Terrible Ph and NH3 my god!

[leonardloach]

Hello all!

This is my current problem and diagnosis of my Aquarium.

Ph 4.5 or lower(test couldn't go lower) extremely dangerous
NH3 2.4 extremely dangerous
No2 0
No3 0

Diagnosis:
Terrible level of ammonia Due to possible filtration problem.
Ph ????Possible low bacteria issue. but due to the low No2 i 'm skeptical.

Treatment: immediate filtration system overhaul & 50% water change
Water change before filtration over haul.

As for the low Ph,it's in the air. I really don't want to fix it chemically. But if i have too. i 'll have too.

What do you guys think.Let me know.Time is of the essence here.

Thanx.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Don't use chemicals!
A few questions to help us help you.
Is the tank cycled or is it cycling?
What size tank?
What kinds of fish and how many?
How long has it been set up?
What is your water change schedule?
Have you tested you tap water?

 

[leonardloach]

testing tap water now.
tank has been running for at least two months
tank sizes is 40 gallon tall
fish
5 congo tetra
7 harlequin rasbora
2 clown loach
1 pleco (under 3 inch)
1 pictus cat (under 3 inch)

the tank plan is for the fish that grow larger will be going to a 125 freshwater community.

 

[leonardloach]

oops schedule for water change is once a week at about 30%change

 

[leonardloach]

Ok well this is odd Tap water ph is at a 6.5

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ok what you want to do is an immediate PWC. IMO about 30% followed by another a few hours later. You need to get the ammonia down as low as you can and the pH back up. You don't want to change the pH too fast and shock your fish though.

Have you changed anything in the tank recently? New fish? Washed or replaced filter media? Forgot to add dechlorinator? changed the substrate? Added any medications (I know you have a sick loach)?

The pH drop could be from two things that I can think of (there maybe more). Soft water or the tank is cycling (which can cause pH drops). Adding crushed coral to your filter will help buffer it.

Do you own any prime? You can dose some to the tank to covert the ammonia to a less toxic form.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Oh and I forgot to add. Let a cup of tap water sit out overnight and test it again. That will be the true pH of your tap water.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

From my knowledge, the lower your pH the slower the nitrification process is, and when it hits 6 and below it completely stops at all, which is why you're getting those readings. Take a look at this thread:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

All I would ask you to do now is to slowly add CC or some other buffer gradually to the tank to raise the pH.

 

[leonardloach]

Thanks for the info bruins and momma 2. Gonna rock water changes. For sure and tomorrow i'm grabbing a new filtration system bacteriabooster and a ph treatment gonna go easy on the ph treatment but as a last resort i will change it.ofcourse gradually.gonna keep the current filter running as well just on a lower flow to make sure i dont shock the tank.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Thanks for the info bruins and momma 2. Gonna rock water changes. For sure and tomorrow i'm grabbing a new filtration system bacteriabooster and a ph treatment gonna go easy on the ph treatment but as a last resort i will change it.ofcourse gradually.gonna keep the current filter running as well just on a lower flow to make sure i dont shock the tank.

Skip the bacteria booster (IMO useless because the bacteria is either dead or not the same bacteria in your filter) and the pH chemicals. They can do more harm than good. Crushed coral is the way to go. It naturally buffers your water without adding chemicals that can harm your fish. Keep your old filter running and take some of its media and add it to the new one. Run them in tandem. You want to keep as much BB as possible.

 

[jlk]

I agree with Mumma- skip the bacteria booster & ph chemicals because you are not only wasting your money but you will be doing harm to your tank. Since you are adding a new filter anyway, place the crushed coral in a mesh bag or piece of pantyhose directly in your filter. You will have to check your ph daily & adjust the amount of cr coral accordingly until you get a decent stable number. It will be a bit or trial & error to reach the correct amount. In the meantime, keep up with those big pwcs to get your ammonia levels under control.

 

[leonardloach]

Ok going to run both of course and i will grab the crushed coral.
Since last night my. Amonia is down to .6 and below
Gonna rrun some wc again

 

[jetajockey]

I might have missed it but what are you using to test the water pH with? I don't know of one that goes down to the 4's. If you don't have a liquid test kit, definitely get one and be certain that you have a pH problem before making any major adjustments to the tank.

 

[leonardloach]

I'm currently using a nutrafin line of liquid tests.

 

[jetajockey]

What range does the chart read? I can't find one online to look at it, it's crazy that it goes down that low.

 

[leonardloach]

It's the nutrafin wide range ph test kit ph4.5 to 9

 

[leonardloach]

Well turns out i have made a mistake.turns out it was the rocks in the tank.

I took them out and done a wc. And now tthe ph is around 5
Now i know that isn't good but it is atleast a change crushed coral done nothing.
Not condeming crushed coral by any means.
The rocks were probably too bad
Gonna do another change within the next couple of hours and see if it goes up again