Stalled Fishless Cycle?
- Thread starter bob9009
- Start date
Double-zeroes in 12 hours 
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the qualifying week
P.s. Here's my cycling log in case anyone is bored while cycling their new tank
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the qualifying week
P.s. Here's my cycling log in case anyone is bored while cycling their new tank
Hmm...
I checked my parameters this morning and the pH had crashed to 6.0 and there was still some nitrite present (after 12 hours). I was under the impression that the pH would stabilize once the bacterial colony was established. I know we have reasonably soft water, so I've been adding baking soda while cycling but I didn't add any after the last water change. I assume that's the problem.
The thing is, I don't want to be adding baking soda all the time when I have fish in there. Is there anything I can use to keep the pH at 6.5-7 or will I just have to do water changes all the time to keep the pH in the tank up?
I checked my parameters this morning and the pH had crashed to 6.0 and there was still some nitrite present (after 12 hours). I was under the impression that the pH would stabilize once the bacterial colony was established. I know we have reasonably soft water, so I've been adding baking soda while cycling but I didn't add any after the last water change. I assume that's the problem.
The thing is, I don't want to be adding baking soda all the time when I have fish in there. Is there anything I can use to keep the pH at 6.5-7 or will I just have to do water changes all the time to keep the pH in the tank up?
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
No,No,No! The pH won't stabilize until you've done the big water change and are not dumping (relatively) huge squirts of ammonia in there! 
Since you're still fishless cycling, you're still pushing a heck of a lot of stuff through there and in fact now that your colonies are about full size they are even better and processing it on through and producing an even higher percentage of nitric acid and causing the pH to drop. So at this point you will benefit greatly from the occasional 90% gravel-clean-water-change with a recharge of ammonia and baking soda! That way you can get your pH back up and kickstart the nice 12-hour processing back into gear. Once you pass your qualifying week and do the big water change and -stop- both the ammonia (well, your first fish intro will be putting in some!) and the baking soda, the whole picture will change and you'll want to re-analyze it.
~~waterdrop~~
Since you're still fishless cycling, you're still pushing a heck of a lot of stuff through there and in fact now that your colonies are about full size they are even better and processing it on through and producing an even higher percentage of nitric acid and causing the pH to drop. So at this point you will benefit greatly from the occasional 90% gravel-clean-water-change with a recharge of ammonia and baking soda! That way you can get your pH back up and kickstart the nice 12-hour processing back into gear. Once you pass your qualifying week and do the big water change and -stop- both the ammonia (well, your first fish intro will be putting in some!) and the baking soda, the whole picture will change and you'll want to re-analyze it.~~waterdrop~~
Well, the fish have been in for a few days now and the pH is relatively stable without the sodium bicarbonate. It still drops, but with weekly water changes I can keep it under control.
Thanks for you help guys, (I'm sure my fish would thank you too if they could talk).
Thanks for you help guys, (I'm sure my fish would thank you too if they could talk).
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Nice to hear from you Bob.
Sounds a lot like mine. I depend on my weekly 50% water change to recharge my KH and bring my pH back up from dropping. Its loosly stable enough that I don't think it bothers the fish, but its still a topic I think about.
~~waterdrop~~
Sounds a lot like mine. I depend on my weekly 50% water change to recharge my KH and bring my pH back up from dropping. Its loosly stable enough that I don't think it bothers the fish, but its still a topic I think about.
~~waterdrop~~
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