Ph Problems In Fishless Cycle

[BezsMaracas]

I thought I was nearly done with my fishless cycling but then suddenly the pH seems to have dropped off the API tester chart. Ammonia seems to have stopped being processed but all my nitrites have gone, I assumed this has stopped any further ammonia being processed. I'm worried that the nitrite eating bacteria will die off if I can't sort this quickly and that I'll be back at the start.

I did a 90% water change last night and expected to see the pH up to around the 7.4 it had been previously but it still isn't registering on the API tester. Should I be trying to raise the pH with some sort of chemicals? I started this in late Feb so being very patient, but getting a bit frustrated now!

 

[Xraymark]

Add bicarboanate of soda to the tank. Spoonfull at a time and retest in an hour. Don't know the size of your tank to be more specific.

Whats your tap water Ph measure at?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Hi Bez...it is one of two things causing this..
1/ Your NitrAtes have got so high that they are lowering your PH, therefore effectively 'stalling' your cycle.
2/ You live in a soft water area with a low water buffering capacity.

You can buy a GH/KH test kit off ebay (also API) which will determine the hardness of your water. What then can be done is to add Bicarb Of Soda into your tank to raise the PH for the rest of the cycle, but a more permanent solution is some crushed coral in your filter.
DO NOT bother wasting your money with 'PH up' or 'PH down' products, a complete waste of time!

Good luck, i know how frustrating a crashing PH can be on a fishless cycle.

Terry.

 

[gforce17]

I do too - and empathise. Coming up to 8 weeks and just had a nitrite spike after it looking as though I was on the edge of cycling. Keep in there. That's what I'm doing!

 

[Aqua Tom]

Put acouple of teaspoons of Bicarbonate of Soda in the tank, the dose doesnt have to be that accurate. Bicarb has a pH of 9 so will never raise the level in your tank above that & you would have to put a lot in to raise it that much.

Tom

 

[gforce17]

What an interesting diagram. Thanks Tom.

 

[BezsMaracas]

Thanks for the advice guys. I checked the pH when I got in from work and it has actually risen to something like my tap water levels, around 6.6. From what I've read this is quite low for cycling and mid 7 is best for a faster cycle? I'd already gone out and bought the bi-carbonate today so would it be worth while adding a little to get it nearer 7? My tank looks pretty similar to yours Taffy, it's 240 litres but only got about 200 litres in while cycling. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Thanks for the advice guys. I checked the pH when I got in from work and it has actually risen to something like my tap water levels, around 6.6. From what I've read this is quite low for cycling and mid 7 is best for a faster cycle? I'd already gone out and bought the bi-carbonate today so would it be worth while adding a little to get it nearer 7? My tank looks pretty similar to yours Taffy, it's 240 litres but only got about 200 litres in while cycling. Thanks again for the advice.

A pH of 8 is what you should be aiming for. Add a teaspoon of bicarb, wait 20 mins & test then dose accordingly.


Tom

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with Tom and the others - the bacteria will process much better in a pH of 8. It can actually be a good sign to reach the point in a long fishless cycle where you start to get some pH crashes in the sense that you know that perhaps more nitrate is being produced and the acid effect from that is doing things to you. Your large water change will have helped and you may now find yourself going into the last phases of the fishless cycle (although I haven't seen your logs or anything to actually know where you are in the overall process.)

WD

 

[BezsMaracas]

Bit of an update, my pH is now up to about 7.6 so happier with that. My ammonia level seems to have dropped slightly from yesterday when I dosed to about 3ppm, but I'm not reading any nitrite at all. Is it possible that the ammonia bacteria has dropped off but the nitrite eating stuff is still processing fine? I missed the nitrite dropping originally, it went from being off the chart to completely gone, but I wasn't testing daily once I saw the ammonia stall. Hoping it won't take weeks for the ammonia to start processing properly again, had got it down to clearing 3ppm within about 12 hours but that was about a month ago now

 

[waterdrop]

In the last phase of fishless cycling the test is how much of that added ammonia is being cleared and how fast. The "add hour" (time of day in the 24 hour cycle) when you add your ammonia should be regular if possible and then usually you want to test 12 hours later and 24 hours later. The big test is trying to add 5ppm ammonia and see -where- between 12 hours and 24 hours later you can get both zero ppm ammonia and zero ppm nitrite(NO2) and you're always working toward the day when those double zeros happen at 12 hours because at that point you can start your qualifying week!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[BezsMaracas]

Just another quick update, everything seems to be running right again now. Dosed a couple of times up to 3ppm and I'm yet to record any sign of nitrites so assume the bacteria is processing as fast as the ammonia is. Going to keep going and keep a closer eye on the pH this time, hopefully I'm not far off actually getting some fish!

 

[gforce17]

I'M CYCLED!! CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S OVER!!!

 

[BezsMaracas]

Me too, off to get some fish tonight!

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Me too, off to get some fish tonight!

Sweet...pics?

Terry.