Help, My tank is crashing!!!! Emergency!

[Rocket2001]

I need help from some experts and quick! My tank is crashing, I have a 120gal freshwater tank with a 7-8 in Red Devil, a 4in Jack Dempsey and a 12+in Pleco. The water parameters have gone off the scale.

Ammonia is over 8.0, I cant get a true reading because the chart goes only to 8.0
Nitrates are ok at 20ppm
Nitrites are 0
but Total Alk= 0
and ph is <6.4 (once again off the chart)

Heres the whole story....This tank has been set up for quite a while...it was established. My all-glass fluorescent bulb burned out and I replaced it with a standard 48in florescent tube (is this ok?) Soon after I notice a bit of an algea build up. i figured this was due to the new bulb being brighter since they were brand new.
The algea wasnt a problem but then I noticed a strange smell coming from the tank. I did a 25% water change and that didn't help so I did another one a week later. Then I noticed my Red Devil wasn't looking to good. His scales were whitish on the ends almost like he was peeling from a sun burn. He continued to get more white marks on him but they didnt look like ich (spots). I never saw ick on a big fish like that so I wasn't sure. Then the Red Devil and Jack Dempsey stopped eating but I didnt notice right away. After a few days I noticed the rotting pellets on the filter intake. I was concerned about the ammonia from the excess food in the tank so I cleaned the filters and did a 25% water change. I then notice mucus on the gills of the Red Devil. Since I wasn't sure what was making the fish sick I removed the carbon from the filter and treated for Ick and treated with Pimafix on alternate days.
After the treatments I did a water change of 25% and then treated again on alternating days. The skin and gills of the Red Devils cleared up. But now the tank was starting to cloud up. I did another water change and it did nothing. I checked the ammonia and it was off the chart. I started doing 25% water changes every other day. Thing continued to decline, I did a 50% water change. and still nothing. The tank is now so cloudy I cant see from the front to the back and the the ph has crashed as well as the Alk.

I have no idea what to do? Does anyone have any knowledge on whats happening and how to fix it. I beginning to think my beneficial bacteria has died off and the tank is trying to cycle again.

Here is one more twist... i live in Peabody, MA and as any of you know that watch the news, we went throughout some catastrophic flooding in the past few weeks..during this time with the tank problems. I am starting to wonder if my tap water is contaminated in some way that humans have no problems with but is causing hell to my aquariums. i noticed in my 55gal tank an oily film floating on top. I havent made any water changes in that tank, just topped off the tank. I noticed the same oily film in my 120 gal tank.
I am out of ideas, and fear I will lose my three fish in the 120gal tank

any knowledgable help would be appreciated

 

[Zagz]

What kind of test kit are you using? If the results are accurate then theb first thing to do is a large water change. 8 ppm ammonia is way too high. You need to do 75% right away and then do another 50%, test ammonia again in a couple of hours. The only way to keep the ammonia under control is to do lots and lots of water changes. You may have to do a few over the next day to get the ammonia to safe levels. The symptoms you describe your fish as having could be ammonia burns. What was the smell, can you describe it?

Is there anything that might have gotten into the tank and cause contamination of any sort? If you are concerned about your tap water, test it for any abnormalities. If you are really concerned test your water before the water change but regardless the ammonia will kill your fish. You could also contact your city and see if they know of any problems in the water. Explain to them that you are concerned about your aquarium and not your own health, as they may tell you the water is fine but mean for people.

Have you cleaned the filter or removed any of the media at all since you have been having the problems?

 

[DepotFish]

Lucky the ph is crashed because its probably helping stave off ammonia poisoning. As soon as the ammonia is down the ph should be worked back up. It could be contaminated water and who knows- it could be hurting the humans. I don't know if I'd do any more water changes, although you've probably already replaced all the old water with new stuff. I'd definately get prime or another ammonia detox solution and a test kit that works for treated ammonia.

 

[jsoong]

Total Alkalinity of zero is bad new ... your pH can't stay stable with that!

I would check the water supple before doing any more PWC's. It is possible that the flooding had mess things up. If there is no alkalinity in your tap water, you will ahve to buffer it before use or you won't get a stable pH.

About the NH3 ... possible that you have killed off your good bacteria & having a cycle. BUT - another possiblilty is ammonia in your tap. With contaminated water, the treatment plant may be upping the chloramine dose to combat bacteria contamination. That would result in more NH3 in your water when you add your dechlor. I would suggest checking your tap water after an appropriate dose of dechlor. If you are getting sky high NH3 reading with that, the only choice would be to find an alternate water source or to use an ammonia binder like Amquel or Prime to tide you over. <Note that you will need a salicylate NH3 test kit to accurately read NH3 level if you use a binder.>

If your tap water checks out, then I would think your tank is having a pH crash &/or mini-cycle. Water changes and aggressive gravel vacs would then be useful in both bringing up the alkalinity and decreasing the NH3.

 

[Zagz]

As I mentioned just testing your tap water yourself may not be enough. There are a lot of things that might be in your water that you can't test for. I would still get ahold of local city or water authorities and see what information they can provide you.

 

[Rocket2001]

I tested the tap water and it seems to check out fine...Water Dept says there is no elevated levels to worry about and home test kits confirm. Ihave decided that the only course of action is to do daily 50% water changes until I get the ammonia level under control. I will try to replenish the bacteria levels by adding bio-spira or cycle to the tank and see if i can get the water parameters to stablize.

 

[Zagz]

Thank goodness your water supply isn't contaminated. Keep doing those water changes and good luck. Please keep us posted.