Ammonia still detectable!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Okay I just tested my water in the tank:
Ph: 8.2 (went down 0.1, yay!)
Ammonia: 0.25 (maybe my test kit IS faulty, because it seems like my ammonia has never gone down to 0...)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5.0

Also, just a little note:
So it has been a day since I took the plastic waterfall ornament out, and the ph dropped a little. Hmmm.... interesting... I might be wrong, but still!
 
i am lost as to what it may be considering what you have told us

the well water, being hard already, should not go up in the tank. Especially with driftwood and sand - there is no reason to raise the kH, it might stay the same but definitely not go higher unless there is material in the tank to raise it.

pH is pushed up by the kH... hmmm...keep us posted - maybe someone else might be able to offer some opinions
 
Yes, I am at a loss as to what it is too! I swear I have thought of EVERYTHING. If anyone can figure it out that would be great! If anyone needs any extra info just tell me, I will be glad to post it.
 
Any chance you have help full roommates? I had this problem with a roomy adding untreated tap to a reef tank as top off water, not pretty.

It's also possible that one of your pieces of drift wood was contaminated it's rare but can happen. The sunstrate could also hold some fragments of the clam shell, as can the filter.
 
No, no roommates. :)
Would just pieces of the shell really raise the ph that much though?
If my driftwood was contaminated... well what exactly does that mean? How could that affect the ph?
 
Depends on how big the shell was and how much sloughed off into the substrate, though in a I'll admit 75 it's unlikely.

The drift wood could have come from an African Rift Lake tank and absorbed a great deal of calcium bicarbonate which is now leaching into your water.
 
Hmm.. well I would have never guessed that! Should I remove the driftwood, and keep it in a bucket of the R/O water, just to see what it does? I guess thats my last hope! Thank you for suggesting that. :D
 
I would be hesitant in removing the driftwood...more then likely your pH will be affected and rise
 
Pull the drift wood one at a time. This way if you get leaching with only one you will know which piece is the culprit. Never had mystery snails so I'm not sure if moving to a bucket while testing this would be safe or needed.

Hasi is correct you may get a rise in pH when testing.
 
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