Ph Crash Help.....

[fishman3]

yeah sadly it does look like you've had a serious die off poor bacteria!

but yes, lesson learnt, watch your pH this time round!

I have news!!!

I managed to convey my story to the lfs and they have kindly given me some mature filter media from their tanks....!

I have put the sponges in my filter tonight almost 75-80% of the total of bio sponge that i have in there anyway so a really good amount of adopted media! I Have also put in some bactozym tablets from tetra aqua which are supposed to give a boost to the filter media.

So my questions for today are as follows;

1) is the bactozym a waste of time or is it something which will actually help out?
2) with a large quanitity of mature filter media will i have problems?
3) how long should i leave this filter media in?
4) i'm not looking for a quick fix, fish in 48 hours solution as the bactozym suggests but am i being overly optimistic that these additions will speed up greatly the cycling time of my tank? (100 litre aquaone ar620)

thought i'd get all of my questions out in one post!!! hahaha

thanks in advance guys!

Phil

 

[fishman3]

yeah sadly it does look like you've had a serious die off poor bacteria!

but yes, lesson learnt, watch your pH this time round!

I have news!!!

I managed to convey my story to the lfs and they have kindly given me some mature filter media from their tanks....!

I have put the sponges in my filter tonight almost 75-80% of the total of bio sponge that i have in there anyway so a really good amount of adopted media! I Have also put in some bactozym tablets from tetra aqua which are supposed to give a boost to the filter media.

So my questions for today are as follows;

1) is the bactozym a waste of time or is it something which will actually help out?
2) with a large quanitity of mature filter media will i have problems?
3) how long should i leave this filter media in?
4) i'm not looking for a quick fix, fish in 48 hours solution as the bactozym suggests but am i being overly optimistic that these additions will speed up greatly the cycling time of my tank? (100 litre aquaone ar620)

thought i'd get all of my questions out in one post!!! hahaha

thanks in advance guys!

Phil

anybody?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

brilliant news! the mature media is exactly what you need.

the bactozym probably won't help but won't harm anything either.

what you do now is carry on with the fishless cycle as normal, add your 5ppm of ammonia, but you should find with so much mature media in that it'll just be a couple of days before it can process to 0 ammonia and nitrite within 12 hrs. Then you do a qualifying week just to make sure it's done, your big water change and then add fish.



really chuffed you got some media, it's always sad to see someone try hard then have some problem like a bacteria die off.

 

[fishman3]

brilliant news! the mature media is exactly what you need.

the bactozym probably won't help but won't harm anything either.

what you do now is carry on with the fishless cycle as normal, add your 5ppm of ammonia, but you should find with so much mature media in that it'll just be a couple of days before it can process to 0 ammonia and nitrite within 12 hrs. Then you do a qualifying week just to make sure it's done, your big water change and then add fish.



really chuffed you got some media, it's always sad to see someone try hard then have some problem like a bacteria die off.

thanks miss wiggle!!!!!

I am feeling quite optimistic now....

Will update on monday as to the progress over the weekend, hopefully i can start the qualifying week next week!

Phil

 

[fishman3]

brilliant news! the mature media is exactly what you need.

the bactozym probably won't help but won't harm anything either.

what you do now is carry on with the fishless cycle as normal, add your 5ppm of ammonia, but you should find with so much mature media in that it'll just be a couple of days before it can process to 0 ammonia and nitrite within 12 hrs. Then you do a qualifying week just to make sure it's done, your big water change and then add fish.



really chuffed you got some media, it's always sad to see someone try hard then have some problem like a bacteria die off.

thanks miss wiggle!!!!!

I am feeling quite optimistic now....

Will update on monday as to the progress over the weekend, hopefully i can start the qualifying week next week!

Phil

ok so here is the next update!!!

added the mature media on thursday although i have my suspicions about it (not sure it was all they said it was as some of it was dry and i had to ask them to put some tank water in with it so it didnt dry out on the journey home!!) anyway on friday i went to maidenhead acquatics near me and managed to get some bactinettes although they were 1 month out of date the assistant said that because the pearls were still black they would still be ok maybe just not as strong as usual! I got them really reduced for a couple of quid so thought it was worth a try!

I also added another 1/3 of my coldwater tank media (which i replaced with new) so i knew that i had some mature media in the filter that was legit (hopefully the replacement piece from the last time is now colonised and i havent got 2/3 of new media??? last 1/3 took almost 3 weeks ago).

The ammonia has reduced from around 5ppm to around 1ppm today and the nitrItes were showing this morning at about 0.1ppm and tonight at about 0.25ppm. the nitrAtes have gone from around 5ppm on friday to around 20ppm tonight.

I am a little excited as it looks to me that the ammonia is being eaten and the nitrItes too producing the final N in the nitrogen cycle (nitrAtes).

Hopefully the test in the morning shows further reductions in ammonia and the nitrItes either staying the same or reducing also with just the nitrAtes going up further....

The pH had also reduced from day 1 on tuesday at 7.5 to about 7.2 now so i got some crushed coral from my lfs and have added this to a compartment in my filter housing (in the lid of the tank). Will this increase my pH rapidly? and should i take it out once it reaches 7.5 again?

would love to know your thoughts on my progress guys.......

Thanks as always Phil.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes good progress from your stats

nope leave the crushed coral in, it'll give off calcium slowly over time which will bolster up your pH

 

[waterdrop]

Right, the thing about crushed coral is that it is nice and slow, sometimes takes a week or two before you can even detect changes from it, but often sooner.

 

[fishman3]

Right, the thing about crushed coral is that it is nice and slow, sometimes takes a week or two before you can even detect changes from it, but often sooner.

i am beginning to get that sinking feeling again though WD, i tested the pH last night and it was around 6.8 - 7 so i did a 30% water change (with dechlorinator) this morning it is around 7.

on a positive front the ammonia and nitrIte readings were completely zero this morning (which is a first for the nitrItes as they have been staying about 0.25) i know i did a water change last night but i tested an hour after this and the nitrItes were about 0.5 - 1ppm and the ammonia was around 0.5 - 1ppm which suggests that the nitrItes were cycled off last night!

anyway I re-charged with ammonia this morning 5/6ppm to see if by tonight / tomorrow morning they are completely gone, fingers crossed

I have also purchased some API up liquid today from the pets at home near me in an attempt to stave off the (what appears to be inevitable pH crash looming) the KH of my water is around 6-7 so it is highly likely that the pH will suffer whilst there are many N's in the water........it feels like an up hill battle at the moment......

here is a link to the API stuff I bought will this be ok? http/aquariumpharm.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=86

It says to use about 1/2 a teaspoon per 98 litres to increase pH.

Also it could be nothing but the bogwood i have in my tank came with a plant in (got from lfs) and all my other plants died as a result of the pH crash, now this little fella didn't look the best if i'm honest but i thought he may perk up in the new 'soup' however he is looking worse and i may have to remove him completly. Could this plant slowly giving up be affecting the pH?

Thanks again guys

Phil wants ..........