Help Ammonia reading off the chart!!!

[NewReefer]

I have a 50g corner thank,
eheim canister filter.
24" Coralife Aqualight Pro 150W HQI Metal Halide with 2X65W PC and 2 LEDS.
Two koralia pumps 2 and 3.
and a skimmer.
1 leather coral
1 pink tip anemone
1 GSP
1 yellow gorgonian coral


The tank was doing great then last week i notice my anemone started to look pretty bad like on thursday. friday, saturday and sunday i made a new stand for the thank so i cleaned it up and chaged about 90% of the water tested every thing and was perfect then thursday this week i notice that some of my corals did not look to happy so i tested the water again and to my surprice , the ammonia was top of the chart maximun on my test kit witch is 8 for the ammonia. the nitrite was 0 the ph was good at 8.2 and the nitrates were high at about 25, i look for my anemone that i found dead behind some rocks and removed it asap, then i went to get water at scripps, did a 50% water change and tested and i got the same readings,i added ammo lock to protect my fish and streess zyme. i also tested the water before it went in to the tank and was perfect so is not the water or the test kit, today friday the 18th i did another 50% water change and tested and got about the same results, nitrite 0, ph 8.2,nitrate went down to about 20 and ammonia is about 7.5, im doing another 50% water change tomorrow morning, im gonna clean up my canister filter,vacuum the gravel and retest.
i would think that with 2 50% water changes i would notice a big change in the readings but i guess not could it be that it was just so high. by the way my fish seem to be doing just fine, and my pink tip anemone is doing great too, my GSP dont look to happy since i notice the high ammonia. any comments or help im desperate here thanks.
my GSP has not come out, and my gorgonian coral either how do i know im they died too?

[GrantMBrady]

how long have you had your tank up?

[Direct Marine]

go to the store and buy a product called PRIME by SEACHEM. This product will detoxify ammonia and nitrate untill you can figure out whats the problem

look for it at PETCO, dose 4X the normal dosage

I would guess that you may have some rotting coral / fish somewhere in youre tank

[BigAir]

The 90% water change didn't help the issue, and neither do the 50% changes that were done. Right off the bat, you took almost all of the beneficial bacteria out of the tank when you did the huge 90% water change while changing stands.

[NewReefer]

Thanks guys the tank is 1 y.o.
(bigair) that could be truth if my anemone died after the 90% water change and contaminated the water and the tanks beneficial bacteria was almost gone because the 90% water change.

im doing another 50% water change now, and cleaning up my filter and gravel, im also going to some my fish and corals out of the sick tank, until it is sable again, ill keep you guys posted thanks again.

[RussM]

Stop the large water changes... now! Your tank will keep re-cycling, which will keep the ammonia levels elevated. Use an ammonia-neutralizing additive as was already suggested, or carbon and ChemiPure. Look for anything that is decaying, and remove it. Do *small* incremental water changes every few days.

[NewReefer]

i did one more water change and looked for dead stuff nothing exept for one little crap, the anemone that had died was removed the first day, nothing else is dead the ammonia neutralizer is in,i have to get some stress zyme with live bacteria to help, and ill just keep an eye on it, and stop the large water changes, what should i do with the corals would it be safe to keep them in there or should i keep em out of the thank for now.

[BigAir]

How does each coral look? Some will take the shock better than others, it is amazing how tuff some corals can be. Where are you located? Someone myself included may be willing to hold the corals for you till the tank stabilizes and they recover.

Keep any and all water changes to no more than 10-15% per week max, unless you have a major pollution, then do 10% twice a week and run carbon.

[NewReefer]

the corals look ok now exept for the GSP that is kind of hiding a lot, the weird thing is that the purple tip anemone is doing great since the ammonia got out of wack it seems that is almost bigger now? well the readings drop a little from this morning already so i guess thats a good thing it freaked me out but its a learning experince. thanks for the support once everything gets better ill be taking some pics and posting them, i have to work on my cam skills lol

[xrated]

i had a high reading tonight and jehremy from direct marine texted me and told me to get the same stuff. so I am going to in the a.m. and hopefully that helps. My paly's,new gsp from him have yet to come out...I did find out that my chocolate starfish had died somehow....i removed him too....any ideas Y??

[BigAir]

Right off the bat, CC starts are not reef safe. May have died due to lack of food for it.

[xrated]

Right off the bat, CC starts are not reef safe. May have died due to lack of food for it.

He was eating little bits of food and some silver sides when the eel didnt get it. Had him for over 4 months. My snails die almost with in a day or two also....Is this due to the ammonia spike also?? My hermits never had any issues at all.

[BigAir]

Quite possibly.

[xrated]

hmmm.. I went and bought a small bottle of ammonia detoxifier that Jerehmy posted up. he is going to do a tank clean for me in a week or so

[NewReefer]

my thank is doing better my GSP's are coming out now little by little.
yehhh:)

[xrated]

mine (newer) and my paly's are being a lil shy still....my original gsp's are coming out

[xrated]

lost my grouper overnight... :( loved that fish...he wouldnt eat after I got him 2 weeks ago and on his right side, looked like a sore of some kind...grrrr..