I am a longtime aquarist (freshwater community), but much of that was a decade or more ago. I am setting up a new freshwater 65 gal tank and I am dosing with Ammonia to cycle. Tank has ~3" gravel substrate and a Eheim Pro 4 600 canister using the supplied media (I have no access to seeding material). Temperature is 28C (82 F). All substrate and media were carefully rinsed before using. I dosed with Seachem according to instructions when I started the cycle.
Cycle was started about 2 weeks ago. I dosed ammonia to ~4 ppm. I haven't seen much if any drop in ammonia and no nitrites. I got impatient with no changes, so did some additional research and I decided to measure kH (not originally considered). I got an API kH test kit and saw that my kH was very low (0-50ppm). After finding a formula online, I dosed some baking soda to raise the kH. Either the formula was off or I miscalculated, but this had a bigger effect on kH than I was looking for. It takes 8 drops to turn yellow with the API kit (8 dkH). The pH was also affected by the bicarbonate more than I expected, moving from 6.8 to 7.8.
I think these levels kH and pH are good by themselves, but it was a sudden change for the tank chemistry.
Questions:
1. Will the big change in kH/pH have an adverse impact on completing the cycle?
2. Should I make an intervention like a PWC at this point or let it ride?
Thanks for your help.
Cycle was started about 2 weeks ago. I dosed ammonia to ~4 ppm. I haven't seen much if any drop in ammonia and no nitrites. I got impatient with no changes, so did some additional research and I decided to measure kH (not originally considered). I got an API kH test kit and saw that my kH was very low (0-50ppm). After finding a formula online, I dosed some baking soda to raise the kH. Either the formula was off or I miscalculated, but this had a bigger effect on kH than I was looking for. It takes 8 drops to turn yellow with the API kit (8 dkH). The pH was also affected by the bicarbonate more than I expected, moving from 6.8 to 7.8.
I think these levels kH and pH are good by themselves, but it was a sudden change for the tank chemistry.
Questions:
1. Will the big change in kH/pH have an adverse impact on completing the cycle?
2. Should I make an intervention like a PWC at this point or let it ride?
Thanks for your help.