Things have gone crazy...little help please

[PITT]

I started EI dosing a while back (thanks for the help) and things where going well. Plants looked great...some BBA but ok overall I'd say.

Last week I was told dosing everything at once was bad so now I split the dose so the micro has it's own day. I can't say that is the issue but over the past couple days things have gotten very veery cloudy in the tank, green glass algae is way up too. My recent tests indicate things have gone crazy!

Amonia 1 ppm (normally always 0)
ph 6.4
nitrate 0 (normally 20)
Nitrite 0
phosphate 2.5 (hard to tell - colors are hard to judge)
kh 53.7 ppm


55 gal
2 CF 55 W each on 10 hours
DIY Co2
medium plant/fish load

dose 3X per week each batch w/ a 50% PWC 1X per week

Barr's GH Booster 1/2 tsp
CSM+B Plantex 1/8

Potassium Nitrate 1/2
Potassium Sulfate 1/8
Mono Potassium Phosphate 1/8

The Amonia is up...nitrates are 0? The plants are still spitting bubbles like there is no tomorrow as I type this but it looks awful in there.

Do another 50% PWC now and dose the second batch today and get the rotation going again tomorrow?

 

[rich311k]

I would do a water change as soon as possible. Did you replant or stir up the gravel? Did you touch the filter?

 

[PITT]

I took out some corscrew grass that has gone crazy and that stirred up a little since the roots where very well established. If that is it I'll wait and do stuff like that during PWC's then?

Since I got on here my plants have gone crazy and I actually have to prune now...I swear the corkscrew was in forever as a little, few inch tall, patch of thin grass...it has gone crazy! I didn't really think about it causing issues when I was taking some out.

So after I change water tonight do I dose or leave alone until cleared up?

 

[rich311k]

I would keep dosing. You dont want bottomed out nitrates.

 

[PITT]

PWC in progress...thanks.

 

[PITT]

*update

After PWC last night I dosed ferts...i just retested and...

Amonia 0 ppm
ph 6.4
nitrate 10 (normally 20)
Nitrite 0
phosphate 2.5
kh 53.7 ppm

It is still cloudy but much better. Now for the questions...

1. It is still cloudy so should I do another PWC or wait til Satruday, my next normal one, and let it work itself out?

2. Did all my army of trumpet snails hide during the craziness or have they all died? I don't see shells so I don't think they all died but I haven't seen them.

3. Should I dose Nitrates since I'm still lower than normal or wait for the normal day (tomorrow)?

TIA

 

[MarkP]

If it was my tank, I'd dose as usual.

From what you posted, I would blame the algae and such on the ammonia. If you have some mulm or whatnot in the substrate that got stirred up, that's probably the cause, as rich diagnosed. If you saw any "dirt" being kicked up into the water, that would support this theory. To avoid this in the future, try and plan any replanting or major gravel moving right before your 50% PWC, as you already mentioned.

If you don't see any ammonia, I'd suggest you don't do anything special for the cloudy water, it'll probably clear up on it's own in a few days to a week. Depending on the color of the cloud, you may be seeing a bacteria or algae bloom from the extra organic material kicked up into the water column. If it bothers you or is really bad, another large PWC can help.

Your snails may not have survived, check when the light first turns on- They like the dark. If you can see any dead snails, you probably want to remove them. That being said, I personally wouldn't dig through the gravel looking for them- We think that's what caused this to begin with.

 

[PITT]

*update

Ammonia is still 0. The water looks cloudy still but the tests are back on track. I'll wait to do a PWC until my normal scheduled one so basically I'll just go back to normal as you suggested.

I saw trumpet snails tonight...babies too. Interesting that I never lost sight of the ramshorns but the trumpets went missing for days. Ramshorns more tolerent?