Help please, on the verge of giving up.

[vao71]

Hi guys, I'm having some serious problems with y tank.
125 gallons
Fluval FX5 filter
Medium planted
Test results:



As you can see the PH is very low and the Ammonia is very high. I thought my tank was cycled when there was 0 ammonia and I went out to buy new fish. This was about a month ago. Since then the ammonia has been constantly high. I do water changes about 3 times a week and come back to see the ammonia is high again. My tap water has 0 ammonia in it. I just bought the master test kit thing to see how my nitrates and nitrites were and they appear to be zero so is the tank recycling again? I haven't lost anybody yet and they all seem to be healthy. Should I clean out my filter I see a lot of food get sucked up there. I'm rambling here but this is so frustrating lol, any help or suggestions would really be appreciated.

 

[Aspencer]

It does not appear you tank is cycled. You should have some NitrAtes. You need to do a 50% water change right now. It looks to me your ammonia is around ..5. You should keep ammonia under .25. Luckily, the lower ph is the less toxic ammonia is. What are your tap water parameters?

 

[vao71]

Tap water is 0 ammonia and a solid 7 ph, I have driftwood in my tank which might be contributing to the low ph

 

[Aspencer]

Maybe a mini-cycle when you added the new fish but it is curious that you have no Nitrates, they have to be someplace and I doubt you plants are soaking them up.

 

[Hholly]

The low pH could have stalled the BB. Cou
D you add some crushed coral to your tank or filter to buffer the pH?

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Well, how long has the tank been setup? It takes around 8 weeks to do a full cycle, and then once the filter has established you can start adding livestock...If you have any other cycled tanks you can use some of the media of those filters and add them in your 125g filter to speed up the process. First there will be an ammonia spike, then nitrate, and finally nitrate.

 

[vao71]

I had an old established filter on the tank along with the fx5 for about 6-7 weeks and then I took the old one off to put on my moms tank. It was a marine land 350 of I remember correctly. But yea the tanks been up for about 7-8 weeks now

 

[vao71]

Also the fx5 has two trays of biomax and one tray of carbon

 

[Cynic]

Random question but you do use a water conditioner right?

 

[vao71]

Yep, stress coat

 

[jlk]

The low pH could have stalled the BB. Cou
D you add some crushed coral to your tank or filter to buffer the pH?

+1
Six is the low limit on the ph test- your ph may 6 or it may be much lower. Your bb are rendered pretty much nonfunctional in the acidic environment. So, ammonia continues to steadily increase until you do a water change to drop it. I would agree to try buffering the water up a bit so it stays stable in your taps ph range. I would also remove the dw until your tank is fully cycled and stable. In the meantime, lots of water changes to keep toxins in check. Prime would also be a big help here to limit your fishes exposure to toxins. The API conditioner will not help with this.

 

[vao71]

Okay so take the driftwood out, raise the ph a little bit and do water changes. Are their ways to raise the ph without chemicals? Are crushes corals available in stores? Because the ph test is like clear

 

[Hholly]

You can buy crushed coral at Petsmart or similar stores.

 

[jlk]

Yep, crushed coral will work but aragonite, cr limestone or cr seashells will work too. Just add a bag to your filter as Holly suggested. It will be a bit of trial and error to figure out a decent amount- add some, test after 24hrs. No effect, add some more. If your ph jumps too much, remove some, wc, and see how things look in 24hrs. You want your ph to stay stable in your taps range (@6.6-7.2)-give or take. No drastic drops or jumps.

 

[Rivercats]

When using crushed coral it's best to either put it in your filter or put it in a media bag and hang it under the filter outflow. The reason I wouldn't put it in the substrate is over time it's buffering capacity wanes and it needs to be replaced. If you do this method you should start with a smaller amount of crushed coral wait a couple days the test your ph. Keep adding more CC until you reach the ph desired. Do you happen to have a Gh and Kh test kit? Reason I'm asking is when using CC bringing your Gh and Kh up to 4 is perfert for a planted tank. I don't track my ph, I actually track my Gh and Kh.

 

[vao71]

No idea what Gh or Kh is lol, I have some angels and discus in this tank will the ph change harm them? I know they like the ph a little low

 

[Hholly]

Start with a small amount in your filter and test. You have to do something to get your BB working again. Coral, limestone, etc. are safer than a pH up chemical. Just go slow with it.

 

[vao71]

Okay so I've taken the wood out and I did a 40% water change. I'll try to get come CC tomorrow thanks for all the help guys I'll update this eventually with the results

 

[owen0992]

Yep, stress coat

Just wanted to point out that stress coat is not a water conditioner. It is used to help with fish stress, not treat the water you are putting in the tank. Not sure if this would contribute to your problem but maybe since you are not using conditioner the chlorine in the water stays and kills your bacteria, allowing ammonia levels to climb. Again, not sure. An experienced member might know if this could be what's happening.

You want this for your waterchanges: http://www.apifishcare.com/products/Product.aspx?ProductID=46

This just helps with stress : http://www.apifishcare.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=43

 

[librarygirl]

Actually Stress Coat does condition the water as well. You'll use a lot though. I'd suggest switching to Seachem Prime.

When the tank was set up without fish and the seeded filter, did you add ammonia to the tank? If not then the bacteria likely starved and therefore you lost the bacteria you had and the tank is now re-cycling. It's hard to say for sure though. The low PH could be playing a role as well as nitrification slows-stops at very low PH's. I'd get the coral as others have said and keep up on testing and water changes and see what happens. Here's some links if you haven't seen them:
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice
Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

You also might want to perform the following PH test: test the PH of the water right out of the tap. Then sit a glass of water out for 24 hours (stir it occasionally) and test PH again----this is your true PH and what your tank's PH should be (sometimes Ph changes from what it is out of the tap once it gasses off). If it's really 6, then it isn't the driftwood but your natural tap PH and you should still buffer it with the coral to try to get it up around 7. If it's higher than the 6 reading, then something in the tank is lowering the PH (e.g. wood) and use the coral to stabilize the PH and let the tank cycle before adding the wood back in. I also suggest shaking the PH bottle a bit before using it; I've gotten incorrect readings before when I didn't' shake the bottle enough.