First day we noticed it - everything was checked and rinsed - waterfall and overflow basket
First day we noticed it - everything was checked and rinsed - waterfall and overflow basket
Have not added any new water recently so no de-chlorinator has been used in quite a while. Husband uses some kind of biological de-chlorinator when adding fresh water.
A biological dechlorinator? Never heard of it! I'm curious which product it is though. You may be using a product that removes chlorine instead of chloramines and many (most?) water companies use chloramines these days. For example if it's the freshwater dechlorinator by Aqua Vitro then there's your problem!
And please disregard the comment about salt helping ammonia. I believe the person who posted that is confusing ammonia with nitrite. Pure NaCl shouldn't hurt, but something like salt for a marine aquarium will make it worse. The lower the pH the less toxic the ammonia will be. Since your pH is very high the ammonia is much worse for your fish. If you like I can calculate your un-ionized ammonia using your pH, temperature, and ammonia reading. However it's somewhat unnecessary because you already know your ammonia is an issue. I suppose you could add acid or reduce temperature to lower the toxicity, but as I stated there is a reason why you have ammonia and that is what we need to amend. I was asking about your pH because below around 5.5 your nitrifying bacteria stops working. This causes ammonia to accumulate, although it may not pose a problem because its toxicity is low in low pH. Upon raising the pH the fish face serious issues and this is known as "old tank syndrome". The pH of an aquarium naturally drops over time through nitrification. I have seen tanks with ammonia over 6.0 without any symptoms in the fish (pH was 4). Did you do a water change recently? Or add buffer? Something that would have made a safe pH for your ammonia into something harmful?
And please disregard the comment about salt helping ammonia. I believe the person who posted that is confusing ammonia with nitrite. Pure NaCl shouldn't hurt, but something like salt for a marine aquarium will make it worse. The lower the pH the less toxic the ammonia will be. Since your pH is very high the ammonia is much worse for your fish. If you like I can calculate your un-ionized ammonia using your pH, temperature, and ammonia reading. However it's somewhat unnecessary because you already know your ammonia is an issue. I suppose you could add acid or reduce temperature to lower the toxicity, but as I stated there is a reason why you have ammonia and that is what we need to amend. I was asking about your pH because below around 5.5 your nitrifying bacteria stops working. This causes ammonia to accumulate, although it may not pose a problem because its toxicity is low in low pH. Upon raising the pH the fish face serious issues and this is known as "old tank syndrome". The pH of an aquarium naturally drops over time through nitrification. I have seen tanks with ammonia over 6.0 without any symptoms in the fish (pH was 4). Did you do a water change recently? Or add buffer? Something that would have made a safe pH for your ammonia into something harmful?
No added water for 2-3 months.
Nothing has been added in the past 2-3months until this issue happening. Now I have added 2 doses of the AmQuel Plus and almost 2doses of ich rid.
Aquascape Pond Detoxifier makes tap water into pond water. Because tap water including well water often contains chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals, that if left untreated can cause damage to the pond ecosystem.
Nothing has been added in the past 2-3months until this issue happening. Now I have added 2 doses of the AmQuel Plus and almost 2doses of ich rid.
Aquascape Pond Detoxifier makes tap water into pond water. Because tap water including well water often contains chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals, that if left untreated can cause damage to the pond ecosystem.
My bad. You are correct, it inhibits the uptake of Nitrite by the fish. But it does inhibit the uptake of ammonia too. However, this effect is transient and probably should be better applied during shipping or koi shows. Hope you find a cure.
Hmm is it possible that the ammonia is no longer an issue and you are reading a false positive from the amquel plus? That can be really common when testing ammonia after dosing dechlorinator. Idk the source of this ammonia is stumping me. Do you tend to overfeed? Either way I would significantly reduce feeding until your problems are over. Maybe skip a couple of days.
How cold? Enough to wipe out the beneficial bacteria?
From http://www.bioconlabs.com/nitribactfacts.html (but also found in scholarly articles)
"The temperature for optimum growth of nitrifying bacteria is between 77-86° F (25-30° C).
Growth rate is decreased by 50% at 64° F (18° C).
Growth rate is decreased by 75% at 46-50° F.
No activity will occur at 39° F (4° C)
Nitrifying bacteria will die at 32° F (0° C).
Nitrifying bacteria will die at 120° F (49° C)"
Or maybe your bacteria have caught up by now and the reading is a false positive from the Amquel. If that's the case then the level should be good in a few days.
From http://www.bioconlabs.com/nitribactfacts.html (but also found in scholarly articles)
"The temperature for optimum growth of nitrifying bacteria is between 77-86° F (25-30° C).
Growth rate is decreased by 50% at 64° F (18° C).
Growth rate is decreased by 75% at 46-50° F.
No activity will occur at 39° F (4° C)
Nitrifying bacteria will die at 32° F (0° C).
Nitrifying bacteria will die at 120° F (49° C)"
Or maybe your bacteria have caught up by now and the reading is a false positive from the Amquel. If that's the case then the level should be good in a few days.
