Ask Questions About Cycling

[amaranth13]

Hi, I'm working on cycling my 10 gallon tank, I was in day 18 or so. I had nitrites and nitrates. But I hadn't been checking pH yet, when I did check it was 6.0! I did water changes (several) to bring it to 6.8, the water from my tap (dechlorinated of course) and the next day it was 6.4. Both the water right out of my tap and after 24 hours is 6.8 pH. I read up on pH and Kh and Gh and got a Kh Gh test. both were 2 for my water, and need to be 4-8 is what I read. I also read you can fix some of it by a small amount of baking soda. I got arm and hammer baking soda and added it carefully by first dissolving it in water until I had a Kh of 4, that was what was advised, and then see where the pH would end up. it is now 7.8 and has stayed that way several days, thouugh yesterday it went to 7.6.

During those days after using the baking soda I have had no changes in ammonia, it has remained 1.5 ppm (about, my test kit only has 1 and 2 ppm, but it looks to be in the middle). My nitrites all days have been 0.75 ppm. Strangely enough my Nitrate went from 40 ppm to 80 ppm though I could have misread it. Did I kill my cycle by adding the baking soda? Something else I did in that time, I had some aquarium plastic plants on order and put them in the tank about the same day, in case that would have had an effect. Any advise would be very appreciated!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You didn't kill the cycle. No worries.



So, what happened was that you had a pH crash, due to the water losing its buffering ability. Not a big deal. It stinks a bit, but its not anything more than a hiccup. I would have advised against the addition of the baking soda, as this creates a false environment for your bacteria to grow in. Instead, the bacteria are now acclimating to the new pH. So, they aren't processing the ammonia. (Btw, don't worry about the nitrate readings. 40 ppm and 80ppm looks identical to me, and frankly that test is very inaccurate.)


What should you do? Nothing needs to be done. You can wait this out... another day or so will likely see the process begin again and the ammonia drop.

OR... you can do a 50% water change to bring the pH back in line closer to where the tank normally is. So, ultimately, the bacteria need to operate at the pH of the water under 'normal' conditions. A soft water tank at 6.8 will not buffer the water much. And that's not a bad thing. Ammonia is far less dangerous at low pH. Anyway, if the pH crashes again during the cycle... just do a massive water change and that will provide the necessary inorganic carbon (the stuff that buffers the water... and the stuff the bacteria need to create their biofilm) to continue the cycle.


No worries. You are doing great. Its frustratingly slow, I know... but its not 'bad'.

 

[amaranth13]

Cool, I'm glad I didn't mess it up. I was planning to use Aragonite sand in a filter baggie in my filter once my order comes in on Monday. II was going to do a water change then anyways. I'm just going to use a little, not use it as substrate, in the end I want small cories and I have sand as substrate already, non-pH changing sand. I read that though cories can deal witth aragonite sand (but they prefer the finer sand) it can cause trouble for them because the pH right where they are will be much higher than the rest of the water. So in a filter baggie was the plan. I can't get crushed coral here or online for a reasonable price.

Do you advise against doing the aragonite in the filter? I know you'd have to change it every 3 weeks or month or so. By the way just did the tests for today and it's the same, Ammonia about 1.5 ppm, Nitrites about 0.75 ppm and Nitrates somewhere around 40 or 80 ppm. That last doesn't really matter anyways. I'm going to do a 50 percent water change because I don't think the Aragonite sand would bring the pH up to 7.8 with a whole point, so it's not at the level they will be functioning! And I will keep an eye on the pH and do water changes if it gets to 6.4 or below (which might end up every day then, but I'm fine with that. It's only a 10 gallon tank).

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It wouldn't be nearly as frequently as that. And you'll be changing the water every week anyway once you have the fish in tank, so all will be fine.


Which species of corydoras are you planning on? Most likely, the aragonite will be unnecessary.

 

[amaranth13]

I was thinking Albino Cories because they're easy to get around here, I haven't been able to find Panda Cories which I'd prefer, and they're a little smaller.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Indeed, pandas are a little smaller... which would be better in the small tank.

Albino cories aren't a specific species though. They generally are going to be either paleatus or aeneus.

Both would be fine without the addition of aragonite in the filter, but if it makes you feel better, you can add it. It is really up to you. More importantly than a specific hardness will be consistent hardness. But, the good news is that the aragonite won't dissolve quickly at near neutral water, meaning it won't do much. And if you keep the water changed properly, either way should be fine. I wouldn't add it myself, but that's me.

 

[seangee]

Are the corys all that will be in the tank. Don't add anything to the water. They like soft acidic water so it will be fine. Once you are doing regular water changes your pH will stay stable. My corys are in a tank with GH 0, KH 2 and pH is below 6.3. I don't actually know how low the pH is because my tests only go to 6.3.

Your water is perfect for corys, so don't try to change it.

 

[amaranth13]

Eaglesaquarium: I didn't know Albino Corys are two different species, I know they were specifically bred and not fish that live in the wild.. That's cool to know
Seangee: It seems my water is fine then I think I might stick to 4 albino corys since they're a schooling fish, and that should be plenty for my 10g, maybe a bit too much.

 

[Naughts]

Eaglesaquarium: I didn't know Albino Corys are two different species, I know they were specifically bred and not fish that live in the wild.. That's cool to know
Seangee: It seems my water is fine then I think I might stick to 4 albino corys since they're a schooling fish, and that should be plenty for my 10g, maybe a bit too much.

If you are not getting any other livestock, six would be more preferable.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Eaglesaquarium: I didn't know Albino Corys are two different species, I know they were specifically bred and not fish that live in the wild.. That's cool to know
Seangee: It seems my water is fine then I think I might stick to 4 albino corys since they're a schooling fish, and that should be plenty for my 10g, maybe a bit too much.

Albinos come in a variety of other species as well, but in the aquarium trade, its primarily those two.


And I agree with seangee... 6 is better.

 

[seangee]

If you can find them you should have a look at pigmy cories.
That way you could have a much better sized group in your 10g. A group of 10-12 really is much better than a group of 6. They look great on a dark sand substrate with plenty of plants.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'm more partial to https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/corydoras-habrosus
from the dwarf cories groups... They are a little more 'true' to the corydoras behavior. The other dwarf cories species are more mid-water swimmers than the others. So... give me the salt and peppers...

(Note: Not to be confused with the 'Peppered' corydoras - which is the corydoras paleatus species, which are more than twice as big.)

 

[amaranth13]

The dwarf corys do look interesting. I was worried they wouldn't have them near us, but I realized I should call 'The Premium Aquarium' and not just base it on the main petstores. They have pygmy corys and might be able to get habrosus for me on order. I did not discover this store until very recently but they're amazing!

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Personally I would get something other than just the cory's in the tank - I've got 4 different species and I wouldn't say that they school - they just stick together. I have a group (unknown species) that do what I call "stacking". All three will sit on a log - stacked on top of each other LOL they look like 3 grumpy toads. LOVE them. The are an amazing species - you'll enjoy whatever variety you get but I like any of the black and whites. My "school" in a group of 3 or 4 so I'm not convinced you need 5-10 and I think I'd be yawning - they LOVE to sleep so much.

There are, however species where a large school of 10 or so would be very impressive to watch because they swim so fast - Long finned Zebra striped Danio's. Get 10 of those and 3 of the Cory's and I don't think your tank will be overcrowded - they occupy completely separate area of the tank so it certainly won't APPEAR crowded. I'd put some dense plants in one or even all 4 corners and maybe a few hiding structures in the middle just in case they want to take cover but leave a large open area in the middle.for schooling. My cory's enjoy hiding in rocks and logs. They also love to eat wafers even if it takes them 1 hour to eat one when they are little - and they will eat most/all of the food on the floor of the tank - they are BIG eaters. Danio's don't stop long enough to each much.

Beware - Danio's are probably the most peaceful species out there but for some reason I had 1 or 2 that were/are a cold blooded killer. First he/she ate all the fins off of a large 3" Gourami! and one or both killed ALL the others in their school by taking turns chasing one member until they died out of stress. I saw this happen, tried to interrupt it repeatedly - and I'm still not sure if it was the same danio's doing it but in the end I was left with 2 and a whole lot of very passive Gourami. The horror of watching her fins being eaten on day after day was terrible. She eventually couldn't swim so I euthanized her. I moved the 2 Danio's I had left into a small tank of very tight schooling Harelquin Rasbdora - very tiny pretty fish. Two days later I accidentally crushed one of the Danio's with the tank lid and killed him - now I'm down to one. And this one was so aggressive I suspect he was one of the murderer's but the Harlequins swim so fast and school so tight he has finally given up and completely leaves them alone (although he does try to school with them sometimes LOL). He has not even attempted to chase or kill them - so I don't think he's capbable of doing it alone and I think he and the other fish were an aberration - everybody here said they had never heard of Danio's behaving that way.

There are also dwarf Gourami (max size usually 2") they prefer being in pairs for company. You'll find some beautiful ones. The dwarf blue is spectacular. These are very very peaceful fish. Get 3 cory and 2 dwarf Gourami and you'll have a beautiful tank. Gourami are very slow moving so they don't need huge amounts of space when there are only 2 of them. Don't get a full-size Gourami or you will find they grow to 4-7" long. I have a 7" right now and several 5" and others that continue to grow - I now need to get another tank because I'm overstocked.

If you have some money to spend - take a look at Bristlenose Pleco Fish L-144 (I got the yellow with blue eyes rather than the albino. You will never have excess algae again and they are so adorable and hard workers. Max size after several years is 4" - mine are about 2" right now, maybe smaller. I'm having to grow some algae in a dish to keep them fed, plus I give them Pleco algae tablets (but they prefer bloodworms).

Another cool peaceful fish is a Gold Dojo Loach. Yellow - with pink cheeks - looks like a snake. Grows to 4" long but they are very skinny so it's not like having a full size 4" fish. Totally adorable.

You likely need to check the online stores to get fish like these - you will pay big bucks for overnight/2 day shipping. Some charge extra for Styrofoam coolers, others include it. They usually don't feed the fish for a few days before transporting so there isn't a lot of waste in the little baggies. I shop AZgardens.com but pay up to $48 for shipping, a cooler and cold pack (or heater depending on the time of year). They have EVERYTHING but you will obviously pay top dollar. I now prefer LiveAquaria (actually owned by DrsFoster Smith. Shipping is far more reasonable and the costs of some fish much cheaper. They don't charge for a lovely Styrofoam cooler and the shipping is as cheap as $18. But they don't have quite the selection. Have only had 2 deaths of fish (both Moonlight Gourami's ) and AZgardens continues to ship the wrong fish when I order the Moonlights. It is well worth it to get EXACTLY what you want since some fish live a very long time - so once your tank is stocked your only choice is to get another tank. I would prefer to pay $40 more for exciting exotic fish that may live 10-20 yrs than buy a bunch of $3.99 fish that you'll get bored with.

 

[amaranth13]

Thank you for your advice! I thought about Dwarf Gouramis but I'm scared of the virus, and if I go with pygmy cories (I'm thinking of Habrosus) a 4 inch fish seems to be a bit much. I am considering instead of a species only tank I'd like a community tank, I've been considering adding 6 ember tetra, I know they're active and they take a different area of the tank, though I read they can be sensitive other places say they're not that sensitive, just don't add them to a non-cycled tank. I'm planning to cycle it with the ammonia after it shows it's removed in one night for a full week so I can be sure it's fully cycled. Are ember tetras okay for a beginner?