Elevated ammonia

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24 hour tap is 7.6 ph. What else could have caused my ph to drop to 6?

Okay time for a couple more questions. First what type of substrate do you have, how deep is it, and do you gravel vacuum it really well weekly? Also how long has the tank been running. Next what type of filters and how often are you cleaning them? Do you have any driftwood or bogwood? If so are the leaching tannins into the tank?
 
Substrate is gravel. its almost 2 inches deep. I vacuum almost every week (i try to do on same day but sometimes it goes to 10 days). I usually go all around decos but occasionally i pull out or move to do under and behind. Tank has been set up since end of september. i have a rena filstar xp2 canister. it has 2 baskets. bottom has 20 and 30 ppi. top has bio stars, bio chem zorb and a microfiltration pad (its white with a green layer). Ive only cleaned the 20/30 3 times. its every month. i clean them in a bucket of water during vac/wc. i dont do anything with stars. i change the biochem zorb every 2 months and the micro filter once a month (its usually gross and doesnt rinse well). no driftwood or bogwood.
 
I'd try really cleaning the heck out of the gravel while doing a 50% WC. Also do you have a pump and bubbler? Adding this can help raise Ph. I'm not too sure why your ph is so unstable and low. What are your nitrates? Asking questions to see if something can explain what's going on. If your ph continues to stay low you might have to use crushed coral in a filter or just hanging under the filter outflow. Ph will also drop if there aren't enough buffers in the water. You don't happen to know your tanks Kh and Gh would you?
 
Ill do the gravel clean and wc today. (Was out of town yesterday). I do have a pump and 2 bubblers. My nitrates have been at 5 ppm. They were at 10 ppm on jan 8, but have been down to 5 since then. Ammonia was down to .5on friday and again today. I dont know what Kh and Gh are...
 
I have 2 plants but don't know what either of them are
 

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If your gassed out tap water is that high and not knowing the Kh and Gh I'd get some crushed coral and put a small amount in your filter or in a media bag hung under your filter. Leave it there a few days and recheck your ph. You might have to slowly add more crushed coral every few days until you get your ph to a desirable level like 6.8-7.0 and it's stable at that level. You also want to do this slowly so be sure to start with a small amount.
 
While crushed coral is a solution, I find it to be more inconvenient and less precise than using baking soda. For every 20 gallons, 1/4 tsp of baking soda will raise your kH by about 1dKH.

Add 1/2 tsp of baking soda (to your 46 gallon tank) once a day for 4 days and you will have increased your KH by about 4 degrees. You will only have to add baking soda when doing water changes if the water you are adding has a KH of less than 4. Baking soda is completely safe to use in your tank as an alkalinity buffer. It does the exact same thing crushed coral does, costs less, and you probably have some in your kitchen right now.

Get a KH test kit. With your pH issues, it will be worth the investment to help maintain a consistent buffer.
 
todays update
Yesterday I did a 50% wc and super gravel vac. Water tested all 0 last night after that. Today my ammonia is back at .5 ppm and nitrates are 5 ppm. no nitrites. Ph is 7.4. since the ph is holding right now (at least for the few days) should i worry about adding anything?
 
No don't add anything since your ph went up BUT do monitor it to be sure it doesn't drop low again.
 
todays update
Yesterday I did a 50% wc and super gravel vac. Water tested all 0 last night after that. Today my ammonia is back at .5 ppm and nitrates are 5 ppm. no nitrites. Ph is 7.4. since the ph is holding right now (at least for the few days) should i worry about adding anything?

Those numbers sound strange to me. You have nitrates building, but no reading for nitrites, yet you are still picking up unprocessed ammonia. Can you give me a reading before you do another water change?

How old is your test kit?
 
Those numbers sound strange to me. You have nitrates building, but no reading for nitrites, yet you are still picking up unprocessed ammonia. Can you give me a reading before you do another water change?

How old is your test kit?

Test kit was bought in October.
Water test results. It has been over 24 hours since I dosed with prime. And almost 48 hours since a water change.
Ammonia .5 ppm
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5 ppm
pH 7.2
 
So yesterday water had same results. .5 ppm ammonia, 5 ppm nitrates and 0 nitrites. I dosed with prime and tested today. Same results. pH is holding at 7.4. I did a 50% wc (using prime to condition jugs) then dosed whole tank. Tested water 3 hrs later. Ammonia is .25 ppm with 0 nitrites and nitrates. Should ammonia be showing that soon after treatment?
 
Even after a treatment with Prime, ammonia will still show up on the test, as it is still present in the water. It is in a form that is non-toxic to the fish however. It will stop showing up once it has been oxidised into nitrite. I find it strange that you have no nitrite readings, yet you have nitrates and ammonia. I would expect to see your ammonia readings falling off as your nitrate readings increase.

Do you have nitrates in your tap water?
 
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