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mari.harutunian

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Posts posted by mari.harutunian

    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

     
    Just here to say that there have been no negative effects of using Flucanozole, other than unless you nip the root problem in the bud, you're going to have alage come back. 
     
    With the correct dosage and use, Flucanozole has rid many tanks of nuisance bryopsis. 


    Agreed. I had no problems with using it other than the unknown source of ammonia that never went away.


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    All I can do now is emphasize the importance of research and communication in this hobby. I had purchased flucanozole for the algae before this thread started, which I not used because I was worried I'd screw up things. As it turns out, I doubt it would even have worked because of the ammonia problem. The communication saved me from possibly making a bad situation worse.


    Fluconazole actually worked like a charm for me and the HA was nearly eradicated. The issue was alllllll of the HA grew back the following week in full strength even after a few(ammonia tainted) water changes.


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

     
    You have done me and possibly a lot of other future hobbyists a huge service simply by posting about the problem! It really would be great if someone could do a formal article about airborne ammonia, sources, and how to keep it from affecting aquariums.


    Thank you I’m glad it’s been helpful. I would loveeee BRS to do a formal experiment on YouTube. They have a great platform and I’m sure they’d have some better solutions and methods than i could ever think of. I also wonder about other sources of ammonia. I know broken fridges and cleaners can be a source but i wonder what else.


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    I’m convinced now. I have a cat also, and make water in the same room as the litter box. So I just did my own experiment. I left an uncovered 16oz sample of freshly mixed water right next to the litter box over night... sure enough it measured .2 ammonia. I then measured the water in my mixing brute that i keep covered with a lid, and it was still 0. Could just be the difference of water volume in sample containers. The brute lid is nowhere near an airtight fit, but I’ve always kept my water covered (mostly for the cat hair and dust), and have never noticed any issues.


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    Wow do you see any issues in your tank? I’ve had shrimp die, snails don’t last long, and a lot of hair algae. How far do you keep your tank from the boxes?


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion


    I’d still be interested to see if those results would be the same with water from another source other than your tap. I could be totally wrong... but you’ve peaked my curiosity.


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    I can redo the experiment with some bottled water or any other water but i performed the same mason jar experiment downstairs, outside, in the basement, in the garage, and in my room and it only acquired ammonia in my room. It’s definitely a weird phenomena to wrap your mind around, took 2 years of an algae filled tank to figure out.


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    How is your tank doing now?
     
    I too had the algae die-off and have the cyano now. I haven't bothered doing any chemical tests because it is rather obvious what is going on in the tank. Basically, the tank is in the end of a very long, drawn-out cycling process, with the chemistry of algae die-off to complicate the situation. Since any damage was already done, I've been kind of letting the tank go through the process without going overboard on water changes, thinking too much of that would be more of an interference than a help. I just can't put anything new in the tank for a while that wants perfect conditions. I thought about setting up a temp tank for new stuff, if I want anything from ff.
     
     


    I fostered some kittens in the adjacent room(i couldnt help myself) so the algae came back in strength and is now dying off and clogging filters this week. I havent done any chemical stuff either and am just keeping an eye on it while it goes through the uglies. Soon I’ll start up frequent water changes and hopefully it will look a little more normal. But for now it still looks like a dumpster fire. Im not super hopeful though. Of the 3 years I’ve had this tank it has just never been algae free, not even algae-low. 7a57fc9e7a1993b27e4b2997a8e2be42.jpg
    Link & Zelda the foster kittens


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    The GHA has steadily been dying but it’s been raising phosphates and covering everything in cyano. Waterchange is currently in progress and i just took out probably 4 cups of decaying algae. After this entire ordeal, most of my lps is dead, a green pocci colony is mostly dead, and my gorgonians have dead tips. Still have my leathers, monti caps, cespitularia, alveopora, and some little unhappy frags. Oh and all my rock flower anemones but none of my small BTAs :(

    Survival of the fittest, unfortunately.



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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

     
    My tank looks the same as this.
     
    I couldn't do anything with salt water for a while due to an allergic reaction on my hands. But when I eventually tested my unused water, it had ammonia in it. I bought some ammonia sponge stuff so the test then read zero - there wasn't any point in making all new saltwater when the water in the tank was (presumably) also taking in ammonia , but I didn't want to add ammonia (the tank reading was zero, due to the usual biological process). I discovered some spots where it turns out cat was peeing in secret, put an end to that nonsense.
     
    Hopefully I can get my tank back on track too, which could have started happening sooner if it weren't for me being allergic to the steering wheel of my car.
     
     
     
     
     
     



    Allergies are the worst. I’ve been getting random hives for the last couple years during any season. Weirdly enough after a couple months with the litter box out of my adjacent room, my flimsy fingernails are now super hard?? Not sure if it’s related at all but supposedly ammonia weakens nails.

    My cat is 14 and has little patience for walking down the hall to use the litterbox. I’ve had to be super vigilant of any kind of fabric on the floor. If you have carpet and your cat has been peeing there, you should look in to checking the wood underneath. It soaks into it and never leaves.

    Where did you get the ammonia sponge? Is it something you can put into the tank?


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    Over the last few months I’ve only done one water change and a lot of pulling out hair algae. It hasn’t seemed worth it to do more water changes because there’s still ammonia registering in the sitting water even if only for a day(much lower than before, however). The hair algae i pulled grew back in full in a week. In the last couple days there has been a decent sized die off of hair algae that has clogged my overflow a few times. Unfortunately this came right before leaving for vacation so I’m not sure what it looks like at the moment. I’m assuming this might be because the ammonia has finally dissipated. Will update you guys when I’m back in a week.


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    2fcc4430790e28a5a7234d372106a1b6.jpg
    Open air tap water test 4/25 exposed 24+ hours
    6a30a573e8164a71fd0c7db2a186faf0.jpg
    Fresh tap water for comparison

    Still a little lingering ammonia after moving the litter box to the other end of the hall. Not sure of the cause, i wouldve thought there would be none after a few days. This is much easier to work with than the high ppm ammonia that i had before though. It takes longer for any to get into the water and it’s in small concentrations so hopefully another week and there won’t be any.
    Tank looks same as before except i removed probably a pound of algae. I think it’s more worth it to water change now since the ammonia concentration is so low so I’ll start that. A lot of algae has detached from rock and is clogging my water intake grate and back compartments. I don’t know if that’s a by product of me loosening it manually or less ammonia content in the air.


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    Air is still registering ammonia with the mason jar test. Will move litter box further and retest after airing the place out. It registers less ammonia than before though. This does hinder my water change plans :(


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    I used fluxanole (used for battling parasites in Fish) to kill off bryopsis in my tank. It worked like magic and it killed off the small amount of GHA I had too. My Coral and fish didn't seem to even notice it was in my tank.

    I'd do some research before using it though, if you decide to go that route. If all the algae in your tank dies off at once and you aren't removing it/ reoxygenating the water, you could have far worse problems.



    -A-a-ron




    I have tried flux before but it only worked briefly before it all came back bc there was still a problem with ammonia. I think I’ll try doing the regular route and then resort to flux if it’s dire. Thanks for the suggestion!


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    Looks like most of your livestock should be hardy enough for a large (e.g 50%) water change. Just match temp and salinity before the change. Then go on a regular weekly water changes . I agree You can manually remove the hair algae and vacuum the sand bed. I would avoid any quick fix algae killers if it were my tank. Let the algae consume the excess nutrients and it will eventually starve itself out. Are you running a refugium or scrubber/reactor? It will help in the long run as well.
     
     


    I’m not running any scrubber or reactor, it’s just very hard for me to put in on an AIO tank. Also i will avoid the quick fixes- if tried them all and they’ve never worked for long. Thanks for the recommendation!


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    Now that I’ve figured out the source of my ammonia and seemingly resolved that problem with the special cat litter(the air test hasn’t register anything for a week), I’m going to try and bring this tank back from the brink. I know i said i had algae problems but i really meant it:
    513fe6f30d560e1dfa81b39552bcae28.jpg
    Over the next month i will be preforming aggressive waterchanges and removing as much algae as possible. Probably vacuum the sand bed. Am i missing anything? Do you guys recommend one large water change or constant medium or small ones?
    (This is a 36 gallon tank btw)

    Thanks!




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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    I can't tell if it's 5 or 10 or what, but I can see that it's non-zero. So that confirms your earlier tests.


    I think its 5 max maybe a bit under 5. Have to redo when it’s bright daylight out. Just got the special kitty litter. Will retest after use. Maybe also the mason jar test I’m not a big fan of these strips.


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    Ammonia airtest downstairs away from litterbox:

    26706b745ce871ab3398a05cece8b41b.jpg2e96c1552462591523a47c03ef710932.jpg

    Ammonia test in room with litterbox:

    b6e34b825717d7e188bc467f1f7318ea.jpg9ca6a31a501ea68d79a52a4b45b410dd.jpg

    The color isn’t as distinct as i want it to be but it’s really used for high level measurement which i didnt realize.

     

     

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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    The air filters designed for removing ammonia are embedded with carbon, alumina, and potassium permanganate. The machines are exceedingly expensive. There are some HVAC unit filters  that are still around $100 just for one, so I will keep looking for something cheaper that will fit the unit.


    Yikes. This kitty litter is x2 as expensive as regular litter. Will let you know how it works for me.


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    It seems those lady palm plants are really expensive. I'm trying to find some other good ammonia eaters that are not toxic to cats because my cats eat my plants.
     
    I think in this airborne ammonia situation, the algae growth in the tanks is quite ironically a good thing. Algae uses up ammonia more easily/faster than nirate, so it is keeping everything else in the tanks from dying of ammonia toxicity.
     
     
     


    For ammonia eating plants i feel like you can’t be sure the plant would absorb it before it diffused into water. Especially if no other method is going to be used.

    I have buckets of hair algae in my tank and a decently large clam so I’m sure that’s where all the ammonia that gets into my tank goes to.

    I absolutely cannot wait to see what fixing this problem will do for my reef tank :)


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    WELL I can thank you, Mari, for your thread because I finally just now got around to testing my clean water and it does have ammonia in it.
     
    It must be ventilation for me, because I did not have this problem in my old place where I had 3 cats not just the 2 that are here. Here, there is only one window in the main area, which is a sliding glass door that has no screen component so I don't leave it open (cats will run out and bugs will fly in). I better solve that ventilation problem then see what happen. I am going to buy some kind of ammonia media to use while I am trying to get the airborne ammonia problem solved.
     
    I wonder how many other people out there are also having this issue behind their aquarium woes. I always associate poor ventilation with pH problems, but would never have guessed this ammonia situation.
     
    Maybe we need a sticky post on the effects of air quality components on water quality  and the potential associated issues (like low pH, algae, and others). The post would need to include some air quality control solutions.


    Wow! the cats and ventilation seem to be the answer. I’m looking at this litter called Lucy Pet Cats Incredible litter that claims to prevent ammonia gas for 10 days after cat has used the litter. Looks pretty reputable but I’ll order it and test with my air ammonia test kit every few days to see how effective it really is.

    I’m glad this frustrating question has helped someone else, though!


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

     
    Yep, and I am pretty sure one of them peed a few times in a sump I used to have (can't get to the current ones).


    That’s so weird. My old cat used to poop in the toilet unprompted though so i guess its not that weird.


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    Can trash bins leach ammonia?

    in General Discussion

    Most likely the cat box/ soiled areas and/or the combination of  black mold is to blame for NH3 spike. Ventilation is only a band aid. Get a UV light find the area and clean/ neutralize it. Remediate the mold (very important) and get a lid for the brute.
    I find it interesting that no one has asked what the repercussions are regarding  the elevated NH3 level.
     


    I’ll go around with a black light just to see. And this isn’t really a “spike” I’ve been dealing with relentless hair algae for this tanks entire life. I’ve lost one fish to mystery illness and have had to do many emergency water changes because my clowns display symptoms of ammonia poisoning(usually right after a different water change because the old water accumulated ammonia,much to my confusion.) The repercussions are dead sticks, buckets of HA removal, a whole lot of confusion, and a general lack of enthusiasm for the hobby. It’s very hard to see something I love just be a box of filth. Oh and lots of dead snails. They die off.


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