What Is Happening To My Ph,doing A Fish In Cycle?

[eaglesaquarium]

Personally, I'd say the better option would be to increase the size and frequency of your water changes for a while until the pH comes back into balance with your tap water. baking soda will do all the things that SbS is saying, but I believe that it will raise the pH too quickly. It is the rapid change in pH that harms the fish, I believe, not the value itself.


A slower solution to raise your pH would be old shells... if you were to add some to your tank (either in the main area, or the filter) they will slowly dissolve, also raising your pH and kH, but at a much more gradual pace.


All things considered though, cories prefer acidic, soft water. So, they aren't really in a bad spot where they are.

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks everyone for all your help.

 

[coldcazzie]

Hi,Coldcazzie ,i`m doing 50 percent water changes ,but it hasn`t gone down [the nitrites from 0.25]from last nights water change,so i was thinking of doing a larger one,

Yeah that's a good idea - if 50% hasn't brought it down, then maybe do 80% and see what effect that has.

 

[maisy12345]

Hi ,Coldcazzie ,have just finished a 60 percent water change ,off to re test now,thanks again for help.

 

[maisy12345]

What are hardness test kits,by the way ,and can you reccommend one?

 

[StandbySetting]

KH test kits test for the Carbonate hardness and GH test kits test for ions such as Magnesium and Calcium, API do kits.

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks Standbysetting ,but how would a hardness test help me?

 

[StandbySetting]

It wouldn't really be of any benefit to you, but if the acidic products formed by the nitrification process are driving your PH down to 6 and below then it will more than likely stall your cycle.

 

[maisy12345]

Thanks Standbysetting ,but i did a 60 prcent water change and my ph has gone up to 7.0,so fingers crossed ,it won`t go down again.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It will go down again... but that is a part of the cycle. With softer water, that will happen, but it will be gradual. By keeping the water changes up, the difference between the tank and the water will be small. The key is to do the water changes frequent enough that it isn't a problem. In a fish-in cycle, you are going to need to do a water change fairly often anyway...

 

[OldMan47]

Let's get down to the facts here. Nitrates, the end product we are striving to get, exist to a large degree as nitric acid. That will lower the pH of any system that is not well buffered. There are two methods commonly used by experienced fresh water aquarists to increase the buffering of a tank's water. The first has already been mentioned and that is to use calcium bicarbonate, baking soda. In a new tank, it is a great way to go while you fishless cycle a tank because you can add it indiscriminately with no real threat to your fishless cycle. The second is more subtle, which is what you want when there is fish in the tank. That is to add a form of calcium carbonate, such as crushed shells or crushed coral, to the water flow path in your tank. Most of us would place some in the filter somewhere. This works at another level. As the pH of the water drops due to the acid build, the calcium carbonate dissolves more easily so the more build you get of the nitric acid, the faster the buffer dissolves into your water. It is less dramatic in its impact on things like cories because they have plenty of time to adapt to the slightly raised levels of minerals in their water. My own tap water runs with a GH and KH over 12 degrees each and a pH of 7.8 so people will tell you that I cannot keep cories. They are wrong. Cories can be acclimated to my water in a matter of a couple of hours using a drip acclimation. I have lots of them in several tanks because I love those little guys. The gradual change that you would get by using some crushed shell will take care of your pH problem without harming your cories.