# Did I just killed my bio filtration?



## Youmakemesohappy (Mar 19, 2012)

Hi there,

I did a large water change yesterday (approx.50%) on my planted 32 Gallons tank.
I used tap water directly and added Prime in the tank to treat the water directly in the tank. something I never do usually...
This morning all the fish are hiding (Galaxy rasboras, Otos, Pygmy Cories) and I found 3 shrimps dead + the other shrimps freaking out (Amanos, red cherries, green babaultis)

I tested for Amonia and PH, 0 Amonia but PH was REALLY low.
I just did another 30% water change again and added Stability + some GH and KH since I forgot to do so yesterday.

Did I just destroy my useful bacteria with the large water change from yesterday?
Or could it be just a PH drop because I forgot to add GH/KH?

Any advice welcome!

Nicolas


----------



## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

What do u have for substrate. Usually the substrate act as a buffer. 
Was the water you used from the cold tap or warm. The chlorine or chloramine might have killed it. 
Test your nitrites 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


----------



## Youmakemesohappy (Mar 19, 2012)

I have Ada Amazonia for substrate, and the tap water was probably around 75F.
I'll check Nitrites now


----------



## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Unlikely...I don't believe BC uses Chloramine, and that is what I always do with my tanks and it has never been a problem (even if I don't dechlorinate). The fish/shrimp probably just aren't used to such big swings in parameters, do smaller changes.


----------



## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Most likely from the pH drop if it's much lower than usual. I've had fish die from pH shock when it crashed. My guess is that your biofilter should be fine, I've done 50% water changes from the tap with no issues, but you can check your Nitrate levels to see if it's still working for you.


----------



## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

Considering you've never added tap water without dechlorinating it first and you did that with a 50% water change..and you forgot to add stabality, GH, KH which was a part of your regular routine...that's probably a big surprise to your livestock. I don't think they're stressed because of your bio filtration (which btw I don't think you killed off because many people don't dechlorinate before adding tap water) but because of the sudden change in parameters.


----------



## Youmakemesohappy (Mar 19, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the quick answers.

Nitrates 0, Nitrites 0, Amonia 0

So it might just be the PH swing then ?

Amanos are swimming around like crazy, 
I have added a bit of KH and GH conditioners (African Cichlid type) to raise the GH/KH levels as I forgot to do it yesterday.
Hopefully the PH will come up a bit, its at 6 for now.


----------



## Youmakemesohappy (Mar 19, 2012)

You are probably right Nicole, I hope that is the explanation.
I am going to stick to small regular water changes from now one.
I am battling a Staghorn infestation and was hoping a big WC will help...


----------



## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

When you add prime to the tank you should treat the whole tank volume, e.g. if your tank is 50 gallon you need to does 50 gallon, not 25 gallon when you only change 50% of water. But you should not have killed off your bacteria from the sound of it anyway. 
Your nitrate should not be zero I think...but may be your plant mass is very high?
Anyway, you can add baking soda or alkaline buffer to adjust your pH. Also, some people use oyster shell or crushed coral to prevent the crush. I also think it is your pH and may be temp or other things, not a lack of biofiltration. 
Hope this helps.


----------



## Youmakemesohappy (Mar 19, 2012)

Thanks Fish Rookie for the input!
All is back to normal now, and both fish/shrimp seem to be doing well.

I do have a lot of plants in that tank, so maybe that helped with nitrates?
I also plan on putting some crushed coral in the canister to help with PH.

I think I will stick to small regular water changes from now as I have been always doing so.
No point in changing my routine if it worked so far...


----------



## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Youmakemesohappy said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I did a large water change yesterday (approx.50%) on my planted 32 Gallons tank.
> I used tap water directly and added Prime in the tank to treat the water directly in the tank. something I never do usually...
> ...


If you unplugged your filters when you did the 50% water change than all the good bacteria in them will be fine. Adding prime to your tank water while filling the tank is okay IMO. Once the water level rises high enough to turn the filters back on. The prime should of done its job so the water entering the filters should be chlorine free. Some of the bacteria in the substrate might get harmed but I doubt that aswell since you left 50% off the water in the tank

I agree with everyone that says it was most likely the PH swing. How often are you doing water changes? Also if you raise your KH the tank will be less likely to have a PH swing. Its called a buffering capacity.

Whatever was working before stick with that


----------



## Youmakemesohappy (Mar 19, 2012)

Thanks for the input.

I do 10-15% water changes weekly and the tank has always been doing great until recently with a staghorn invasion.

Things are back to normal now expect I still have staghorn everywhere! But that's another problem...


----------

