# Ph Crash...not Sure What Happened.



## Domelotta (Apr 25, 2007)

I've been fighting an ammonia battle for a while now (originally they read 8.0+ ppm), but I've managed to bring it down.

Tank Specs:
Fish - 8 large pygos
Filtrations - FX5, XP4, AQ500, PBio-wheel200, 2x AQ70 Powerheads with filter attachment

Water Reading this afternoon:
Ammonia - 1.5 - 2ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0 - 2.5ppm
PH - < 6.0 (isn't readable on the chart)

I added the AQ500 with two whole boxes of biomax that I stuffed in the XP4 hoping that I could bring the ammonia down. It has been partially successful. I don't know what to do about the PH though. My fish are getting really bad cloudy eye right now, and my plants are starting to die (mainly the crypts).

Is the low PH, because of the constant ammonia? The water that comes out of my tap is 7.2, so I know it doesn't go in with that low of a PH. Also are there any theories to why my ammonia is still up? I know the tank is overstocked, but shouldn't that much filtration take care of it?

Any help would be appreciated. I just want my tank back to normal so I can enjoy my fish again and not have to worry that they'll be floating one morning.

The only thing I could think that would help is increasing the beneficial bacteria that break down ammonia, but I'm not quite sure how to do that. My logic is that the nitrifying bacteria is at a good level since there is no sign of nitrites, and never was. The nitrates are low because of water changes and my heavily planted tank.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Do you have driftwood or anything in the tank? What is your kh at? Adding more biomedia won't do anything initially as it has to establish bacteria. I'd do some good gravel vacs and up water changes to take care of the ammonia.


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## Domelotta (Apr 25, 2007)

CLUSTER ONE said:


> Do you have driftwood or anything in the tank? What is your kh at? Adding more biomedia won't do anything initially as it has to establish bacteria. I'd do some good gravel vacs and up water changes to take care of the ammonia.


I have a large piece of driftwood in the tank. Its been there since I set it up, but the PH tests still only ever got to 6.8 They usually stay remotely close to the tap water. I did a little gravel change two days ago and left the tank alone. The ammonia reading was at about 1.5ppm yesterday, and after leaving it sitting for another day it is down to 1ppm. Could that be because of the AQ500 biomedia establishing? I set that filter up two weeks ago. I'm happy with the ammonia decreasing. Hopefully it'll continue. I'll prolly clean up the dead plants from the last two days, nothing drastic. Letting it sit seems to be good after that water change. The PH is also a little higher. It was definitely unchartable last time I checked. Now it looks more like if there were a 5.8 PH mark, that it'd be right there.I also don't know the kh because I don't have a dropper kit for that. Is it really important to know? I guess the decreasing ammonia allows the PH to rise a little...not quite sure.

Also one quick question about biomedia...does everyone stuff their filters to max capacity with biomax? I had a single box of biomax per cannister filter because I thought more would slow down water flow and defeat the purpose of biologically filtering water if it does it at such a slow rate. I stuffed my XP4 with 2 complete 500G boxes of biomax + the box already in it and the biostars, and it flows the same. Just curious about this. Thanks


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## r1dermon (Mar 9, 2005)

the driftwood will bring your ph down. not a big worry IMO, your biggest concern is with the cycle. was the tank cycled when you introduced fish to it?

the longer you prolong it, the worse your fish will get. i'd get them to a hospital tank and treat them with some salt. get a good source of ammonia and spike your tank. if you've already got some established BB, your tank should cycle fairly quickly with a strong ammonia spike.

good luck.


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## Domelotta (Apr 25, 2007)

The tank was properly cycled when I introduced the fish. Then I slowly added more, because it was originally just the large Tern. Two days ago one of the red bellies had really bad ammonia burn on his eyes and ended up swimming in front of the tern. He got one bite to the head and floated to the top of the tank dead. I watched it happen, trying to scare the Tern before he attacked. Now it is down to 7 pygos. The ammonia this morning was about 1ppm still. It hasn't gone lower and the PH was a little less than 6 based on the chart. I fed them last week because they are seriously losing some size and trying to eat each other. That made the ammonia spike back to 4ppm and then after a water change 2ppm the next few days. How long will this cycle take if I just leave the fish in there? I have no spare tanks, and if I needed to put them all in hospital tanks it wouldn't really work out because they're so large.

Also, should I continue doing little water changes or just let the cycle do its thing.

I'm still baffled that the nitrite readings are 0ppm though, and the nitrate is less than 5ppm. It doesn't make sense because the ammonia is being converted. Is there sometime to do to add more ammonia-breakdown-bacteria?

Thanks for the reply. I've been needing help with this. I don't want to lose another fish.


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