Fishless Cycle Ph Issuse...

[twinkey]

Hello Tropical Fish...Im new to the forum

I been fishless cycling my tank using (Ace Ammonia)since july 16th..before i started i tested my tap water,the readings as followers

Before
ph..7.6(sit for 24hrs with bubble stone to gas it out)
ammonia...0ppm
nitrite...0ppm
nitrate...0ppm


Now
ph...6.0
ammonia...2.0ppm
nitrite...2.0ppm
nitrate...80ppm
my ph started to drop when i got my nitrite

i been doing wc to keep my ph up..why would my ph drop and is it normal to take this long
my ammonia would drop to oppm in 24hrs..so i would redose it back to 2.0ppm

 

[lolobunnz]

Adding an air stone for more surface agitation may help. If there is not enough oxygen in the water the Ph can take a huge dive.

 

[twinkey]

Adding an air stone for more surface agitation may help. If there is not enough oxygen in the water the Ph can take a huge dive.

i got just one medium bubble disc....its in a 40g breeder...
so just one isnt enough...if the ph was good at the start..why the decline,when nitrites appeared

 

[lolobunnz]

One should be more than enough. Especially disc shapped. Anything that causes slight surface ripple really. Sorry i couldnt be of more help!

Hopefully more will have some imput

 

[lolobunnz]

Adding bicarbonite of soda will help stop your fishless cycle from having ph crashes.

 

[twinkey]

Adding bicarbonite of soda will help stop your fishless cycle from having ph crashes.

i been doing it..think im gonna get some crush coral..since it will help stabalize it..i read on it

 

[Essjay]

Your water probably has a very low KH (carbonate hardness). This buffers the water against pH changes. During cycling, there is a lot of acid in the water (nitrites and nitrate) which can drop the pH fast if the KH is low. During cycling, using bicarbonate of soda to raise the KH is the easiest as lolobunnz said, but this is not a good idea when there are fish in the tank as it adds a lot of sodium ions which fish aren't used to. Your crushed coral suggestion is better for when there are fish in the tank. Or limestone/coral/shell decorations

 

[Gvilleguy]

Twinkey - since you mentioned ACE Ammonia - I assume you are in the US. Like the others have said, if your water has low KH, then pH crash is not at all unusual. In my area of South Carolina, the tap water comes out around pH 7.2, but it has zero KH/GH levels. When I cycle a new tank the pH invariably crashes to 6.0 at some point because of this. I have to monitor the pH every day, and if it gets into the 6.4 range I add Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to buffer the water and raise it back up. Otherwise the cycle will never finish.

For my stocked tank I added a small bag of crushed coral hanging in the outflow of my HOB filter. This seems to stabilize the pH levels quite well.

 

[twinkey]

Twinkey - since you mentioned ACE Ammonia - I assume you are in the US. Like the others have said, if your water has low KH, then pH crash is not at all unusual. In my area of South Carolina, the tap water comes out around pH 7.2, but it has zero KH/GH levels. When I cycle a new tank the pH invariably crashes to 6.0 at some point because of this. I have to monitor the pH every day, and if it gets into the 6.4 range I add Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to buffer the water and raise it back up. Otherwise the cycle will never finish.

For my stocked tank I added a small bag of crushed coral hanging in the outflow of my HOB filter. This seems to stabilize the pH levels quite well.

when should i add my crush coral...when its down to 6.0 or after a wc when the ph is up

 

[Gvilleguy]

I didn't add the coral until after my tank was stocked with fish. I keep it in full time to help stabilize things.

 

[twinkey]

just keep it up with soda..then when i do my final wc before i add my fish..put the coral in my hob filter

 

[Gvilleguy]

Have a read of this thread, too:

My pH Keeps Dropping