Still Ammonia

[Bignose]

It sounds like to me that the bacterial colony might have died. You're going to have to be patient. It takes some time for the colony to grow back. If you are in the US, you might want to try to locate some BioSpira, it is pretty much the only bacterial starter that has evidence that it works well. BioSpira is only available in the US, though, so if you don't live here, I don't know the equivalent products anywhere else.

I know it sucks doing water changes everyday, but it will come out okay in the end. The fish are much better off than if had let them swimming in the pollution.

edit:

you know, I just thought of another possible explanation. Are your other plants doing good? Growing vibrantly and good color? The reason I ask is because aquatic plants prefer to take up ammonia as their nitrogen source. And, if your plants had been taking up ammonia to grow, they may have been taking up so much as to not let the bacterial colony grow. Then, when that plant died, it left a void in the amount of ammonia that was being taken up. So, you might want to check your plants' health. If you use CO2, is that still going correctly? Have you fertilized the plants lately? etc. The solution to this may be as simple as replacing that large plant that died.

 

[tlef316]

Tried biosphera on Tuesday. It doesn't appear to have done anything. I bought it from the best store in new Jersey, so I'm pretty sure it was always refrigerated.

The plants in the tank just went in Tuesday as well. I pulled everything out after the disaster as I didn't want them to rot. I had sub-par lighting which has been updated to a T-5 system. The big plant died almost 2 months ago now. Other than 2 little crypts (which i pulled out a week ago) there has been no plant life in the tank in over 6 weeks. I agree that the big hornowort was probably sucking up a lot of ammonia, but I figured that 6 weeks would be more than enough to time for the colony to re-populate.

I do not use Co2 and have no dosed any ferts since i bought the plants. I cant comment on growth since i just put them in.

 

[Colin_T]

Ammonia up to around 1ppm again (after being closer to .5 after the big water change)
Nitrates are at 5 ppm.
Nothing is rotting anywhere in the tank. Something is stopping the bacteria from growing. I can't figure out what.

If you are getting nitrates then the filters are alive and doing their job. If there is no bacteria there should be no nitrates unless you have nitrates in the tap water.

 

[tlef316]

nitrate readings from tank and tap are identical. (around 5 ppm). Ammonia still around 1 ppm(may be creeping closer to 2. Its obviously hard to tell)Nitrite at 0.

 

[Colin_T]

If you have the same nitrate reading in the tap as the tank then maybe the filters aren't working properly. It takes us back to square one and trying to figure out why the filters aren't developing like they should be.

 

[Nicholas Groene]

I would suggest buying some white Diamond nitrate for your filter cartridges. It helps keep the Ammonia levels down dramatically. About a year ago i had 3, 4 inch goldfish in a gallon, and with the White Diamond packed into the filter, the ammonia levels stayed around 1.5. And i would suggest a stronger filtration system. I prefer the millennium 2000 or 3000, they are excellent filters, and with a flip of the switch they add air into the water, just as an air stone and pump do. With the fish you have it might be good to purchase one of these or an air pump and air stone.
Hope i helped, good luck on your tank!

 

[Bignose]

I would suggest buying some white Diamond nitrate for your filter cartridges. It helps keep the Ammonia levels down dramatically. About a year ago i had 3, 4 inch goldfish in a gallon, and with the White Diamond packed into the filter, the ammonia levels stayed around 1.5. And i would suggest a stronger filtration system. I prefer the millennium 2000 or 3000, they are excellent filters, and with a flip of the switch they add air into the water, just as an air stone and pump do. With the fish you have it might be good to purchase one of these or an air pump and air stone.
Hope i helped, good luck on your tank!

I would strongly recommend NOT doing what this post suggests. Using ammonia absorbers does not give the filter bacteria a chance to live, and then we'll be back in this same situation, and uncycled tank.

This case is a bit of a mystery, but your tank should cycle again given enough time. It may be 2, 3, 4 weeks, during which it is best to keep doing large daily water changes. But, eventually your tank will cycle again.

 

[tlef316]

I would suggest buying some white Diamond nitrate for your filter cartridges. It helps keep the Ammonia levels down dramatically. About a year ago i had 3, 4 inch goldfish in a gallon, and with the White Diamond packed into the filter, the ammonia levels stayed around 1.5. And i would suggest a stronger filtration system. I prefer the millennium 2000 or 3000, they are excellent filters, and with a flip of the switch they add air into the water, just as an air stone and pump do. With the fish you have it might be good to purchase one of these or an air pump and air stone.
Hope i helped, good luck on your tank!

I would strongly recommend NOT doing what this post suggests. Using ammonia absorbers does not give the filter bacteria a chance to live, and then we'll be back in this same situation, and uncycled tank.

This case is a bit of a mystery, but your tank should cycle again given enough time. It may be 2, 3, 4 weeks, during which it is best to keep doing large daily water changes. But, eventually your tank will cycle again.

yeah, no offense to the poster, but i knew that was bad advice. I just don't understand what happened to kill my bacteria in the first place.

 

[Amunet]

I had to chime in.... I know for a fact that very low PH affects the good bacteria b/c it occurred in my tanks when I was cycling them.
The PH was so low that the bacteria wasn't growing so the tanks weren't cycling properly. I ended up having to add baking soda to the tank to raise the PH and sure enough, cycling process continued and finished no problem.
Of course now I have to add baking soda whenever I do water changes, but it's a small inconvenience to make sure everything stays ok.

 

[confusion]

My initial reaction was that the wood was decomposing and contributing to the ammonia build-up. For sure, though, if you are not seeing nitrate production, you are in a cycling situation.

I have had terrible luck personally with biospira, so I am not surprised to hear it did not work for you, though I know it works for many people.

The best option for now is frequent large water changes, which is probably not what you want to hear.

 

[tlef316]

just got back from the LFS. They tested my water, and it appears i have literally no buffering capacity. This would explain the very low PH and thus, the lack of bacteria growth. It was recommended that i purchase something to raise the KH of my tank. This should start a chain reaction that will lead to nitrification.

 

[Colin_T]

How low is the PH?
If you want to bring the PH up put some limestone or shells in the tank. They will bring it up a bit and hold it there.

 

[tlef316]

How low is the PH?
If you want to bring the PH up put some limestone or shells in the tank. They will bring it up a bit and hold it there.

really low. off the charts low. <6. The issue is the KH. My water has no buffering capacity. Stuff like shells will just be a temporary solution (plus i don't like them) I'd rather try to get the water to a point where it can stabilize itself.

 

[Colin_T]

shells and limestone are calcium carbonate. The same stuff used to bring the carbonate hardness up. They sit in the tank or filter and will buffer the PH of the tank continously. Thus providing your fish with a more stable PH and preventing the PH from dropping.

 

[tlef316]

shells and limestone are calcium carbonate. The same stuff used to bring the carbonate hardness up. They sit in the tank or filter and will buffer the PH of the tank continously. Thus providing your fish with a more stable PH and preventing the PH from dropping.

well, i already bought this stuff, so I'll see how it works. Appreciate the input though. I was thinking of trying crushed coral in the filter before i went to the store. After doing 40% change and adding the KH raising stuff, dKH is 3 according to my test kit. The tap is somewhere between 1 and 2. I've read that anything under 4 is too low. Is this accurate?