why no ammonia readings?

[DarkSoul]

I just got my replacement test kit today from Red Sea. The Red Sea fresh lab deluxe.

it was determined that my other one was bad, and the company happily shipped me out another.

So I test my aquarium water today, my tank has been "setup" since the 1st of june, and I lost all of my fish due to ammonia poisoning (not doing water changes in an uncycled tank, because my test kit was telling me that there was no ammonia)

By now, there should be SOMETHING, ammonia for sure, nitrites maybe, not likely nitrates.

so i do a test today, and they all turn up 0.... this is after skipping a WC yesterday.

wth is going on?

[mellowvision]

maybe you have no amonia, and lost your fish to something else.

[jpappy789]

do you have any fish in your tank now???

[mostlycichlids]

What is your ammonia source?

[mellowvision]

is this the tank with the background in it?

[Mgamer20o0]

are you doing fishless cycling or fish? whats in there now?

[Rbishop]

hate to say it, but I would suspect something toxic off the background.

[DarkSoul]

snails are left.

the fish were fine, perfectly fine, until i decided to leave the tank for 4 days without a water change.

at that point the fish started becoming listless, unable to control their swimming, and which direction they swam, their gills were red an inflammed, and they were breathing heavy.

they didnt all die at the same time.i lost them over a couple of days

I had one danio left until he got stuck under my castle and died from god knows what.

this was a sad saga, but i still dont think it was the BG... those symptoms look like ammo poisoning to me... but I could be wrong, im not scared to admit it :)

[Coler]

sorry for your troubles :(

If the tank was set up when you got the new test kit and it showed 0 for ammonia, I would unfortunately also suspect the background - either that or you got another bad test kit, which seems unlikely.

The symptoms you describe would cover ammonia poisoning for sure, but also general toxicity/poisioning from something else.

[JHRavensfan77]

Why not take a sample to your LFS and have them test your params as well. The chances of both test kits being bad are slim to none. If LFS comes back 0 ammonia sounds like background...

[mellowvision]

is there a test kit for epoxy solvents or other chems? especially with that milky flare up we saw under a few spots, I'm convinced it's your BG.

[DarkSoul]

Why not take a sample to your LFS and have them test your params as well. The chances of both test kits being bad are slim to none. If LFS comes back 0 ammonia sounds like background...

Ugh.... I dont know why I didn't think of that.

Though im scared if I take it to aquarium services they will charge me to do it :)

seriously though, that is a good idea.

process of elimination.

Why are my snails still alive? I have no way to tell if they are healthy/happy .... how do I determine this?

I'll be very disapointed if I have to tear out my BG.... but not because it looks so good, Not because of all the work and time I put into it........ because of all the mess I will have to clean out of my tank :(

I'm already considering ripping it out due to an LED failure, and to simply remove the UGF altogether.

I would make another background, but I would greatly simplify it, and use everything I learned from this go around, on the next generation :D

I think i would just use Krylon Fusion, and hopefully make it look good, without the need for epoxy.

I kinda still don't think the epoxy had anything to do with the deaths. Its marine epoxy, and if it was going to leech things into the water, why would they use it specifically to build objects that are designed specifically for use in the water?

not saying it couldnt be something else though... perhaps white glue? although listed non-toxic..... maybe acrylic craft paint? something in the grout possibly? thats a likely one.....

there are so many things that could have gone wrong.

another thing to consider as well, why did the fish seem to be doing just fine, and rather content up until about day 3 of no water change? at which point I noticed a single fish behaving oddly (listless, loss of swim control etc) and it was downhill from there.


And sadly, an extensive test kit for water, one that will test just about anything, costs $160.... and i think it only covers one or two tests.

[Mgamer20o0]

snails will live though anything. have had snails live though high ammonia when cycling. you just cant kill them.

[Rbishop]

:iagree:

[mellowvision]

if you used a marine apoxy like West Systems, which I have used a lot, the "marine" means it can withstand salt water, not that it won't leech... and it's properties are really varied if it is not mixed perfectly and applied uniformly within the alloted application time. West System with even a hint too little hardener will cure for days, if not weeks, longer than expected. this is usually fine in a boat building scenario... it's why the west system comes with pumps and mixing cups, so that an exacting measure is used every time.

[Rbishop]

I believe water epoxies are made to not breakdown and create leakage into your boat....no concern for leaching back out into the water.

[mellowvision]

a little leaching into the water may even be considered a good thing by boaters, if it helps keep barnacles from growing on the hull.

if boaters cared about leaching into the water, they'd sail, or they wouldn't have a boat. boat motors are nasty.

[DarkSoul]

I never really thought of it that way.

Well, I Guess I will have to take a sample of my water to my LFS.

[JHRavensfan77]

I also just noticed you said it may be something in the grout... Grout is made up of alot of lime... not really healthy for any living thing. Whatever it is I hope you get it figured out quick and there's no on-going damage.

[DarkSoul]

I also just noticed you said it may be something in the grout... Grout is made up of alot of lime... not really healthy for any living thing. Whatever it is I hope you get it figured out quick and there's no on-going damage.

Wouldnt lime cause ph swings? or a drastic change in ph period???

My ph is the same as my tap water... 7.6

[jm1212]

those daily water change couldve been removing something toxic that the background was releasing or making sure that their levels didnt reach deadly levels. when you skipped the water change for 4 days, it couldve let the chemicals released build up for 4 days.

[JHRavensfan77]

honestly I don't know if lime would affect the ph or not... I just mentioned it b/c when I used to work with tile we were always told to wear gloves when we grouted b/c it would eat away at our fingers over time.