I give up

starkissed

starkissed

Member
My tanks are not doing good. My temp tank holding my livestock has a ammonia reading of .25mg/l after trying to do a water change but the PH is 7.0 which is horriable... and the tank I am cycleing went after a water change all the way up to an ammonia reading of 3.0 but the ph is 8.0 on that one... salinity is 1.022 and Nitrates are 0 in both tanks .... I give up on what else to try but to just let them be .... cause I seem to be making it worse by water changes. I have no idea what one of these is better for my livestock cause they are both bad.
I should have just gave up when my tank busted the seam instead of trying to save what i had.
 
starkissed

starkissed

Member
the temporary tank was from one mix.... and that one got better after the water change from the new mix..... and the new tank is 100% the new mix ... so I don't think that is it
 
nemo's mom

nemo's mom

Member
How long has your tank been set up? What kind of pump are you using? Do you have powerheads? I used to have trouble with my PH. I added some powerheads and no longer have problems. Also, what kind of light do you have and how long is it on? Light can also cause low PH...PH tends to drop at night so it depends on when you do your tesing....
Ammonia of .25 is not great but most fish will survive in it. One of my powerheads came of the glass the other day and knocked over some ricks and stirred up the sand pretty good and cause an ammonia spike. All coral and fish did fine...
Please tell us how long your tank has been set-up and what your other readings are. What kind of fish do you have?
 
starkissed

starkissed

Member
My small tank is a temp tank because my tank sprung a leak. I got the PH to 8.0 on that one but the ammonia was somewhere around .25 I did a 1.5 gallon water change this morning and havn't re-tested but everything seems ok in there now. I have no substrate in that tank but the rock and water came right from the tank that leaked which i had up for over a year. I took the power heads off cause I have a HOT filter running on it and in a 10 gallon my power heads were just so strong. I have in that tank a maroon striped clown .. a royal gramma... a elephant sea slug.. and a three strip damsel.
My new tank has only been up for a week and a half or so. I know I know it is probably going through its normal cycle but I was advised by many ppl that if I used some water and substrate from my old tank it would only take a few days. I just don't like the idea of leaving my stuff in a riged up 10 gal.
Thanks everyone I appreciate your help..
And I will stop doing water changes and see what happens
 
starkissed

starkissed

Member
I just tested my small tank again... and my amonia is up to 1.25 again... at least it isn't worse but I dont' want it to kill everything... any sugestions
 
nemo's mom

nemo's mom

Member
There are chemicals (Prime drops) you can buy that will lower the ammonia. You could use it as a temp fix until you figure out what's causing the spike. I would not recommend this long-term though
 
starkissed

starkissed

Member
I took the filter out that I am running on that tank... The power head I had was way to powerful... I am letting the filter run without the carbon pad.... It was kinda dirty... I figured that is where the amonia could be coming from on the small tank.... and well with the big one I guess just time... i got a Maroon striped clown today that I agreed to buying before this and he aclimated and is doing great so I guess I shouldn't worry
 
starkissed

starkissed

Member
oh is just the filter enough since it is oxagenating (sp?) the tank.... the feather duster is open and the fish seem happy? it is only 10 gal
 
tscuda

tscuda

Member
I'll throw my two cents in the pot. Cut your feedings in half. Four fish in a 10 gal will build up ammonia fast. And keep doing water changes. 1 to 2 gals aday. As for the filter rinse it out to remove food waste. the filter it self has good bacteria in it which eats the ammonia.
 
starkissed

starkissed

Member
I am going to buy a new filter tomorrw since i can't rinse the other one clean.... it looks bad... and I only have 3 fish in the tank and the three strip damsel is so small he is like the size of my thumb nail..... non of these fish are big at all
 
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