Removal Of Ammonia

[saph.st24]

stick with the water changes and the regular upkeep and you will get there.
you have a few weeks left before things start to cool down for winter.
then we have to go through similar again next spring oh joys for pond keeping lol

now where did i put those pond covers

 

[mark4785]

Today I tested the pond water with my API testing kit and it looks like the nitrifying bacteria is finally doing it's job since the nitrite and nitrate levels have increased. Hopefully next the ammonia level will start to drop.

Since the ammonia is being converted (as can be seen from the picture below) should I concentrate on water changes as opposed to adding chemicals to the pond which reduce ammonia levels? I've been using a product named 'Bacterlife P' by Waterlife which is added directly to the water; this removes ammonia, sludge and activates the filters faster.

I want to know that In doing water changes I'm not removing the chemicals I put in.

 

[Truck]

you need to bring the ammonia down...it appears as 8ppm on the pic to me...and should be around 5

 

[mark4785]

you need to bring the ammonia down...it appears as 8ppm on the pic to me...and should be around 5

I'm aiming to do that. I'd like it to be zero again like it was before my dad cleaned the filter media with tap water

I have a question concerning what course of action I should take in my last post. I don't want to do things in the wrong order.

 

[goodbyekitty]

how does one clean the filter media?? I heard the other day that you shouldnt. that you can just leave it in there and swish it around the tack to rid of blockage. This true???

 

[saph.st24]

i dont think mark is cleaning the filter just yet
the ammonia is between 2 and 4 and the other are starting to do their thing.

the water changes will reduce some of the chemicals but your doing small water changes so it wont effect it to much but if your worried work out what your taking out and replace it,
are you doing the daily changes or every other day as you could start doing twice weekly changes watch for ammonia spikes
then when the ammonia continues to drop and the others start to settle go to weekly changes

ammonia is hard because we know its bad and we need to get rid of it, but we also need ammonia to cycle the filter, so thats why we dilute the ammonia rather then one quick water change and end up doing it over and over because the filter dont mature

 

[mark4785]

Hi Saph,

I am doing daily water changes at the moment; I miss a day out if the weather is bad as i've got wet through in the process of taking water out. The ammonia level is still the same, but the nitrite level is now 1.0 instead of 0.5. I'm glad the ammonia is starting to be converted but the water is still toxic and so i'm going to purchase some pond tonic salt to prevent the fish from reacting physiologically to the toxicity.
I am still feeding them a minimal amount and continually removing particles from the water. Hopefully in a few weeks the only problem i'll have is a high nitrate level which I can tackle quickly with a big water change.

 

[saph.st24]

keep going you will get there in the end

 

[mark4785]

I have tested the water quality again with the same kit on the 18th of september. The ammonia change has been very dramatic, however the nitrite is now the issue until it is all converted to nitrate. I have inserted a picture of the results below.

How do I remove nitrite from the water? I don't want to remove it all, but I'd like to remove some of it to make the level more acceptable.

 

[saph.st24]

thats more like it do a 20-30%water change, then test daily, keep going with the water changes, it will come down its doing exactly what its surposed to do, said it wasnt a quick thing to fix just got to rid it out,


Nitrite bacteria in your filter consumes ammonia that why the nitrites are high, nitrites-aim for 0 ppm, above 0.15 ppm is stressful to the fish
Nitrates although less harmful than Nitrites you should try and keep nitrate levels as low as possible to reduce the chances of blanket weed.