Hello; Have you cleaned the test kit vials with distilled water? It is my take that even a small amount of contamination can skew the results.
EMERGENCY: High Ammonia
- Thread starter imabot
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- Dec 2, 2018
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wait it was a neon??? And you have it at 8.0???
Are you at all familiar with the care requirements of neon tetras? No wonder it died, I'm surprised it lived 2 days in 8. Lower the pH, that will help with your ammonia problem too.
Are you at all familiar with the care requirements of neon tetras? No wonder it died, I'm surprised it lived 2 days in 8. Lower the pH, that will help with your ammonia problem too.
Yes,I asked the guy at the LFS what PH they kept their Neons at when I got them and he said 8.0 storewide with a lifespan of 3 or so years in their display tanks. I've never had a neon die in 8.0 PH since I got them in late May for 8+ months now with normal activity and loose schooling. And it didn't die, it's swimming fine now and quit floating at the top 4 hours ago.
How well do almond leaves work?
Don’t mess with the ph. When you try to mess with the ph you get swings and can eventually cause a ph crash. More consistent ph levels are more important than making sure the ph matches the fish’s natural environment.
Almond leaves, oak leaves, alder cones, etc.. are extremely beneficial to fish. They will not do anything at all to the pH though. They have slight effect on the KH. I wouldn't let that put me off and the addition of some helps improve fish health in the long run.
It sounds like you water provider uses chloramine as a disinfectant (chloramine is a combination of (normally) 4 parts chlorine, with 1 part ammonia, and often shows on tests as @ 0.25ppm ammonia reading.
Chloramine is very stable, so unless a de-chlorinator is used when doing water changes can be deadly, this is one reason it is used by water companies to keep disease causing bacteria out of a large distribution system, and also....when combined with organics, it doesn't produce carcinogens like straight chlorine does (trihalomethane).
Also......
Did you test your tanks pH just before the water change?
If the tanks pH was say...6 just before the water change due to a weeks worth of metabolism, and you added 50% of the tanks volume with pH 8 water, straight from the tap, this could account for the neons response (pH shock).
Next time you are ready to do a water change, test the tanks water, if you have a pH discrepancy between 6 and 8, you may want to consider, changing your water change schedule.
In a 2 point pH scale difference, the tank water is in reality is 200 times more acidic at 6 than tap 8.
If.....that is the case, 2 x 25% water changes per week might be less stressful for the fish, than just 1, 50% change.
And while I'm blathering, when you did the water change, did you switch out a filter pad, or very thoroughly clean media in tap water.
This may have compromised the ammonia eating bacteria to a point of creating an ammonia spike.
Small tanks are notorious for being sensitive to these disruptions.
Chloramine is very stable, so unless a de-chlorinator is used when doing water changes can be deadly, this is one reason it is used by water companies to keep disease causing bacteria out of a large distribution system, and also....when combined with organics, it doesn't produce carcinogens like straight chlorine does (trihalomethane).
Also......
Did you test your tanks pH just before the water change?
If the tanks pH was say...6 just before the water change due to a weeks worth of metabolism, and you added 50% of the tanks volume with pH 8 water, straight from the tap, this could account for the neons response (pH shock).
Next time you are ready to do a water change, test the tanks water, if you have a pH discrepancy between 6 and 8, you may want to consider, changing your water change schedule.
In a 2 point pH scale difference, the tank water is in reality is 200 times more acidic at 6 than tap 8.
If.....that is the case, 2 x 25% water changes per week might be less stressful for the fish, than just 1, 50% change.
And while I'm blathering, when you did the water change, did you switch out a filter pad, or very thoroughly clean media in tap water.
This may have compromised the ammonia eating bacteria to a point of creating an ammonia spike.
Small tanks are notorious for being sensitive to these disruptions.
I wouldn’t go chasing the ph. If it stays at 8 it’s fine. When you go messing with it it’ll cause more harm then good most of the time (trust me I know lol). 8 shouldn’t be high enough to where the neon couldn’t acclimate to it. I mean I have an angelfish that is supposed to be around 6ish to 7, and my water is 8. Never had any problems. And it’s not like tetras are a weak fish by any means. I kinda agree with duanes on this, sounds like an ammonia spike after cleaning media with tap water. Or could possibly be a not fully cycled tank.
- Dec 2, 2018
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Cleaning the media won’t mean anything about how long it’s been running though. More information is needed. My main point is that ph is not the cause and doesn’t need to be chased.
I haven't rinsed it or anything like that. I pour in tap water with a bit of conditioner before to prime the filter as the manual says to fill with water and to turn it on after.
