I'm unsure that does sound strange. Could it be oxygen levels in the water? If the surface was left completely still it is possible not enough gas exchange was allowed. I can't think of any other reasons other than the PH but there was nothing in there to warrant a PH crash was there!?
Bacteria DieOff
I had 4 ac300 sponges sitting in a bucket of tank water with pure ammonia added for about 4 days at about 70 degrees F. I am currently battling high ammonia levels in my 55 gallon for the last 2 weeks. I am currently diluting the water daily with 30 percent water changes, adding ammo lock, and salt. Still have 8 ppm ammonia. The highest nitrite reading was at .50 ppm but the last 3 days has been zero. Also there is a positive reading on the nitrates. Seems like the bacteria that converts the ammonia to nitrite died off. Besides a possible ph crash what else could have caused the bacteria to die off even though there was an ammonia source in the bucket the sponges were in ? I am baffled on why this happened.
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The first advise i can give you is to NOT use Ammo-Lock!As far as i know it can give you false readings concerning Amonia-Nitrite-Nitrate!
I suggest you also to use some live bacteria like Stress Zyme.They will help you!
I suggest you also to use some live bacteria like Stress Zyme.They will help you!
Jim, I am using a salicylate based ammonia test kit which will rule that out. I am stumped.husky_jim said:The first advise i can give you is to NOT use Ammo-Lock!As far as i know it can give you false readings concerning Amonia-Nitrite-Nitrate!
I suggest you also to use some live bacteria like Stress Zyme.They will help you!
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it has to be the oxygen levels... did you add enough ammonia?
Definitely I added enough on the ammonia...Left the sponges in the compartments they come with and rested them on the bottom of bucket. I had no circulation or air pump. Not sure if that would do it. If it will another thing learned. Need experts to confirm.shutter13 said:it has to be the oxygen levels... did you add enough ammonia?
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that has to be it... next time just put a bubbler right under the media so it gets oxygenjerry_plakyda said:Definitely I added enough on the ammonia...Left the sponges in the compartments they come with and rested them on the bottom of bucket. I had no circulation or air pump. Not sure if that would do it. If it will another thing learned. Need experts to confirm.
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Jerry, without a shadow of a doubt the reason you're seeing this is because of the lack of circulation. For the bacteria to get at the ammonia (it's food source) the water has to pass through the sponge, and without a current you're going to see very little of that happening. because of the porousness of the sponge obviously all the bacteria isn't going to be located on the surface, in fact I'd bet the majority of it is located on the inside since the outer layer only represents a small portion of the surface area available for bacteria to culture on. I'd think this, more than a lack of oxygen in the water is your cause for the bacteria die off.jerry_plakyda said:I had 4 ac300 sponges sitting in a bucket of tank water with pure ammonia added for about 4 days at about 70 degrees F. I am currently battling high ammonia levels in my 55 gallon for the last 2 weeks. I am currently diluting the water daily with 30 percent water changes, adding ammo lock, and salt. Still have 8 ppm ammonia. The highest nitrite reading was at .50 ppm but the last 3 days has been zero. Also there is a positive reading on the nitrates. Seems like the bacteria that converts the ammonia to nitrite died off. Besides a possible ph crash what else could have caused the bacteria to die off even though there was an ammonia source in the bucket the sponges were in ? I am baffled on why this happened.
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I agree that you need to add circulation. You might also want to increase the temp.
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