Ph While Cycling.
- Thread starter Leitch
- Start date
From what I have read, optimal pH for cycling is 7.0 to 8.2 so you are close enough that you shouldn't have any problems at all. At least not related to pH.
rowdyburns21
Fish Fanatic
My PH is about 8.5 when cycling it doesn't seem to make it any slower, but saying that I woudn't know any different because I haven't cycled using different PH's, but it worked fine for me there was no stalling.
Underwurlde
Always look on the bright side of life..
@rdd1952, what do you think are the upper & lower limits for:
pH (I think the lower limit is a pH of 6.0?)
Temperature: upper & lower & optimal.
KH: upper lower & optimal (if that's relevant).
Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate (if relevant, I think too high ammonia causes a 'stall'?)
Sorry if that info is in your pinned thread, but it's one hell of a thread to wade through!
Cheers,
Andy
pH (I think the lower limit is a pH of 6.0?)
Temperature: upper & lower & optimal.
KH: upper lower & optimal (if that's relevant).
Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate (if relevant, I think too high ammonia causes a 'stall'?)
Sorry if that info is in your pinned thread, but it's one hell of a thread to wade through!
Cheers,
Andy
It has gotten a bit long hasn't it. From what I've read, it appears that the optimal pH for bacteria development and reproduction is between about 7.0 and 8.0. I've never heard much about where the upper limit is as there is very little water out there that is into the upper 8s. The lower limit seems to be around 6.0 or lower. At that pH a change in the bacteria takes place.
Ammonia becomes less toxic as pH drops because more of the total ammonia (what our test kits measure) is actually ammonium (non-toxic). At the point that all of it is ammonium and a different bacteria starts to take over the process of breaking down ammonium. It develops slower, thus the reason for it taking longer at low pH levels. The normal bacteria we are used to processing ammonia pretty much stops reproducing at that point. The bacteria to process nitrite doesn't change though so those suddenly take forever to develop.
From a temperature standpoint, it seems that bacteria reproduce quicker as temperatures increase. One thing I read said that they tested to 95F and that reproduction improved continually up to that point. It would seem to make sense as bacteria generally love warm, moist places. So I don't think there is an upper limit except for what your heater will reach. Upper 80s to low 90s has always worked for me.
I have heard that high ammonia causes the bacteria development to stall as it overwhelms the bacteria present. I've never found anything to back that up though. For nitrite, those levels do get extremely high during a fishless cycle as the bacteria are suddenly process 4 ppm of ammonia every 12 hours so that is another 4 ppm of nitrite in the tank with very little bacteria to process it. I would love to have a test kit that I could actually measure how high nitrite was during a fishless cycle. My guess is that it reaches well over 50 ppm at some point in time and may even be over 100 ppm just before it finally drops back to 0. I don't think the nitrate level has any effect on the bacteria as those too get extremely high during a fishless cycle, well over 100ppm.
Ammonia becomes less toxic as pH drops because more of the total ammonia (what our test kits measure) is actually ammonium (non-toxic). At the point that all of it is ammonium and a different bacteria starts to take over the process of breaking down ammonium. It develops slower, thus the reason for it taking longer at low pH levels. The normal bacteria we are used to processing ammonia pretty much stops reproducing at that point. The bacteria to process nitrite doesn't change though so those suddenly take forever to develop.
From a temperature standpoint, it seems that bacteria reproduce quicker as temperatures increase. One thing I read said that they tested to 95F and that reproduction improved continually up to that point. It would seem to make sense as bacteria generally love warm, moist places. So I don't think there is an upper limit except for what your heater will reach. Upper 80s to low 90s has always worked for me.
I have heard that high ammonia causes the bacteria development to stall as it overwhelms the bacteria present. I've never found anything to back that up though. For nitrite, those levels do get extremely high during a fishless cycle as the bacteria are suddenly process 4 ppm of ammonia every 12 hours so that is another 4 ppm of nitrite in the tank with very little bacteria to process it. I would love to have a test kit that I could actually measure how high nitrite was during a fishless cycle. My guess is that it reaches well over 50 ppm at some point in time and may even be over 100 ppm just before it finally drops back to 0. I don't think the nitrate level has any effect on the bacteria as those too get extremely high during a fishless cycle, well over 100ppm.
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