PH and Ammonia Question?

[indiglo]

I have a 55 gal. And its been up since January of this year. I've been doing my water changes and checking the paramaters. My PH is around 7.8 and the ammonia is a little high. My question is what is the best way to raise the PH to the right parameters and drop the ammonia down to 0ppm's.
And my other non parameters is: What other shrimp would be a good fit with a CB Shrimp?
Thanks

 

[earlybird]

What is your ammonia level? It should be zero and generally indicates a death or an uncycled tank. Also, what are your nitrite levels? When ammonia is present in a cycled tank it's a big red flag that something is very wrong and you should do a large water change to reduce it. As for raising pH we need to know what your alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium levels are as they all play a role in pH and if you want to raise it you'll need to adjust alk and/or calcium depending on what the levels are. Sometimes pH can be raised by adding more flow and surface agitation if you don't have enough flow.

 

[michaeltx]

also it depends on when you check you PH in the morning it will be lower than mid day or at night.
I agree though adding anything right now isnt a good idea with any ammonia present its toxic to fish and inverts and you put eveything in your tank at risk.
Mike

 

[indiglo]

My ammonia was around 0.25 and my PH was around 7.8 and my nitrates are under 10. What happen last night when i got home my lawnmower blenny got caught up filter, and the poor little guy died. The last time I checked the calcium it was around 280 ( I have no corals) but I'm planning on them later down the road. And I never checked the ALK
Thanks

 

[sepulatian]

Check your alk. Don't raise your PH until your ammonia is at a steady zero. Higher ph increases the toxicity of ammonia.

 

[indiglo]

Would the death of the blenny cause the ammonia to go up alittle? I was bummed about finding him dead

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by indiglo
Would the death of the blenny cause the ammonia to go up alittle? I was bummed about finding him dead
It could have, but if you found it right away then it should not have. Do you have another water sample that you can test, such as water mixed for a change, to be certain that the test is not giving a false reading?

 

[indiglo]

I just did a water change this past sunday, and he was out eating and swimming around after the 5 gal water change. He was fine on monday. Then I was out of the house for about 4hrs on tuesday. Then arrived home tuesday night with the filter making a weird noise and the blenny was caught in the system. So im not sure what the time frame was.

 

[sepulatian]

Hm, do another water change and wait to see what the ammonia reads. Did it read zero before?

 

[indiglo]

Yes. I thought maybe cause of the death of the blenny it might of raised it a bit. What does the ALK in the water do? Im still in the process of learning.

 

[earlybird]

Originally Posted by indiglo
Yes. I thought maybe cause of the death of the blenny it might of raised it a bit. What does the ALK in the water do? Im still in the process of learning.
This is one of the most helpful threads I've read on this fourm check it out. It helped me understand the relationship between calcium and alkalinity with pH. https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=48111