ammonia vs. ammonium HELP!!!
- Thread starter dodgefreak8
- Start date
ammonium gets trapped in the plants and released again i think one way of controling it is to prune your plants on a regular basis the amnonium goes with the trimmings also i stop feeding for 3 days every 2 weeks to eliminate excess decay from food such as over feeding i hope this be a bit of help just something i picked up along the way i may be off base the thread has gotten a little confusing..
Howdy,
There were some excellent questions, the best came from DeLgAdO
: Your pH value is the pivotal point, since it directs the equilibrium between ammoinia and ammonium. With 0.25 ppm total NH3/NH4, you are still safe. Once it hits 1 ppm or once your pH value rises above 8 you are in trouble (or rather your fish are in trouble).
However, you should do something about it, since your tank seems to be on the edge. Your filtrations sounds good, yet, I still believe that this is where your problem is. High ammonia means nothing but a) decaying biomaterial in your tank or b) insufficient biofiltration. I simply assume that you remove excess food and dead plants on a regular basis. Therefore, I rule out option a). It might be your filter maintenance. Maybe you clean your filters too often and, thus, prevent bacteria from reaching full capacity?! Try bottled bacteria again as if you set up a new tank (bottle instructions). Also, leave your biomedia alone for several weeks/months. Did you maybe use meds that killed your bacteria?
Also, plants are your friends No need to prune healthy leaves off. However, you should remove any detritus from your tank.
Good luck,
HarleyK
There were some excellent questions, the best came from DeLgAdO
: Your pH value is the pivotal point, since it directs the equilibrium between ammoinia and ammonium. With 0.25 ppm total NH3/NH4, you are still safe. Once it hits 1 ppm or once your pH value rises above 8 you are in trouble (or rather your fish are in trouble).However, you should do something about it, since your tank seems to be on the edge. Your filtrations sounds good, yet, I still believe that this is where your problem is. High ammonia means nothing but a) decaying biomaterial in your tank or b) insufficient biofiltration. I simply assume that you remove excess food and dead plants on a regular basis. Therefore, I rule out option a). It might be your filter maintenance. Maybe you clean your filters too often and, thus, prevent bacteria from reaching full capacity?! Try bottled bacteria again as if you set up a new tank (bottle instructions). Also, leave your biomedia alone for several weeks/months. Did you maybe use meds that killed your bacteria?
Also, plants are your friends
No need to prune healthy leaves off. However, you should remove any detritus from your tank.Good luck,
HarleyK
I just looked at my Ammonia test kit last night and I was wrong, it does actually read right down to 0 in 0.1mg/l increments. My tank currently reads '0' so yeah you may need to look at it and see if you can find out whats causing it. I wouldnt be too alarmed about levels that low, but I'd still look into it.
I don't use any treatments or chemicals and my tap water is almost perfect for fish keeping. I will use prime on occasion but very rairly. I do remove dead plants and excess food everyday. As before my ph is still about 7.6 and never moves do to my weekly water changes of 50% as for filter maintenace I will clean just the filter pads on my xp3 canister filters when it seems like my flow has been reduced which is about once every 2 months and I alternate which filter I am cleaning so I don't clean both at once. I very rairly clean my emporer filters because I am using them primarily as biofiltration. I will rinse the pads when the filter shows them backing up water. as for my wet/dry I have never cleaned anything but the batting I use for a prefilter. The only med I have ever used in this tank was melafix/pimafix which I now hate and will never use again. I gravel vac weekly but only in spots as to not remove to much bacteria.. Now that the issue has come up I have a fairly large amazon sword plant that isn't doing much but loosing leaves. It never grows and the leaves are torn in places. Could his plant be releasing ammonium since its not doing so well? I honestly don't think my filtration is the problem but I have been wrong before. thanks for all the help I really appreciate it
sword plants need iron suplement or the leaves yellow and die add some plant fertlizer richin iron i prefer the spikes they last a year this could help with your prob most certainly willl help your swords at least
I use flourish iron sometimes and I have the fourish tabs next to both swords.. Is this still not enough?
dodgefreak8 said:
Howdy,
That's a tough case.
Please refresh my memory: Whart size is your tank, and what fish do you keep? I found your filtration above. What do you feed, how much, and how often?
Think back to the origin of your problems: Did you change anything on your set-up right before ammonia started to rise?
Last but not least: You mentioned test strips and drip tests, which basically rules out test malfunction. But do you get a negative reading with distilled water?
HarleyK
