Ph Crash During Fishless Cycle

[tunerhead24]

Lookin good Tunerhead!

~~waterdrop~~

Thanks ! I'm really excited that everything is back on track, ammonia is being processed in 12 hours and for the first time today nitrite was processed in 12 hours after the morning Nh4 top off. One thing I found to be weird is that I'm getting a nitrate reading of 5 ppm, shouldn't it be a lot higher? Could the baking soda have something to do with the nitrate reading?

 

[waterdrop]

Don't worry about nitrate(NO3), it will vary wildly, especially with water changes like you did.

Are you saying in that previous post that you dropped 5ppm of ammonia to zero ammonia and zero nitrite(NO2) in 12 hours? That would mean the start of your "qualifying week!"

~~waterdrop~~

 

[tunerhead24]

Don't worry about nitrate(NO3), it will vary wildly, especially with water changes like you did.

Are you saying in that previous post that you dropped 5ppm of ammonia to zero ammonia and zero nitrite(NO2) in 12 hours? That would mean the start of your "qualifying week!"

~~waterdrop~~

Yes, that exactly what I meant. It dropped NH4 and NO2 to 0 ppm in 12 hours again last night also from this morning till the time I got home from work which was in 10 hours, ahh I'm almost there!!! I'm guessing the qualifing week consist of just feeding the bacteria and making sure they process everything except for NO3 in 12 hours or less.

 

[backtotropical]

I'm guessing the qualifing week consist of just feeding the bacteria and making sure they process everything except for NO3 in 12 hours or less.

Spot on mate. We recommend the qualifying week because the bacteria can be quite unstable as a new colony, and it has happened before that someone thinks they are cycled, adds fish, then gets an ammonia spike. They can be quite prone to 'blips' when the colony is first established.

The qualifying week just provides assurance that the clearing of nh4 and no2 within 12 hrs wasn't just a one-off, and that the bacteria colony is consistently up to the job, before any fish are added.

BTT

 

[tunerhead24]

BBC and Waterdrop, thank you both for all your help! I truly appreciate everything! I'm gonna keep adding ammonia for the next week and hope that it all works out. I'll keep you guys posted on everything and I hope this topic helps out a bunch of people in the future. Thanks again guys!!!!!

 

[waterdrop]

Your Welcome!

(BTT, I see you've been elevated to the BBC! I shall tune my radio here in USA and expect to hear your commentary on planted tanks or bacterial blooms. A good strong Scottish accent will add to the flavor for our USA folks, )

~~waterdrop~~ (being lazy on saturday in the olde south...)

 

[tunerhead24]

Whoops! Sorry for that typo BBC, I mean BTT! LOL

 

[backtotropical]

Haha, BBC, I've never been called that before.

I may have helped you Turner, but I'm not quite David Attenborough yet. Anyway, calling myself BBC may have legal implications, so I'll stick to BTT for now.

Cheers

BBC BTT