Fish In Cycle

[60007]

Ok guys, I was cycling my tank ready to have fish added in what should have been 2 weeks time, but my parents took advice from a lfs, because my tank had been cycling for a week, the lfs said that was ok to add fish. I had been telling them which fish I had wanted, zebras, neons etc, becuase they will have to look after them when I go to uni in 2 years time (hopefully) but didn't think they were going out to get them!

so I come home one day to find 2 Zebra Danios, 5 neon tetras, and a guppy, non have died and all look healthy, which I'm surprised at

I rushed out and bought an amonia testing kit, found the ammonia was over 5.0, and did several water changes that day and eventually got it down to 0.25 since then, (last week) I have been doing 25-50% water changes daily to keep the ammonia at 0.25 (or lower)

should I lay off doing so many water changes daily?

The info

Tank 68 litres (17 Gallons)
Temp 25.5 (Degrees 79 F)
NO3 = 0
NO2 = 0
GH = 4 (omega) D
PH = 6.4 (I'm worried that there will be no bacteria growing) if so, should I add something to make the water more alkaline?
CL2 = 0
Ammonia = less than 0.25

 

[piePIEpie]

that waters to acid the rest looks ok but lower the amonia

 

[glolite]

You need to keep doing the water changes to keep the ammonia reading as near to zero as possible. Try getting some seachem prime as the water conditioner as it neutralises ammonia and nitrite.

What is the pH of your tap water?

 

[60007]

You need to keep doing the water changes to keep the ammonia reading as near to zero as possible. Try getting some seachem prime as the water conditioner as it neutralises ammonia and nitrite.

What is the pH of your tap water?

Hiya, I will continue with the water changes, and I'll be going into town tomorrow to look for this seachem prime. My water PH is 6.4 or less, should I be adding something to get the bacteria growing?

~Andy

 

[glolite]

You can add bicarbonate of soda, look at the thread in this section titled "Fishless cycle, am I there yet". I would add slowly though as you have fish in the tank, say 1 teaspoon per day and dissolve it in a jug of tank water then add slowly.

 

[60007]

May I just say a big thank you glolite, my tank PH is now 6.8, and my fish do seem a little brighter now. am I right in thinking I shall have to add this everyday now, to keep bacteria growing?

thank you

~Andy

 

[glolite]

Well it's one teaspoon per 20 litres but once you've added the full quota, don't add any more till you water change. Then just add the percentage of bicarb for the amount of water replaced. Hope that makes sense

 

[Truck]

why is everyone adamnt that bacteria wont grow in a PH range of 6-7 ish?!

just look at dave spencers tank...KH0 PH6 a thriving tank.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Bacteria will grow at a lower pH, but they will do so at a slower rate.

A pH of 8.4 is most likely the best pH level to grow the bacteria the fastest.

You also run risks at having a pH that low. Lets say your pH drops a little more due to an ammonia spike or something, well that is most likely going to put your bacteria in a dormant state, if your pH falls below 6.0.

Another very important thing to remember is try to keep a consistent pH level. A consistent pH level is way safer for the fish then a fluctuating pH level.

So, if you start to mess around with your pH, make sure the level you bring it up to is the level it is going to stay through out the course of your fish tank. Plus and minus a few here and there.

Also, if you have a lot of live plants in your tank, this will change a lot of things. Since plants will actually use ammonia and nitrate as and extra source of nutrients, the plants will actually act as the first stage in the nitrogen cycle by eliminating ammonia for their own use.

With a lower level of ammonia, you don't need to colonize a lot of bacteria to have a healthy thriving tank.

-FHM

 

[60007]

Bacteria will grow at a lower pH, but they will do so at a slower rate.

A pH of 8.4 is most likely the best pH level to grow the bacteria the fastest.

You also run risks at having a pH that low. Lets say your pH drops a little more due to an ammonia spike or something, well that is most likely going to put your bacteria in a dormant state, if your pH falls below 6.0.

Another very important thing to remember is try to keep a consistent pH level. A consistent pH level is way safer for the fish then a fluctuating pH level.

So, if you start to mess around with your pH, make sure the level you bring it up to is the level it is going to stay through out the course of your fish tank. Plus and minus a few here and there.

Also, if you have a lot of live plants in your tank, this will change a lot of things. Since plants will actually use ammonia and nitrate as and extra source of nutrients, the plants will actually act as the first stage in the nitrogen cycle by eliminating ammonia for their own use.

With a lower level of ammonia, you don't need to colonize a lot of bacteria to have a healthy thriving tank.

-FHM

Hello, I added some more bicarbonate of soda, up to about ph 7.2

I haven't added the full 1 teaspoon per 20 litre, becuase I have found out some fish in my tank prefer a lower ph than 8.

I do have live plants in my tank, about 3 of them, and they have been there virtually since the start. I plan to add more becuase after about a day, the Ammonia level goes up to 1.5.

so is everything ok now, I know this problem won't fix over night, but I need to know if there is anything else I can do to get more bacteria and less ammonia. would adding more plants help?

~Andy

 

[glolite]

Adding more plants will help some but better still, get hold of some mature media filter, there's a list of members on this forum willing to donate mature media. It's in this section in the pinned threads up the top. This will seed your filter and speed up the cycling process.

 

[OldMan47]

If your ammonia is up to 1.5 ppm, it is time for a big water change probably followed by another change just as big. You need to control the ammonia and worry less about pH and such. If you can keep the pH above 6.2, the cycle will not stall and fish that like a low pH will be fine. If you let the ammonia hang out above 0.25 ppm, the fish will suffer stress from the poisons in their water.

 

[drobbyb]

I agree with both OldMan47 and fatheadminnow. It's ok to have a low pH as long as it is stable.

 

[mickspark81]

I agree with both OldMan47 and fatheadminnow. It's ok to have a low pH as long as it is stable.

My ph was 6.4 when i cycled my tank (fish in)

I can report no problems what so ever

I keep reading conflicting advise about raising ph levels which chems. I personally would have never added any bi carb in the first place.

Alls you needed to do was do daily Ph checks.

If the ph had fallen to 6.2 or so you then could have added maybe 1/2 teaspoon of bi carb which should keep it around ph 6.4

As your continuing to add the soda all you are doing is fluctuating the level (which can harm your fish). You also have the problem of what to do after your cycle is complete.

Do you:

A. Keep adding soda every day (or every water change) and hope the Ph stays around the same mark

B. Very gradually reduce the ammount of soda you add to the tank so say in 2 months it is back to your tap Ph

C. Stop using the soda completely which probably will cause a Ph crash on your next water change

Me personally would opt for option B

I am no expert in the field and this is just my oppinion. Please wait for more feedback from some of our more experienced members

Good luck

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, that option B would be good Mick. Pretty much all the advice above seems fine to me. The large water changes need to keep happening to try and keep the toxin exposures below 0.25ppm if possible. The fact that lots of water is getting changed will make it ok that some bicarb is getting used in moderation. Doing some bicarb, but just in smaller amounts might indeed move the bacteria along at a slightly faster pace, shortening the number of weeks you have to do all that water changing. But of course it will eventually happen either way.

~~waterdrop~~