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Post by jokerls240 on May 29, 2010 14:37:24 GMT -6
I haven't been testing the water quality in my 55 for a while now. Lately, I've had problems with a small, nickle-sized black angel not eating flakes, so I started feeding frozen BBS. Well, the usual mistake of overfeeding has led to an ammonia spike and drastic drop in pH. The API master kit is reading pH of 6.0 or less (6.0 is the lowest on the scale) and ammonia was in the middle range - I was too freaked out to see what the actual level was on the chart.
Last night, I did a 10-15% water change, and today changed about 25%. I'm out of test tubes, so I'm making a quick shopping list before running out to the LFS.
A quarantine tank is definitely needed right now, so a small or medium sized underwater filter is needed along w/ a sponge filter. Since I don't have time to colonize the sponge filter, I need some quick ammonia fixes. Also how could I go about slowly increasing the pH? Should I double-dose some Stress Coat for now?
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Post by mruble on May 29, 2010 15:31:42 GMT -6
Use an ammonia lock in the tank, then continue with daily water changes.
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Post by jokerls240 on May 29, 2010 15:46:30 GMT -6
Thanks for the tip! I didn't think about ammo lock.  |
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angel
FORUM BEGINNER
My Husband's A Birdbrain
Posts: 40
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Post by angel on May 29, 2010 16:27:22 GMT -6
Just remember ammolock doesn't eliminate the problem, just the temporary emergency. You'll still be cycling. Extra air. And all those fish are too big for baby brine shrimp. You should feed them regular brine shrimp or bloodworms for live treats. They wouldnt find all the small pieces of BBS.
Hang in there!
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Post by jokerls240 on May 29, 2010 18:30:05 GMT -6
I'm staying on top of it. I just replaced some of the carbon in the canister filter, added the recommended amount of Ammo-Lock, and will continue with the water changes. The fish are eating the majority of the frozen brine shrimp (thawed in a small cup of tank water). I'm hoping that the cories are finding the leftovers.
So just daily 25% water changes and tests?
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Post by bunnie1978 on May 30, 2010 9:57:24 GMT -6
Plants love ammonia.
The fact that it has accumulated in the tank tells me that the plants have been prevented from absorbing it.
Care to hazard a guess why?
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Post by jokerls240 on May 30, 2010 10:14:30 GMT -6
Not sure why the plants aren't soaking up the ammonia. Maybe lack of CO2 injection. I bought some Flourish Excel yesterday and did the initial dose of 5mL/10g, then the regular 5mL/50g. Also changed a 6700K bulb to a Coralife 10,000K to go w/ the Actinic blue. I'm seeing a lot of new, bright green growth from the wisterias now.
I haven't tested the water this morning, but all of the fish are beathing easy now. Last night's pH test showed it starting to rise to about 6.4. That was about 2-3 hours after adding ammo-lock and fresh carbon. Will check the ammonia and nitrite levels today before the water change.
I'm thinking the excess ammonia was caused mostly by reducing the flow in the Fluval 305. So when I added the fresh carbon to it, I increased the flow, but its output nozzle creates too strong of a current for the angels. I'll try repositioning it, as it's creating one area of heavy flow and a slight dead zone at the other end of the tank.
A spray bar mod is on my to-do list - just have to find out what the right size PVC pipe would be and how big I should drill the hoses. Will post that in the DIY area.
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Post by bunnie1978 on May 30, 2010 10:19:32 GMT -6
When you do CO2, you'll be better off with the 6700k and the 10kk.
Plants will grow in proportion to the nutrient in least supply - which wasn't N (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)
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