# Water problems!! WORRIED



## logan22 (Sep 6, 2010)

I tested my water recently i have had no issues...however now im having one of those moments, and i neeed HELP.. not to sure how to balance everything out! so here it goes in order!

Ammonia Nitrite nitrate kh gh High Range Ph
0.5ppm 0ppm 5.0 7 1 8.0
To high to low to high

so thats what im working on any help would be great thanks you guys!


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## ninez (Apr 21, 2010)

kH 7?

How do you make it to 7? Any kH booster?


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## logan22 (Sep 6, 2010)

i used alk buffer


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## O.C.D Fishies (Apr 21, 2010)

Hey Logan I donèt know anything about your kh, gh or ph but you should not have any ammonia or Nitrite. Whenever I have any ammonia or nitrite readings I do a water change, Usally about 50%. I also get worried when my nitrates get about 20ppm. Hope this helps.


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## ninez (Apr 21, 2010)

logan22 said:


> i used alk buffer


I don't use alk buffer except for my african tanks.
Maybe that's why your kH and pH is so high.
I don't know what pH your fish prefer as I don't have those.

Too bad I can't help much.

Good luck.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

logan22 said:


> I tested my water recently i have had no issues...however now im having one of those moments, and i neeed HELP.. not to sure how to balance everything out! so here it goes in order!
> 
> Ammonia Nitrite nitrate kh gh High Range Ph
> 0.5ppm 0ppm 5.0 7 1 8.0
> ...


logan22,
Your KH is better around 5 for the mix of fish you have. If you do about a 25% water change without adding the Alkalinity buffer it should come down to that and your pH will follow suit. Add salt to bring up the GH. Why you have Ammonia I have no idea but the water change will help with that. Your Nitrate is very low, do you have plants? It is great it is that low but in a fish only it is hard to keep it that low.


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## bigfry (Apr 21, 2010)

Are you using Prime to condition your water? I read on the other forum that Prime may give false readings on ammonia.

I use Prime myself, but I don't trust the ammonia test results.

*****How to test for ammonia when you use Prime***** - SimplyDiscus


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

bigfry said:


> Are you using Prime to condition your water? I read on the other forum that Prime may give false readings on ammonia.
> 
> I use Prime myself, but I don't trust the ammonia test results.
> 
> *****How to test for ammonia when you use Prime***** - SimplyDiscus


Another reason why I cant understand why that product is so popular.....


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

waterchange, waterchange, waterchange...

did you recently do a large trim of plants? this can cause an ammonia spike as plants take up ammonia directly. 

did you increase stock too quickly? this can cause an ammonia spike too. 

So can adding substrate on top of existing substrate, smothering bacteria.


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## logan22 (Sep 6, 2010)

wow thanks for all the feedback... i have a sandy substrate...good to know!!i dont have a planted tank its all fake plants.. And i was using prime for my water conditioner.. but i switched to stress coat...my fish seem to be happy with that..i just recently switched.. a couple days ago.. so maybe thats why.. i maybe be having false ammonia readings...hmm i didnt know prime was a factor in that....what about melafix can that make ammonia and other test have false readings??


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## seanyuki (Apr 22, 2010)

Just sharing


Q: I am using Prime® to control ammonia but my test kit says it is not doing anything, in fact it looks like it added ammonia! What is going on?

A: A Nessler based kit will not read ammonia properly if you are using Prime®... it will look "off scale", sort of a muddy brown (incidentally a Nessler kit will not work with any other products similar to Prime®). A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime®), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away. However, the best solution ;-) is to use our MultiTest: Ammonia™ kit... it uses a gas exchange sensor system which is not affected by the presence of Prime® or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (which is both the free and ionized forms of ammonia (the ionized form is not toxic)).


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## ncutler (Apr 26, 2010)

A random little thing to add:

If you ever start using Seachem's purigen as a filter media, stop using stress coat, it makes the purigen non-regenerable, according to seachem's faq:



> Q: Does AP Stress Coat foul/ruin your Purigen product?
> 
> A: If they use an amine based polymer it will not foul the resin but will render it non-regenerable. What amine based polymers will do is bond not just to Purigen but to any organic scavenging resin as well as any ion exchange resin and when you attempt to regenerate the resin they will then bond with the chlorine to form chloramine which can be released into the aquarium. This is not just an issue with Purigen but with all resins being sold in the pet trade. The problem only occurs when one attempts to regenerate the resin, there is no problem unless you wish to regenerate the resin you are using. Seachem products do not contain amine based polymers and are safe to be used in conjunction with not only our resins but also with other companies resins.


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## Hammer (Apr 22, 2010)

ditto on the water changes. It seems like a lot of chem. in the water. I have Tanganyikans and use aragonite mixed w/ gravel and some African lake salt mix, but the fish I keep might not be that tricky


Hammer


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