Raising Ph Whilst Cycling

[aaronc]

Hi All

I had nearly finished my fishless cycle and now due a PH crash it has stalled

My tap water is about 6.5 out of the tap which is a bit of a nightmare when you factor in bog wood etc as it goes much lower.

Fistly I need a quick win to get the cycle going again. But I also want some ideas on how to raise the PH and keep it constant for when I add fish.

I have seen crushed coral mentioned. How much would I need for 125L tank? etc etc

I have always lived in places with fairly neutral water so all this PH malarky has caught me out

Any advice is appreciated

Thanks
Aaron

 

[Majjie]

When you say pH crash what do you mean? How did that stall the cycling. I don't think most people measure the pH whilst fishless cycling - the ammonium hydroxide obviously affects it quite dramatically anyway. What's been happening to the ammonia and nitrite levels?

I wish my water was pH 6.5 from the tap. Absolutely ideal for a lot of fish. What fish are you planning to keep?

 

[LisaLQ]

I wouldn't mess with the ph at all until the tank's completely cycled. Even then I'd wait to give it time to stabilise and get a steady reading. 6.5 isn't that low, and many fish will be fine in it.

I'd wait and test your ph once it's settled, and your kh too to see if it's this causing the problems. Apparently baking soda is a good remedy for low kh (which causes ph crashes sometimes), but really it's best to leave messing with ph unless absolutely necessary.

 

[TerraDreamer]

I'd wait and test your ph once it's settled, and your kh too to see if it's this causing the problems. Apparently baking soda is a good remedy for low kh (which causes ph crashes sometimes), but really it's best to leave messing with ph unless absolutely necessary.

What she said

 

[aaronc]

I have some bogwood in the tank and it is bringing the PH down to 6 or less, the test kit stops at 6, but the resulting colour is a lot more yellow than the lowest colour on the chart.

I didn't think PH affected the cycle, but whenever it crashes the cycle stops totally. No Ammonia or Nitrite are processed. Last time it happened I left the tank alone for 2 days, and the ammonia didn't drop at all. Where as before the PH dropped it was eating 4ppm of Ammonia in a matter of hours.

My main concern is that the bogwood will continue to lower the PH. How long is likely to carry on doing this? Once it stops lowering the PH I should be ok, as you guys say the tapwater is perfect straight out of the tap

Thanks
Aaron

 

[Majjie]

Can't help I'm afraid - adding bogwood didn't affect my pH much - but then then the water from my tap has a pH of about 7.8. I wouldn't have expected the bogwood to have affected the cycling that much.

 

[Torrean]

I know that cycling makes PH swing wildly. Other possible problems you might have are a very low KH or lot's of decaying plant matter. I don't think bogwood is the culprit here. I'm betting it's either the cycle or you have a very low KH. This can be fixed by adding a buffer to the water. Check out the Pinned topics for information about raising KH. The ones about water quality analysis, rocks, bogwood, and substrate should be particularly helpful with this dillemma.

 

[InaneCathode]

Take out the bogwood. Seriously, its WAY too much fuss over decoration. Theres literally thousands of other things you could do besides bogwood.