Established tank having an ammonia issue.

[splintercat]

My tank is having an issue with ammonia right now.
I have a 10 gallon tank with 5 juvi cories in it. It has been established for almost a year. Tank parameters are stable except for the ammonia - 0-10 nitrates, 0 nitrites - but I have a low ph - it hovers around 6.
The tank is currently running an aquaclear 30 and a whisper 5-15 and is quite heavily planted with black sand as a substrate.

When I first noticed the problem maybe 2 months ago there was only the whisper 5-15 on the tank. Then I noticed I was starting to get ammonia readings and realized my filter wasn't running at it's fullest capacity. I took it apart and cleaned it and added a bunch of ceramic rings in addition to the foam insert for it. It started running better. There is no carbon in the filter.
The ammonia issue didn't subside so about 5-6 weeks ago I bought an aquaclear 30 to add to it cause I figured 5 cories, even though they're juveniles, is pushing the limit for a 10g and figured I needed more filtration eventually anyway. The aquaclear has foam and ceramic rings (that I stole from my established 29g) in it as well.

I change the water every couple days because the ammonia levels get to .5 - 1 in just a couple days. The 29g uses the same tap water during water changes and has no ammonia.
There are no dead plants or fish in the tank. I had a clump of moss I thought might be collecting debris but rinse it out with water changes. I stopped dosing everything about a month ago (excel, flourish, and iron) because someone mentioned excel might be adding to the ammonia issue.
I'll attach a picture of my (overgrown) tank if it will help. The water's a bit cloudy in the pic cause I just finished a water change.

 

[LostInFish]

My guess would be you did not have enough filtration in the beginning and over time feeding to much May have started this ammonia problem. You have added another filter so hopefully in a little time it will cycle and the problem will go away. In the mean time feed sparingly and do PWC when needed. I have had a similar experience on my 150 gallon discus tank and it seems to be feeding a little less and more filtration has done the trick. Just my thoughts. It could be something else like overstocked as fish are growing larger. Either way good luck ...

 

[tnfinfan]

Were you using any root tabs?

 

[LostInFish]

No tabs or fertz

 

[tnfinfan]

I meant the question for the op.

I'm guessing surfaced tab or disturbing a gas pocket in the sand during cleaning.

 

[LostInFish]

Oh my bad.

 

[Mifsud]

Do you use the Aquaclear to introduce oxygen into the water? Or do you have your tank filled to the brim so the filter does not disturb the water's surface. (Sometimes planted folks do this to keep CO2 dissolved in the water)

Its true that the established bacteria in your tank can convert ammonia into nitrite, but they can only do so if there is oxygen available in the environment. You can't oxidize ammonia without oxygen.

If you allow the Aquaclear to cascade bubbles into the water, you'll provide your bacteria some oxygen to oxidize the ammonia with.

 

[splintercat]

Hey, both filters have been going at least 5-6 weeks and both have media from my established 29 gallon and so should be cycled. I feed 3-4 shrimp pellets per day (split between 5juvi cories), some days they get blood worms instead, so I don't think I'm over feeding.

yes I do use root tabs (these ones, specifically).

Both filters should be introducing air bubbles, since the tank has no lid the water evaporates fairly quickly and I'm not as on top of top ups as I should be.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I think your PH may be a little low. At a PH of 6, your beneficial bacteria aren't doing too much, and can actually start to die off. Add some crushed coral to help buffer your PH up a little bit. You can still keep it acidic if you want, just don't use much coral.

 

[splintercat]

I thought about adding some crushed coral (added a handful to my 29 and its hovering at about 7) but someone else advised me: "do not raise your ph over 7. Ammonia converts to ammonium at ph under 7 which is considerably less toxic to fish. While bacteria might form faster at ph over 7 the stress from the now potent ammonia might do more harm" so I've been holding off adding it.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Lower PH helps ease the ammonias punch, but your bacteria stop functioning at around 6. If your tank hovers at 6, the bacteria cannot do their jobs as well and hence extra ammonia.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[enrgizerbunny]

To protect your fish, perform daily water changes to control the ammonia until your bacteria catches up again.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[splintercat]

cool, thanks so much I'll give it a try!

 

[tnfinfan]

A pH of 6 won't kill all the bacteria but it does diminish effectiveness and you're at greater risk of a pH crash that will harm the filter since pH continues to drop from accumulated wastes. You're in a bit of a bind because stirring up the bottom can cause trouble (especially with ammoniacal nitrate fertilizer down there) but not stirring it causes wastes to accumulate.

I think changing a little water often is a sound plan to both control ammonia and nudge the pH back up. I also think you need to start a cleaning effort to gradually get accumulated wastes out of the sand. I know it looks clean but you might be surprised by how much stuff accumulates below the surface. Look up old tank syndrome.

 

[splintercat]

I thought there might be a bit of build up in the sand, but I'm pretty sure I have a few trumpet snails rummaging through there so was hoping they'd be shifting through the sand breaking up anaerobic pockets, but I haven't seen them in a while so I think I might start shifting through it myself slowly. I'll add a bit of crushed coral and see if I can get it to stabilize a bit higher... I had to do that with my 29 I guess my tap water has a low pH.

Sent from my ME302C using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[tnfinfan]

You said the water was cloudy after your water change? I'm guessing that was all from the sand being disturbed a little. I was floored the first time I took down what I thought was a clean tank for moving and saw how much rinsing the gravel needed before I set it back up.

BTW, snails don't do well in soft, acidic water. They need calcium for their shells and those shells will slowly dissolve just like the coral you're adding to help harden the water a bit. Were you using any gh booster in your fertilizer routine? I know MTS tend to be active at night and burrow during the day so their absence or diminishing numbers would be easy to miss. You may want to shine a light in the late evening and see what sort of activity level you have. Decaying, dead snails would obviously be detrimental to the water quality, too.

Honestly, if it were my tank, I'd get out the big ice chest. Move the fish and plants and most of the water there. Use another container for any found snails so they could be evaluated for viability before returning. Then, I'd go to town cleaning the sand. Once the stirring isn't bringing up cloudiness, then set the tank back up but keep 75% of the water the fish are in so you don't shock them with too much change at once. Then, go with regular, weekly water changes. That's really the only cure for old tank syndrome.

 

[splintercat]

yeah I notice sediment builds up on the leaves of my plants after just a couple days, I'm thinking a major contribution might be the Wardley shrimp pellets I've been feeding? It wasn't until after I'd started using them that I read its not a good brand. I'm stopping using them now and might just try what you suggested (removing the fish and stirring it all up... Shouldn't be too tough in a 10g)
I wasn't really paying too much attention to the snails since they were hitchhikers on some plants but I probably should be more sensitive to their needs since I've got the sand substrate they're more important that I've given them credit for. I'll try lure them out at night and see if I've got any left.
I also just got a gh/kh test kit, I haven't been doing much in the way of controlling for that so I'll test my water and see what I'm dealing with.