Water Changes to Drop Ammonia

[Bderick67]

The general hardness isn't really a concern. It is the carbonate hardness, if it is low your water has no buffering and pH can jump all over the place. What you need is to test the carbonate hardness (kH) also known as alkalinity. Or you can have a go just by your pH readings. You can add sodium bicarbonate(baking soda), crushed coral or limestone. Can't tell ya how much as each aquarium is different. But after adding enough you should see a rise in pH. The baking soda will make for quicker results as the coral or limestone will take time to disolve.

With your pH being as low as it is I would not worry too much about the ammonia, but still keep an eye on it.

 

[muffywrx]

I'm not so sure it's your sand bed... But it is good practice to stir it up frequently to prevent pockets.

 

[david503bk]

Scrubbies works great if the water is being trickled over it. I would get some bio max or pond matrix and leave them submerged in your sump. And yes ammonia is less toxic with a low ph. I use crushed coral to keep my ph steady. Just put some in a filter bag and leave it in your sump. You will need to refill your crush coral every now and then as it disintegrates.

 

[rhodes_96]

From your description You don't have enough bio filtration !
Although the bio wheels colonize bacteria fast, the level of bacteria on them is limited to the small amount of surface area.

For your setup, I would suggest 4Litres of seachem matrix or pond matrix, place it in a filter bags or bags (laundry wash type will do) and place that in your sump. After a few weeks you should notice your ammonia / nitrite problems disappear.

 

[Industrial]

It sounds like, your water doesn't have enough hardness (usually 4+ dgh/dkh) is minimum. Liquid api test kits do a really good job with that.

At lower hardness, your pH will not stay high and stable. 0 hardness means 0 buffers and even CO2 from the atmosphere can alter pH, which is why pure RO water is always below 7.

At lower pH, bacteria cannot thrive as well either, and no matter how much filtration you add, you will not be able to support the bioload until you get the hardness and pH back up, and then your filter should function fine.

Check the pH and hardness of your tap water. pH should be at least 7 and hardness should be at least 4, preferably higher though. If your tap water is messed up, add a pH stabilizer to the new water during water changes.

So

Low hardness = Low pH = Less filter bacteria = More ammonia

Adding extra bio media will not help you, or may help insignificantly. The LFS I work at has about 30-40 1" fish in 10 gallon tanks with only UG filters. There is 0 ammonia with 50% water changes once a week. So the problem isn't that you don't have external scrubbies or bioballs etc...

 

[bjbass]

Scrubbies works great if the water is being trickled over it. I would get some bio max or pond matrix and leave them submerged in your sump. And yes ammonia is less toxic with a low ph. I use crushed coral to keep my ph steady. Just put some in a filter bag and leave it in your sump. You will need to refill your crush coral every now and then as it disintegrates.

Somebody told me once that you can use crushed oyster shells that you can get a farm supply store. They use them as a dietary supplement for chickens. They are a fraction of the cost of the coral. I think I will try that to use and bring up my PH in the same manner you suggested. Are there any benefits to using crushed coral over the crushed oyster shells?

 

[bjbass]

It sounds like, your water doesn't have enough hardness (usually 4+ dgh/dkh) is minimum. Liquid api test kits do a really good job with that.

At lower hardness, your pH will not stay high and stable. 0 hardness means 0 buffers and even CO2 from the atmosphere can alter pH, which is why pure RO water is always below 7.

At lower pH, bacteria cannot thrive as well either, and no matter how much filtration you add, you will not be able to support the bioload until you get the hardness and pH back up, and then your filter should function fine.

Check the pH and hardness of your tap water. pH should be at least 7 and hardness should be at least 4, preferably higher though. If your tap water is messed up, add a pH stabilizer to the new water during water changes.

So

Low hardness = Low pH = Less filter bacteria = More ammonia

Adding extra bio media will not help you, or may help insignificantly. The LFS I work at has about 30-40 1" fish in 10 gallon tanks with only UG filters. There is 0 ammonia with 50% water changes once a week. So the problem isn't that you don't have external scrubbies or bioballs etc...

I ordered a KH/GH API liquid test kit. I will test my water and post when I know what the values are. Thanks so much for your response!

 

[bjbass]

Anybody have any input on using crushed oyster shells to raise the Ph?

 

[jcardona1]

I ordered a KH/GH API liquid test kit. I will test my water and post when I know what the values are. Thanks so much for your response!

Good luck with that test kit. API's GH/KH test kit has been known to be complete garbage. Many times the colors never change, and you can add 100 drops. I threw mine in the trash and bought the Hagen/Nutrafin kit. Works great.

 

[bjbass]

Good luck with that test kit. API's GH/KH test kit has been known to be complete garbage. Many times the colors never change, and you can add 100 drops. I threw mine in the trash and bought the Hagen/Nutrafin kit. Works great.

Crap. I saw somebody mentioned the API kit and bit on it. They had the combo test on the website that I put in an order for, so I went with it. I also ordered 4 liters of Pond Matrix. So hopefully this will help with my ammonia. So far the scrubbies haven't pulled through and I put about 20 of them in my filter trays. I realize it will probably take some time to get the bacteria setting in, but so far there isn't a relief. I have been dosing with Pond Stability every day for about a week now. Perhaps when I get the Matrix in conjunction with the stabilized PH, something will happen.

Can I just submerge the Matrix at the bottom of my sump in a media bag? I don't really have room for it in my filter trays now.