What to do with high level of Ammonia in my tank.?

Question

I have a 50 gal tank, I have 50 pounds of live rock and 50 pounds of live sands in there for a month already. I just put 25 snails and 25 hermit crabs inside yesterday. they are all tank cleaners. I just did another ammonia test today, and it's about 0.8! what should i do? if I add Kent ammonia detox now, would that harm my tank cleaners?

No fish at all in the tank, just 25 hermit crab and 25 snails. haven't feed them anything yet.

Answer 1

>if I add Kent ammonia detox now, would that harm my tank >cleaners?
No this will convert the toxic NH3 ammonia to much less toxic NH4 ammonium.
This of coarse is only a temporary fix and your need to reduce your bio load (by reducing your snails and hermit crabs if possible) and jump start your nitrogen cycle by the addition of "seasoned" filter media and/or live rock.

I recommend reading this article about the aquarium nitrogen cycle for more information:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html

Answer 2

Hi there! I have been in this situation many times and have been dealing with fish, crabs, frogs...you name it! Usually high ammonia levels are caused by too much waist in the tank or overfeeding. You can purchase an ammonia detox kit at the pet store. It will not harm your crabs or snails....but not fixing the problem could kill them. High levels of ammonia are pretty serious....if you have questions...I would suggest a well known Pet store and talk to a fish expert there...they will tell you exactly what to do. Good luck!

Answer 3

you should have added the live stock slower than 50 animals at a time. that spiked your ammonia, and now your pets are living in a toxic mess. read the bottle to see if the chemical is safe for inverts, if so, add some, and remove some of the inverts and take them back to the store.

Answer 4

sounds like you have too many fish for the tank. do a 3/4 water change and start over, stop feeding so much food as well and the problem will resolve.