High ammonia levels in saltwater tank

Question
Hi David,

We started a saltwater aquarium last year in May and just started off with setting up water after about 2 months we added live rock and 2 fish. The fish died within 5 days so we bought more rock and waited for about 3 months before trying to add fish again. This time we used bio booster when we added the fish and I did the drip method to acclimate the fish. All seemed to be going well and just as we were about to the 2 week mark of the fish doing well, one died. The other 2 seemed to be doing fine and then all of a sudden a week later, the showed sudden signs of ammonia poisoning. We tested the water and sure enough ammonia levels were extremely high. we cleaned the filter right away and added ammo lock, but the next day it was too late, the last 2 fish died. We changed 20 gallons of water in our 90 gallon tank and treated the tank with Ammonia Clear Tank Buddies, but still have high ammonia levels and now the hermit crabs have died too. What should we do now and does the high ammonia levels affect the live rock?

Answer
Hi Lisa,

At this time, I would recommend doing another water change of 20%, using reverse osmosis water (always), along with adding a liquid beneficial bacteria like Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter 7, or TLC StartSmart Complete. The addition of the liquid beneficial bacteria will rapidly help to colonize your existing beneficial bacteria, thus helping to get those ammonia levels down.

Following this, let your aquarium run for a couple of weeks, then test your aquarium's ammonia level. If all water parameters look well, you should be able to starting adding marine life once again.

However make sure to always thoroughly test your water parameters first before adding marine life.

Regards,
Dave