Ammonia Problems

[Pazuzu]

Long term solution is to add crushed coral. It will also raise the pH of the water though. A short term solution would be to add baking soda. I am not sure of the exact measurments needed though, so do some research. If you google "raising kH aquarium" you will probably find your answer quickly.

[Reaperpilot2014]

I like baking soda because I feel like I have more control over it. You can have the kh be constant. Aragonite works, but it is a gradual thing and doesn't last forever IME.

[Terrance]

I'm probably going to go with crushed coral in a mesh aquarium bag because its easy to remove/exchange, clean when needed, and have a little bit more control over kH level like I would with baking soda. I'll place it in my Marineland Eclipse in the hood filter.

So most of my BB is probably dead by now. Feels like I'm starting from the starting line again and wasted a bottle of Safestart. -_-

Maybe I'll just get another Safestart and the kH liquid test.

I never considered kH before!

What is gH and should that be increased as well?


If this tank might be affected by kh/gh, then why aren't my other tanks being affected? I have the exact same setups for those tanks.

[sevenyearnight]

The KH from my tap isn't even measurable with a liquid test, it's that low, that's why I asked, RTR had helped me with a problem some months back dealing with KH.
I chose adding baking soda to tank (dissolved first of course ) and to all of my exchange water because I want to make sure the water going in would be the same as what is in the tank. I could add cc at some point, but the baking soda is such a negligible amount and really no pain in the butt at all.

[Reaperpilot2014]

+1. Lots more control equals less chance of harming your puffer.

[RTR]

The baking soda is the correct short-term correction, but you absolutely have to be aware that it is porentially and actually dangerous. Lots of folks have k[iiled their fish by adding baking soda directly to the tank. It is usually called "pH shock" but it is not that. There is no such thing as pH shock, it is osmotic shock and the fish are dead no matter how you label it.

Nobody should make water corrections without liquid based tet kits. Test strips are worthless and worse - they lie to you because they are so unreliable.

Before you can do anything you need to test both your aged tap water and the tank water pH and KH. If you can do some or all the corrections by water changes m that is the safest route. Bur without good repeatable tests, we cannot know what needs to be done.

Once the short-term corrections are made, we can set the tank up for long-term control of the KH to support nitrification.

HTH

[sevenyearnight]

Yep, dissolved and tested before it goes into the tank to match.

[Terrance]

Alrighty guys i just gave my cutcutia to my lfs and put my turgidus in the cutcutia's tank until i get the bacteria going again in the 29g. They didnt have any kh/gh test kits in stock so i'll try elsewhere.

[Pazuzu]

If you haven't found a test kit yet, you can get the Freshwater Master Test kit at Petsmart. It is about 30 bucks though, it tests Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, gH, kH, and pH.

[sevenyearnight]

The new API Freshwater Master Kit doesn't test for GH and KH, but you can buy the combo test online for about $6. The Tetra Laborett tests GH and KH, but it doesn't have a NO3 test.
I prefer the API test for ammonia because it is salicylic acid based, as my water company told me to buy that type to be able to get a true ammonia reading and not a false chloramine reading.

[Pazuzu]

The new API Freshwater Master Kit doesn't test for GH and KH

Lame... the price has gone up since I last bought it, and the one I last bought came with GH & KH.