happy new year all, i think i have a problem ,i did a 50%water change 2 days ago and when the water level came down i could see that both pumps had just a trickle of water coming out, the last time i did a water change 2 weeks ago it was running fine ,i cleaned out both filters 2x fluvel 305,in the tank water that was emptying ,but when i filled up again i could not get the filters going priming did not do any thing so i put the hose up the inlet to push it through a bit not thinking at that time that it could cause bio problems it worked but in 2 days the water has gone cloudy i did a test tonight and have nitrate 15-20, amonia 1.00, nitrite 0, and my ph has droped to 6.6 which is acidic what do i do ,the fish dont seem to be bothered but you can even smell the water now like its staginant. i tested my tap water and it showed 7.6 ,although i did put warm water from the tap in aswell would that be it ,and will spa ph plus for my hot tub be ok to bring the ph up ,

sounds like a mini cycle... 25% waterchanges daily till ammonia is zero. i would say you hurt your BB with chlorinated water...

adding some carbon will get rid of the smell.

win ,sorry but carbon what?????????????? i was shit at science , quite a lot of other things too lol

Sounds like it could be a bacterial bloom caused by a little bit of bacteria dying off. I shouldn't worry, if your fish acting normal then they are obviously not in immediate danger. I reckon things will settle down within a week or two

Personally, I wouldn't bother with carbon, the smell will go

I would do 25% water change and then add prime to cover the total volume of water in the tank. this should take care of it, check daily for ammonia,nitrites. if they start rising higher do the same 25% add prime. your filters should recover quickly.

what about the ph at 6.6 in my book it said it is bad to be that low.

6.6 is fine as long as it is stable. oscars like between 6 and 8. you are fine

thanks nickisue ,did you have a good new year,

nope, it has been shit... you?

oh i sorry to hear that nicki i hope things get better for you ,ive been at home all the time as mother had a hip done on the 18 dec so she stayed with us ,just took her home today ,she coping well ,got to get her good for 15 feb ,16 of us going to sharm in eygpt for my big 40th bday for 10 days,

tjwads wrote:


So it is your turn to become 40? I had that privilege last year, 41 this year, can't believe in nine years, I will be 50, that is a very scary thought