ammonia spike ?

[tropicalfishlady]

Hi all,could i ask a question to anyone who has any advice please
To cut a long story short,i had a mini cycle as i added too many fish at once :-( i lost my fish so it was a steep learning curve.
I have one surviving corydoras and he is fine by the way,so tank has just cycled again,you know the way ammonia up then nitrite up and it came down,ive done 3 tests and all were zero except nitrate 5.0 ppm

Its a 10 gallon soon to be home for a Crowntail Betta,i have real plants.
All was good and tests were good 3 times in a row but i thought give it to this week to make sure all stays stabe and todays tests are :
Ammonia-0.25 ppm
Nitrite-0ppm
Nitrate-0ppm
Ph-6
Last 3 times ph has been 6.4
My.tap water is neutral straight out of tap,i always struggle to keep Ph up a bit more,ive used Ph up before but it ends up low again :-/

Question is sorry about all the words !!!
Why has my Ammonia spiked a bit again,was going get my Betta but not with ammonia spike.
Ive done a couple of water changes

 

[Rivercats]

Try testing your tap water to see if it has ammonia. Also what is your substrate? Chemicals don't work but you can take a knee hi nylon and put a tiny amount of crushed coral in it and put it in your tank. Since I know the tank is alittle bigger than our US 10g don't use much to start. Then monitor your Ph everyday for a week or two and then adjust the amount of crushed coral needed accordingly. Your actually lucky to have softer neutral water, mines so hard the ph is over 9!

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Try testing your tap water to see if it has ammonia. Also what is your substrate? Chemicals don't work but you can take a knee hi nylon and put a tiny amount of crushed coral in it and put it in your tank. Since I know the tank is alittle bigger than our US 10g don't use much to start. Then monitor your Ph everyday for a week or two and then adjust the amount of crushed coral needed accordingly. Your actually lucky to have softer neutral water, mines so hard the ph is over 9!

I tested my tapwater for ammonia a bit back at it has none in,i think.im goin have to do the crushed corl thing as i seem.to remember ive always had a bit of a prob with low ph in tank,i actually just found out about crushed coral as ive always just used PH Up by api other times,omg 9 Ph !!!! Yes im in a soft water area,i used to have tetras and cory so south american fish like a low ph,but was worrying a bit with the Betta although the range given is 6 to 8 i think,do you think 6 is too low for betta Rivercats and thanks fot your reply.
I.was looking forward to getting My Crowntail in and settled before xmas but not with a 0.25 ammonia reading,i have a seachem ammonia alert in and that says safe,and i think they supposed to be reliable ?

 

[tropicalfishlady]

I tested my tapwater for ammonia a bit back at it has none in,i think.im goin have to do the crushed corl thing as i seem.to remember ive always had a bit of a prob with low ph in tank,i actually just found out about crushed coral as ive always just used PH Up by api other times,omg 9 Ph !!!! Yes im in a soft water area,i used to have tetras and cory so south american fish like a low ph,but was worrying a bit with the Betta although the range given is 6 to 8 i think,do you think 6 is too low for betta Rivercats and thanks fot your reply.
I.was looking forward to getting My Crowntail in and settled before xmas but not with a 0.25 ammonia reading,i have a seachem ammonia alert in and that says safe,and i think they supposed to be reliable ?

Ps my substrate is sand

 

[Rivercats]

The problem is its getting close to the point where the beneficial bacteria becomes less efficient at colonizing and converting at lower pH levels. At 6.5 you'll have the potential to see a slow down, but if it drops considerably below 6 there is the good possibility of all nitrification stopping entirely. The fish can adjust but I'm more concerned with the BB. If you could just get it to stablize around 6.6-6.8 using a small amount of crushed coral you might also see your ammonia problem go away. Is that ammonia alert one of those stick on ones? If so I don't think they are very reliable, not like a liquid test kit reliable.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

The problem is its getting close to the point where the beneficial bacteria becomes less efficient at colonizing and converting at lower pH levels. At 6.5 you'll have the potential to see a slow down, but if it drops considerably below 6 there is the good possibility of all nitrification stopping entirely. The fish can adjust but I'm more concerned with the BB. If you could just get it to stablize around 6.6-6.8 using a small amount of crushed coral you might also see your ammonia problem go away. Is that ammonia alert one of those stick on ones? If so I don't think they are very reliable, not like a liquid test kit reliable.

Thanks Rivercats,god i didn't think about my bb,i have mopani wood tht cud be lowering ph as i say i used to have tetras and cory's,wood was well boiled and soaked but it will still leak small amounts of tannins i would think,ive just ordered some crushed coral cos i need a stable ph higher than 6,ive coped so far dosing with API's ph up.thx for advice i really appreciate,its took a long time but im getting to.understand water chemistry better all the time,with help from good people like yourself and im always greatful.
This tank has been my most successful when i had the tetras and cory's until i changed species and caused the mini cycle by adding too many fish :-/ so this time with my Betta i want to get it right for him

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Thanks Rivercats,god i didn't think about my bb,i have mopani wood tht cud be lowering ph as i say i used to have tetras and cory's,wood was well boiled and soaked but it will still leak small amounts of tannins i would think,ive just ordered some crushed coral cos i need a stable ph higher than 6,ive coped so far dosing with API's ph up.thx for advice i really appreciate,its took a long time but im getting to.understand water chemistry better all the time,with help from good people like yourself and im always greatful.
This tank has been my most successful when i had the tetras and cory's until i changed species and caused the mini cycle by adding too many fish :-/ so this time with my Betta i want to get it right for him

PS.it is a stick.on it alerts you to free ammonia supposedly,as little as 0.02,like an early warning but don't worry i have API master kit and always have done,i just got it to alert early before it gets too bad,some sat they reliable others don't

 

[Rivercats]

Just remember with having a little tank only start out with a really small amount of CC. You don't want to the tank raising too much too quickly. You'll probably have to add a touch bit at a time until you get the ph where you want it.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Just remember with having a little tank only start out with a really small amount of CC. You don't want to the tank raising too much too quickly. You'll probably have to add a touch bit at a time until you get the ph where you want it.

Ok brilliant thx mate i appreciate the help,i didn't know about crushed coral until i came on here,i always wondered why i could never stabalise it and the importance of stable ph,i know though not to adjust it too fast,i do have a cory left in my tank and don't want to shock him,ill try and raise it again slowly with the ph up until my coral comes thanks again mate

 

[Rivercats]

Let me know how it finally works out.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Let me know how it finally works out.

I will do thanks again,my bag of crushed coral should be here tomorrow or monday

 

[Rivercats]

Remember just a touch to start as crushed coral can really up a ph if too much is used.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Remember just a touch to start as crushed coral can really up a ph if too much is used.

Ok thank you ill remember.
Do i just place bag of it anywhere it tank ? Cheers

 

[Rivercats]

It works best if it can be in your filter or hanging in front of the filter outflow but if those aren't an option then just dropping it in the tank will work. It will just take longer thats all.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

It works best if it can be in your filter or hanging in front of the filter outflow but if those aren't an option then just dropping it in the tank will work. It will just take longer thats all.

Ahhh right,i.don't think it would fit in my filter as its 3 way filtration,got 3 cartridges in there,i cud hang it near outflow cheers

 

[tropicalfishlady]

It works best if it can be in your filter or hanging in front of the filter outflow but if those aren't an option then just dropping it in the tank will work. It will just take longer thats all.

Hi Rivercats,got my crushed Coral,took some tank water out added a teaspoon of coral just to see what happened,water went very alkaline 7.6 so but a 1/4 of the coral in the nylon sock bit and could not get into.filter,didn't think i would cos not enough room,so hung it near outflow so see what happens cheers !!!

 

[Rivercats]

Hi Rivercats,got my crushed Coral,took some tank water out added a teaspoon of coral just to see what happened,water went very alkaline 7.6 so but a 1/4 of the coral in the nylon sock bit and could not get into.filter,didn't think i would cos not enough room,so hung it near outflow so see what happens cheers !!!

It would go very alkaline very quickly due to the small amount of water. It will go slower in more water but still that is what I said start with a small amount and go from there. Let me know how things go but test daily to be sure its not raising too fast.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

It would go very alkaline very quickly due to the small amount of water. It will go slower in more water but still that is what I said start with a small amount and go from there. Let me know how things go but test daily to be sure its not raising too fast.

Yeah i gathered that just thought i would see what it did lol,ive put v.small amount in,ill let you know how it goes,thanks again because.if this will keep it stable where i want it it will he great,the amount.of times ive had to keep using Ph Up !!!
Ph was always the one that had me worried trying to keep.it right for fish,i did know about keeping it steady cos fish don't like up and dwn swings but i didn't know the effect on BB so much thanks for that

 

[tropicalfishlady]

It would go very alkaline very quickly due to the small amount of water. It will go slower in more water but still that is what I said start with a small amount and go from there. Let me know how things go but test daily to be sure its not raising too fast.

Hi Rivercats,thanks again for all your help with my low PH, can i ask you a couple of more questions if thts ok thanks:
My filter is a Fluval U2 and ive been having a read up more on PH and on some forums people have said about carbon not helping about low ph and my filter does have 2 poly/carbon foams in as well as sponge foams and plus i do have a peice of mopani wood in there ive had in a couple of year now and ive seen people advise on taking it out,mine now has a really lovely Java Fern on it i grew on the wood and i would like to leave in if i can.
After 1st small amount if CC it went up to 6.4 but had to do a decent w/c change yesterday as ammonia has crept up a bit more and now this morning its back to 6,oh lord this water is the bane of my life at moment lol :-/

 

[Rivercats]

The amount of tiny carbon in those filter pads aren't going to have any great impact IMO. The reason carbon isn't used in planted tanks is because it can remove some minerals we dose in our ferts. I seriously wouldn't worry about it.

As for the wood, if it isn't leeching tannins then again I wouldn't remove it. Now if you have a big ole piece in a small tank then maybe I'd think about removing it.

Well it just shows you are going to need alot more CC to get your Ph up. I'd go ahead and double what's in there now and just keep repeating the process until you get to the reading you want.