 8.2 levels they were at b4 the ro/di overdose. The skimmer has been over producing wet foam and overfilling the collection cup right from the beginning. I have adjusted the rubber ring all the way down and sat the collection cup kinda of cock-eyed on it so it doesn't just keep sucking water out of my tank. It is skimming dryer foam since I did that...Any suggestions?

 

Let it do its job,

HI,
my guess there's alot more stuff in that water than normal you may have a huge amount of dead bacteria and that will also need to be removed best by skimming off the disolved waste.
with that much activity your KH may go south pertty quick..
Doug
maybe twice a week water changes till the skimmer settles.

here's an example of a bad bio load most of the water in the chesapeak bay is loaded with algae from run off things like dog poo and tons (i mean tons ) of that fertilizer people sprinkle on their lawns , this causes a algae bloom in the warm water as they use up the nitrates they die, and sink to the bottom of the bay this become a huge bio-load for the bay and then you have a sewage like bacteria bloom , I did water testing in the military and the coliforms were higher in the bay in July than the raw sewage at local military sewage plant. The mud the algae and dead bacteria produce chokes the oysters and the bottom fish and even the crabs, covering the sandy bottom with very dense mud killing the grass beds,
So i don't do much swimming or fishin in the bay.
So that die off in the sand bed of the tank can really cause a bloom better change the water alot..

 

ok cool yep I was going to check the water daily and see what the levels are and if it warrants changing. I bought a different kind of salt this time Ocean Pure, the lfs didn't sell I.O. It mixes well but it's very cloudy. Also, my Foxface used to have white clouds, like cataracts on his eyes(I posted a q about that) and it's gone. They are Very Clear! So there is another blessing to this whole mess!

 

Doing water changes now will only stall the inevitable. Your tank must cycle again so just let nature take its course and only do a water change after the cycle has completed. Most likely, you won't have a full cycle but you'll still have one.

 

The ammonia and nitrates were at dangerous levels. I did about 8-10 gallons. Will they spike that high during a normal cycle? Hmmm..I guess that's why you don't put fish in until it cycles, huh?

 

Well, I put a fish in TO cycle so I guess it's all in how you look at it

I would have expected high spikes but because your tank is pretty well established, I would have expected those spikes to rise and fall much quicker than if you had been starting a new tank. Just let things settle for now. Your fish may "suffer" but, like I said, you really can't avoid the inevitable.

 

Yep, will do and I saw this morning two of my emerald crabs made it. A bunch of the scarlett hermits made it too All is not lost...there is hope!!! ;D

 

Everyones doing very well this morning! They all ate! I re-arrainged my rock yesterday, figured they were already freaked out so when not give it a shot. Here's pics. The Remora is doing a great job! Water is nice and clear! The Gorilla Glue worked great! I talked to a few people at my lfs and they've used it too. Gotta let it fully cure before lifting. Takes 24 hours.

 

Hooray! Glad to see your tank doing so well after the "incident." Now, go beat the boy if you haven't already

 

Thanks, if any of you prayed, I think it worked! I will when he gets home in 2 weeks. He's in Lk George NY working with his daddy! I might beat his daddy too for being such a cheap a**, while I'm at it. I'll make them take turns slapping eachother! My mother in law is the one who usually watches over 'the guppies" when I'm gone. She does an ok job, but I think she's about to get a crash course on what not to do and when to call me! She's 74 and doesn't think she can remember everything, so I'm going to make her a chart of daily stuff.