Ph Levels For Cycle

[DaveyG]

Hi, a quick question about cycling and potential stalls.

I've read a few topics on here of fishless cycles stalling because of low PH and I am setting up my tank on Saturday and want to know if there is a way to avoid this?

The PH out of my tap is about 7.5. Is there a way to keep it at that level so as to avoid the stall that others seem to experience?

Also - I have an existing (much smaller) tank which has been cycled - can I use the filter from this in my external fluval 205 (chuck it into the filter) when I set it up on Saturday to speed the process up?

Thanks in advance!

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yes, you can use the mature filter media from your smaller tank to help speed up the cycle in your new tank.

Actually, the bacteria we want to colonize in our filters can adapt to a very wide range of pH levels.

If you start out a cycle with a pH of 6.0, your bacteria will adapt to that level and will be able to colonize.

The one thing you don't want it for your pH to drop significantly during your cycle.

Id your pH is at 7.5 and say it drops down to 6.5, your cycle is most likely going to stall because your bacteria have adapted to live with a pH of 7.5. If that drops, than the bacteria will not be able to adapt that pH level, and they will go dormant, not processing any ammonia or nitrite, and your cycle will stall.

Your pH tied to your KH, from my understanding, the higher KH (hardness) you have, the less likely you will have a pH drop. If you KH is very low, than your pH is more prone to drop.

You can also add crush corral to the filter to raise the KH, but this is only done if necessary.

One thing to do is to do water changes every now and then throughout the cycle. This will help replenish your pH throughout the cycle.

After your cycle is complete, you will be doing weekly water changes, thus, you pH will constantly be replenished.

So, what you want to do is get a good KH testing kit, and test your KH, and we can go from there.

-FHM

 

[waterdrop]

Hi DaveyG,

If you really want to "predict" whether you will have a pH crash during your fishless cycle, you can invest in a KH test kit, which measures the "Carbonate (aka "Temporary") Hardness" of the water. If the KH is at about 4 degrees or above, you will be fairly protected from drops, but as the KH progresses downward past 3, 2 , 1 and then to zero, your pH will get more unstable and be able to drop if there are enough acid products (these are products of the cycling process) in there.

FHM, I'm not familiar with this idea of the bacteria being "adaptable" to pH. Probably I'm just taking the way you are wording it differently than you. The Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira species are just what they are and respond to their environment in the same way they always have as far as I know. They grow in a pH range from about 6.1 to 8.8 or so and I'd say they "stall out" down at 6.2 and are totally stopped at 6.0. Their optimal growth occurs at 8.0 to 8.4 in the scientific literature. The fishless cycler definately needs to take some action to raise their pH when it gets down to 6.2 or their cycle will simply languish. The bacterial colonies of composed of a variety of species and different species will "win out" to differing extents based on the environmental characteristics, with of course ammonia ppm as an important example we all are usually aware of.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[fatheadminnow]

Okay, well that is just what I read, and been told multiple times about the different levels of pH,a nd how the bacteria colony can adapt to them.

Some very well-known members on this site have established tanks for years, with the pH of 5.6.

This is just what I read, so if it is not true, please correct me waterdrop.

-FHM

 

[DaveyG]

Thanks guys!

I'm glad to hear that I can use my existing filter - can I literally throw it on top of the other sponge in my filter and it will do the job?

Another question arises from that... If I am to change my filter in my other tank (taking out the old one to put in my new filter, and replacing with a new one from the shop), does that not mean that I no longer have a colony of bacteria sufficient to sustain the tank as the filter sponge is now completely new?

No idea if that made sense....please help

 

[K-Holed]

The easiest way around not losing your bacteria when you change your filter media, is not to change it all at once

Or in your case, put some of the filter media from your old filter into the new one.

Or Run both filters side by side for a couple of weeks.

Kind regards

Jimi