appealing to anyone who knows about adfs...

[totalnewb]

Hi. I had a ph disaster. So far everyone save the nitrates are alive.

I have a sponge filter in another tank that might help rebuild the nitrates, but it's a sponge filter.

Everything that I have read suggests that it is waaaayy too much disruption for them. I am desperate to not have to re-cycle a 10G with adfs and otos.

I moved a bit of media the other day from the other tank, but whatever good stuff was on it died too.

I am adding crushed coral (no idea how much to use) and have the seachem alkaline buffer to hopefully help with the water in the interim of the coral becoming effective.

Any experience or advice out there? Would be most grateful....

whoever said that this was a stress-free hobby never did it.

[Sharpchick]

Can you explain about the pH disaster?

[Convict2161]

Originally Posted by Sharpchick

Can you explain about the pH disaster?

^^^^^ I'm with you, what happened?

[totalnewb]

ph falling thru the floor... crushed coral? - Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community

[Sharpchick]

Okay, without an other explanation than that (I seriously do not understand what died in that othr post...the ADFs? the nitrates?), what I'd say is you are adding way too much "stuff" into your tank, and you're going to stay on a rollercoater until you quit doing that.

[Fishperson]

Agreed ^
You shouldn't add short term stuff like baking soda. What is the measurements for your tap water? If you haven't measured it yet, measure it, and then measure it again in 2 days. It takes 2 days for ph to "gas off", where the ph drops about .5. Can you give us exact measurements about where the ph is now? Saying it "died" just isn't enough.

[totalnewb]

OK. I'm sorry it wasn't clear. Thank you all for responding.
The nitrates died as the Ph dropped below 6.4. All livestock survived. I try not to add too much crap to my water, but as I believe was outlined in other post, I am forced to use RO water. I bought the alkaline buffer so that it had a longer
and hopefully more successful life than baking soda, which I dismissed.
Crushed coral seems to be the better long term solution, and the dosing was the source of my original querry. That along with whether or not the adfs could possibly withstand a sponge filter and an appeal for other suggestions in light of their fragility.
I have taken a chance and moved half of my poly material from the stable 29g into to ADF 10g.
Thanks anyway. Let's hope everyone comes out OK.

[Mumma.of.two]

Originally Posted by totalnewb

OK. I'm sorry it wasn't clear. Thank you all for responding.
The nitrates died as the Ph dropped below 6.4. All livestock survived. I try not to add too much crap to my water, but as I believe was outlined in other post, I am forced to use RO water. I bought the alkaline buffer so that it had a longer
and hopefully more successful life than baking soda, which I dismissed.
Crushed coral seems to be the better long term solution, and the dosing was the source of my original querry. That along with whether or not the adfs could possibly withstand a sponge filter and an appeal for other suggestions in light of their fragility.
I have taken a chance and moved half of my poly material from the stable 29g into to ADF 10g.
Thanks anyway. Let's hope everyone comes out OK.

The nitrates are the end result of the nitrogen cycle not the name of the bacteria. The nitrifying bacteria take the ammonia the frogs/fish/inverts produce and consume it, producing nitrite. The nitrite is then consumed by another type of bacteria, producing nitrate.

The reason your pH dropped so drastically is because there are no minerals/buffers in the RO water. When using RO water you need to add a product such as Kent's RO Rite to stop the pH dropping and the cycle crashing. The bacteria have died because they can't handle large shifts in pH. Stable pH is the key.

What is the reason you can't use your tap water? It's usually just fine to use with a good conditioner.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articl...ium/Page1.html
Can I get you to read this. That way we are all on the same page and we can understand exactly what the problem is.