Ammonia And Ph Chaos!

[electric yellow]

I have a problem with ammonia and acidity in my 28ltr tank. I noticed it a week or so ago and it doesnt seem to be getting any better.

Tank details are as follows...
Pink Aqua Start 320 28ltr
Gravel decor
Divided by penplax plastic dividers and houses two betta. 1x veil tail 1x PK
Internal filtration with spray head
1x air stone on each side
1x silk plant on each side
1x ceramic pot on each side
Light is hardly on due to being in a well lit room
2x plant cut offs (OLD) now removed incase of ammonia cause
heated to 26deg celcius

Water stats:
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
ammonia 8.0
ph 5.8

I have been doing water changes every two days to try to bring it down and also used water conditioner that takes away all the metals and ammonia. I added ph balance stuff but nothing seems to be working. Today i did another 50% water change and its come down a fraction. I removed the plants incase the oldness of them is what has caused it. They arent fed every day and when they are they are only fed what they can eat. Which for my bettas is one flake!

Id rather not add any ammo lock or other lock chemicals. id rather find the cause and treat it before it kills my fish.

 

[WILDER]

I wouldn't use ph adjusters there more trouble than there worth.
Why do you need to alter ph with betta.
How often do you maintain the tank.
What is your tap nitrate reading and do you have live plants.

Ammonia reading once tanks cycled can mean over feeding, lack of maintance, overstocked tanks.
What filter are you running. How many gallons is the filter for.

 

[electric yellow]

Thats just it, ive never had to alter the ph balance before. It comes out of my tap neutral so doesnt need adjusting. I didnt have plants in there then i put a cutting off one plant from my 3ft into their tank. One cutting on each side. I do weekly water changes of around 25-30%. The filter is an undergravel filter that came with the tank. It shouldnt be the issue as there is only two bettas in there. Its been running for around 8mths now and the tank had been used prior to housing two bettas.

This is the filter is came with..

Im wondering whether it is a water flow problem and maybe one the divider in the middle is not letting as much water through as it should?

Divider in the back ground..

Tank..

Its never been an issue before and the ammonia suddenly went through the roof when we were in the middle of a massive heat wave here. (all though that probably has nothing to do with it) Also our water catchments here are really low so would that affect the water quality and maybe add excess ammonia or something? If its a case of bad filtration i can either rehome one betta into another tank and pull down the divider but its never been an issue before

 

[WILDER]

Its best when tanks are divided to have a filter on each side to stop the flow getting trapped.
Do you remove ornaments and give the gravel a good vac.
Under gravel filters are outdated now and are more trouble than there worth.
You might be better off also posting this thread in tropical discussion as more members go over there.
Do you run and internal filter with the undergravel filter. If so might want to think of ripping the undergravel filter out.

 

[electric yellow]

I will cross post Thank Wilder

Its just the one internal ungravel filter. The ornaments and silk plants get washed whenever i do a water change so they dont go yuck. I ripped out the under gravel filter from my other awua start 320 and have a single power head in it and that seems to be fine. Maybe i should put a power head on the other side..

 

[WILDER]

Under gravel filters can soon blog up and you get alot of members saying they wish they had never used them.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Electric Yellow,

With ammonia reading at 8.0, I'm surprised your fish aren't already dead.

Which test kit are you using as that sound unusually high?

You need to take remedial action immediately. Do a 90% water change NOW. Just make sure to dechlorinate the replacement water and match the temperature as best you can.

Test again after half an hour. If ammonia is still above 0.25, do another water change. Repeat until ammonia is 0.25 or below, and then keep it there by performing as many water changes as are required to do so.

Once you have that under control, you can start looking for the cause. The way things are at the moment, the fish may well die whilst you are looking to identify the problem.

Good luck. Any other questions, just ask.

BTT