Water change's and still Ammonia >.<

[-Jennie-]

I have had my tank set up for almost 2 months now. I was having problems at first with the amount of Nitrite in the water (I have beeing using a mastery kit, not test strips), finally a little over a week ago nitrites has drops to zero and has stayed there ever since :D My problem now is all of a sudden the water is showing high ammonia and low pH.

Here are my readings:

pH: 6.8
Ammonia: 1 ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Chlorine: 0

I have been doing a 25%water change and the ammonia drops to .50ppm then shoots back up to 1 ppm. I have pH up, but I have heard that its not that good to use the liquid, so I have a cuddle bone in the tank (I read that I could use that or that I can use repti powder calcium). But still, I can't keep the pH up. When I was having trouble with the Nitrites my pH stayed where it was suppose to be!

I have one apple snail in my 2.5 gal tank, I don't have live plants in the tank and I have a filter, I also have to LED leghts in the tank (red and white) if that helps at all. The temp stays where it should, which is around 75dgs.

My snail has actually been ALOT more active and has been eating normally, maybe even more so. I don't know if she has just adjusted to what has been going on in the water or what, but I know ammonia should always remain at zero.

Any ideas? :help:

[Tongue33]

Decaying materials give off ammonia..

And if you want your pH to be higher i would use crushed coral.. Much better and more natural than implementing calc.. or soem chamical liquid.. :) Strictly personal opinion :)

The tank is 2.5 G??

[Mgamer20o0]

i wouldnt mess with the ph at all. have you tested the water. some times ammonia shows up in the water. the other thing could be overfeeding.

[Rbishop]

Post some readings on your tap water for comparisons.

[TKOS]

Just to be clear - this is a 2.5 gallon tank with an apple snail and that is it?

[-Jennie-]

Yeah its 2-2.5gal. One apple snail. I had tested my tap water tons of times ever since I set up the tank and everything its fine with that. I thought I was over feeding her...But she has been eating everything that I can see. I feed her Hikari Tropical Sinking Wafers (the smallest you can get I think) haha. She loves them! I only feed her what she can eat and I do 25% water changes like I should.

Do you think it could be the filter? I was thinking about getting a small air pump, would that help decrease ammonia?

[TKOS]

An air pump on't do anything but make bubbles. Unfortunatley the only thing to keep doing at this point is water changes. And frankly in a tank that small, the more often they are done the better. It is hard to get tiny tanks properly cycled.

Have you ever changed your filter media? And what sort of current does your filter make?

On a side note, also try feeding your snail some fresh veggies, like broolli slices, zuchinnni or spinach. You may have to sink them with a rock but the snail will love it and it is very good for them.

[-Jennie-]

I have been doing water changes, its starting on every 2-3 days now. I havent changed that filter at all, its the smae one I've used ever since setting up the tank, and when I clean it its cleaned in the tank water thats taken out durning cleaning.

Iv'e Tryed giving her fruits and stuff...she just ignores it. Im going to keep trying though, I'm sure I can find SOMETHING she likes.

[-Jennie-]

Oh...and the filter creates some movement on the water's surface.