Cycle Slowed Down..

[Tag2008]

Hi Guys,

Im doing a fishless cycle on a small 60 L tank,
It started off ok doing the add and wait method...Like I did on my main tank, I added the initial dose of ammonia and waited...within the week it dropped to zero so added a second dose and thats all ive added since, its been roughly 5 days since we added the second lot of ammonia and its never went to zero since its sitting at 0.25

Its a juwel rekord 60 with its own internal filter and the media is new media I bought from the web said it was suitable for my tank.
My PH has fallen for some reason and im guessing has slowed my bacteria?
What would make my PH fall like this?

For the past few days the ammonia has stopped being broken down??

My ammonia is 0.25

PH: 6 <<< Dunno how it got down here its usually 7.6

Nitrate:110

Nitrite:1 ish

Suggestions welcome, Im guessing a big water change and atart again with the add and wait?

Regards as ever
Tag

 

[Corleone]

The ph will tend to want to lower in a tank. Normally kh buffers this and holds the ph steady normally, but is depleted over time. Fishless cycles make it more likely the kh will be depleted entirely, which sometimes causes the ph to crash, which can slow or stall a cycle. Just do a full or near full water change and top your ammonia back up.

 

[Tag2008]

The ph will tend to want to lower in a tank. Normally kh buffers this and holds the ph steady normally, but is depleted over time. Fishless cycles make it more likely the kh will be depleted entirely, which sometimes causes the ph to crash, which can slow or stall a cycle. Just do a full or near full water change and top your ammonia back up.

Thanks will try that tommorrow

My LFS don't have KH tests so cant see what I have, I have some strips maybe they have KH on them...

My other tanks PH stays the same so will the PH crash be as you say due to the cycling?

In the tank all I have is a couple of rocks, standard substrate and some artificial plants. Should I take the rocks out? I did a ph test on them in a bucket of water before I used them and they did not affect the PH of that water..

Thanks again

 

[Corleone]

Don't really need to test kh, though it's good to know. In an established tank, water changes will replenish it. You can consider your current nitrate level a bit of a warning bell - that's how much "cycling" it took to deplete your kH and cause a crash (probably not a good one, since there's other stuff going on in the tank that can't be easily tested), but it shouldn't get that high after the cycle anyway.

 

[Tag2008]

Don't really need to test kh, though it's good to know. In an established tank, water changes will replenish it. You can consider your current nitrate level a bit of a warning bell - that's how much "cycling" it took to deplete your kH and cause a crash (probably not a good one, since there's other stuff going on in the tank that can't be easily tested), but it shouldn't get that high after the cycle anyway.

Thank you.....

 

[OldMan47]

Many of the nitrates that we measure are present as nitric acid so it will try to drive your pH down. Others have already said that a water change is the best answer but, if you had lower nitrate levels, you could use a bit of baking soda to correct the pH. It's not such a good idea with fish in the tank but it will help your pH with a fishless cycle.

 

[Tag2008]

Thanks guys,

Well thats about a 98% change of water I just left what was in the substrate..

Will this be like starting from scratch again then? will all my bacteria have died off with the PH crash?

Thanks again
Tag

 

[Tag2008]

Well...

After doing the big water change im testing the water, Its been about 30 mins since we filled it and added the dose of ammonia and my Nitrate and Nitrites are off the scale already?

I used the same water I do in my main tank and did a 25% change on it today to and its all fine?

Whats going on?

Ive only artificial plants and a couple of rocks in my tank and an airline going to my undergravel filter?

I tool out about 98% of the water in the change?

This is too wierd, Thankfully its a small tank.. So I guess Im doing a big change again??

I wont do anything untill I see what you guys thing as im stumped.

I have the water I change with sitting in water containers I bought at the lfs and the waters been sitting for around 10 days and all we put in is the dechlorinators..

PH :7.6
Ammonia: 4
Nitrate: 110
Nitrite: 5

 

[simonmac2]

Tag,

i seem to be ahead of you by about 12 hours LOL

the bacteria are still there (my ammonia dropped by 2ppm in 8hrs and the nitrate was just present)

my cycle seemd to have stalled, and then i added baking powder instead of baking soda to try and restart by raising the Ph.

seems to have kicked off again though

simon

 

[Tag2008]

Tag,

i seem to be ahead of you by about 12 hours LOL

the bacteria are still there (my ammonia dropped by 2ppm in 8hrs and the nitrate was just present)

my cycle seemd to have stalled, and then i added baking powder instead of baking soda to try and restart by raising the Ph.

seems to have kicked off again though

simon

Hey Simon..I was reading your thread im glad you have it going..
Im guessing Im going to have to do another change to get rid of this off the scale nitrate?

Im testing the water in the containers and they are fine.. so what in my tank would make nitrates go off the scale within 30 mins of being added to tthe tank?

A very puzzled Tag

Im thinking of stripping the tank out and scrubbing it out and starting from scratch??

 

[simonmac2]

yes odd.

i thought that nitrate, could only be a result of the ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate chain

if the ammonia and nitrite levels are sane, what are the levels out of the tap.

i'm looking forward to see what the levels are sitting at when i get home

 

[Miss Wiggle]

when you say you got the water from the lfs......... why? is there something wrong with your tap water so you're using RO?

Generally anything that's sat around for 10 days may have had something fromt eh container it's in leech into it or just whatevers in the air. Containers are not always inert.

Unless there's something particularly wrong with your tap water then just run it fresh from there when you need to do a change

 

[Tag2008]

yes odd.

i thought that nitrate, could only be a result of the ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate chain

if the ammonia and nitrite levels are sane, what are the levels out of the tap.

i'm looking forward to see what the levels are sitting at when i get home

Hi Guys,
Well I just broke all the rules in the book lol
I took each item out of the tank and soaked it in a bucket of tap water then after a while tested the water... Each item was 0

Tested the tank water again to check and make sure and it was off the scale.....

So I figured there must be something in the tank whether it be dirt or bad bacteria in the substrate I just dont know?
So Ive stripped it out washed it all down with tap water even my filter media!!!!!! I know I shouldnt do this but for peace of mind and to rule out contaminations
I even put my airline into the bucked of tap water and ran it for a while to see if we had any contamanants in the air that may be doing this but this was also fine.

During an attempt at a fish In cycle with this tank I lost 6 mollys one after the other for no apparant reason and within 48 hours so figure there is something I aint seeing or am missing?

I decided to start from scratch as its a small tank..and im stumped!!!

So All cleaned out and back together and all readings are fine...

I will dose with ammonia now and do the add and wait method again..

Thanks again for your comments.
Tag

 

[simonmac2]

at least you can seed with your own filters from the other tank to speed everything up....

not got that option myself

Simon

 

[Tag2008]

at least you can seed with your own filters from the other tank to speed everything up....

not got that option myself

Simon

Now there is a question I asked myself...

Both my tanks are Juwels although different sizes the internal filters use the same size media..

My Big tank has 4 sponges 2 blue and 2 green and an external..

My wee tank has an internal built in with 2 green sponge filters the same media as the ones in my big tank..

Would it be safe to pinch a singlegreen filter from my main tank thats been running for a few weeks now since i cycled it? or would sswapping with a new clean sponge from my new tank cause a spike in my main tank?

Im in no rush to get this cycled just need it to work and dont want to jepordise my main tanks bacteria...

Thoughts appreciated..

Tag