Ph Keeps Changing? Also Ammonia Always .25

[snazy]

I thought taking the plants out would stop the tank ph changing so rapidly at night lol.
Thanks for the info il get some crushed coral in my filter asap.
 

 
Ah, ok. I get it. I didn't suggest that.
The problem can happen only if your Kh reads 0. Yours is definately bottoming out on regular basis, so the minimum of things can shift the Ph, whether plants or a high bioload of fish, etc..Or ammonia to nitrIte conversion or a dozen other acidifying processes that go on in a tank.
Your problem is the Kh is not high enough to keep the Ph stable long term. As long as you have that under control so it never bottoms out, the plants can't do a thing at night.
But you need to decide whether you are going to run the CO2 at night as well? As the plants aren't consuming it then and the problem you should worry about isn't the drop in Ph the CO2 normally causes when the Kh is stable, but gassing the fish with CO2.
 If you are going for a 24/7 CO2, you need to increase the surface aggitation/add air pump at night to outgas the excess levels of CO2.
 Or just run the CO2 on a timer. You need to turn it on about 2 hrs before the lights turn on, so the level of CO2 is right for when the plants "wake up". That's the most important time for your plants...  Then you turn it off 2-3 hours before the tank lights are supposed to turn off.  The drop checker doesn't show current levels of CO2, but the levels couple of hours prior, so keep that in mind.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Having used crushed coral on an off for a while I can offer a few observations. suggestions.
 
1. It dissolves slowly but still does need to be replenished over time.
2. It is not real soluble in water. You can only get so much in.
3. Start with about 3/4 of a cup to begin with and then expect it to take some time to get the kH up to its max level for that amount, Do not try to judge the final effects for a couple of weeks. You may find you need a bit more coral. I started with 1/2 cup in a 50 gal.
 
I first began using it when I got pressurized co2 for a high tech planted tank. My kh was in the 85-90 ppm range but it was dropping towards 35 ppm or less and I worried about a crash. I removed the coral after a number of months. I ran the tank for another 10 years w/o the coral and over that time my tap water became a bit softer and lower in KH as well. My pH never crashed nor did my co2 bottle ever do an end of bottle dump.
 
There are some interesting threads on plant forums debating the use of co2 with as low as 0 kh. Here is one from a few years back http/www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/27522-low-kh-ph-crash.html

 

[Fluval-1200]

Thanks for the info, I went to the lfs today and they didn't have any small bags of crushed coral and I wont buy the big bag.
 
Ive got some seachem neutral ph stuff which he said would do the trick.
I tested my dh kh and ph today, Ph is around 7 dh and gh were both above 100ppm. That was about an hour or 2 after the lights come on.
 
Where do I go from here as im confused on what todo?

 

[snazy]

I wouldn't use the chemicals they sold you. They aren't a permanent solution and you'd need to dose it up regularly.
It can shift your parameters too much, too often, instead of stabalizing them.

 

[snazy]

And from the Seachem website in regards to their Ph buffer:
 
"I will remind you that we market this product for use with freshwater community tanks. We do not recommend this product for heavily planted or saltwater tank."
 
The reason they don't recommend that in planted tanks, is because the buffer is phosphate based. In a planted tank the plants will use the phosphates, causing major swings in chemistry.

 

[Fluval-1200]

Crushed coral it is then lol, can I just hang it in bag in the tank til I find the right amount instead of putting it in my filter? my filter bit of a pita to open up

 

[snazy]

You probably can, but it will be more efficient and faster in the filter as water will push through it each time.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

In the filter is best.
 
You wont need to open the filter a lot. At the start put in 3/4 cup. monitor but do not think its final until a couple of weeks.
 
Also, bear in mind when you do a water change, you may actually be lowering the KH. I suggest once the coral has started to work, you test before and after doing a wc to know what is up. The pre-change test will also show if you need to adjust the amount of coral up or down. After that, maybe every 3 months or so replenish.