Ammonia readings and relationship to Ph

[RichVic]

Hi all,
Originally using Peat in filter to lower Ph from 7.2 ( out of Tap) but after reading that 7.2 is fine so long as it doesn't fluctuatue, I have been leaving it alone. This weak I've had ammonia readings despite 50% a day changes to get rid of it. On the week-end I changed 50% morning & again 50% that afternoon. Alas the reading was still 0.5ppm. I've since been told that if Ph is 6.8 or below, the Ammonia can only exist in the less toxic form
Ammonium and the reverse is true -ie the less toxic form becomes toxic in Ph of 7 or above. The Nitrite & Nitrates are Zero. I have removed the potted plants in case they were causing the problem and also cleaned the week-old filter. The tank is 4 ft x 18inches x 14 and has 10 juvenille discus only.
Will I go back to the keeping Ph down or is there another solution ?

[Daetarek]

sounds like your new tank and/or filter is cycling, this is perfectly normal in the first few weeks of operating new equipment, just keep up the water changes, and make sure it dfoesn't spike too high

[FishLover]

Make sure you do not disturbe the bio media when you do the cleaning of your filters.As you said the filter is two weeks old, if you don't have any old bio media to start with, your tank is cycling. It will take about 5 weeks (or longer) before the bio media can catach up with the ammonia produced by the fish. In the mean time, keep up with the water changes and monitor the ammonia or your fish will be in serious trouble.

[RichVic]

Thanks guys,
Yes it is cycling and I would expect a bit of ammonia, but my question was
more about the Ph affecting the ammonia readings - Any thoughts about that aspect at all ??? I posted another question about medications killing off good bacteria in the (original tank) filter, in order to work out if there was any good bacteria left (after the 2 doses of fungus cure) to be transferred over tohte current tank alas nobody has responded to that question at all!
So I may have gone through the motions but accomplished nothing! :(

[Daetarek]

You are indeed correct at lower pH values ammonia is present in its less toxic form, however it is still part of the tank cycle, it will still be broken down into nitrites and then nitrates, and is an essential step, however, at lower pH values, although not as bad for fish, it can still affect water quality and fish health, its "less" toxic not "non toxic" so it just requires a slightly higher dosages to cause negative effects, excess ammonia in either form is bad ... so regular water changes will reduce this effect, its all part of the cycle unfortunatly :(

my tank is fully cycled and i have to do water changes every other day, or else it gets out of hand :(

Also remember that every ppm used by ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and so on and so forth, is one less ppm for the good stuff like oxygen, trace elements, etc ...

this is from my limited knowledge, but i hope this helps
ta
Rob

[Merrilyn]

Also remember that every ppm used by ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and so on and so forth, is one less ppm for the good stuff like oxygen, trace elements, etc ...

Rob

Not sure what you mean by that Rob :?

Can you explain further?

[endless]

yep at lower ph ammonia is non toxic. However dont drop your ph too much as this will hinder your cycle process. The good bacterias dont work as well in converting ammonia to nitrite and finally to nitrate at low ph.

[wickedglass]

I understand the logic behind this, but it doesn't work in quite that way. ppm is measurement of parts per million, you don't start out with a certain set of parts like lego pieces where the only thing you can change is ... for example ... the colour of the pieces. You can actually add pieces or take them away etc. Just because you have more ammonia, etc, doesn't mean you have less of something else.





Also remember that every ppm used by ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and so on and so forth, is one less ppm for the good stuff like oxygen, trace elements, etc ...

Rob

Not sure what you mean by that Rob :?

Can you explain further?