P.h / Cycling Problems

[10walkham]

Hi


Im currently in the process or trying to re cycle my 120 ltr tank after my friend decided it would be helpful to clean my filter out using tap water whilst i was on holiday !

I have been trying to cycle for 2 weeks now and not much success , my PH has also dropped from 7.5 to 5.5. Here is my setup:

120 ltr tank
Tetratek EX700
5 Red Plattys
5 Neon Tetras
5 Yellow tail guppys
1 Red Sailfin Plec

PH 5.5
Am 0.4
Nitrite : 0.1
Nitrate 0.0

Water temperature is 26 c

I have no real plants or bogwood, only fake plants and a couple of rocks and ive cut back to feeding the fish every 2 days. plus im doing a 10% water change every day to keep the ammonia levels down

I am worried about this , so any suggestions would be great !

 

[aluno]

Why dont you try using some clycle booster, i know im probably gonna get shot down here but just throwing the idea out there,

Got any friends with well established tanks could borrow a few carbon noodles off the but run the risk of cross contamination,

hope i dont sound like too much of a fool, good luck

 

[omordn]

Hi


Im currently in the process or trying to re cycle my 120 ltr tank after my friend decided it would be helpful to clean my filter out using tap water whilst i was on holiday !

I have been trying to cycle for 2 weeks now and not much success , my PH has also dropped from 7.5 to 5.5. Here is my setup:

120 ltr tank
Tetratek EX700
5 Red Plattys
5 Neon Tetras
5 Yellow tail guppys
1 Red Sailfin Plec

PH 5.5
Am 0.4
Nitrite : 0.1
Nitrate 0.0

Water temperature is 26 c

I have no real plants or bogwood, only fake plants and a couple of rocks and ive cut back to feeding the fish every 2 days. plus im doing a 10% water change every day to keep the ammonia levels down

I am worried about this , so any suggestions would be great !

My first question is: are your fish fine with your current pH? If there is one thing you should know abou the pH is that if you're fish are doing well under your current pH, you shouldn't mess with it. Providing a stable pH is usually more important than the exact value, as long as extremes are avoided. I know a pH of 5.5 is a little high. I am still getting familiarized with the chemicals. But my suggestion for you is to use some type of buffering salt like limestone or the use of crushed coral in the filter before going with the commercial buffers.

As far as water changes, since your tank is not cycled... I wouldn't recommend to do water changes every day. I am in the same boat as you besides the pH level. I lost two fish already because I didn't cycle my tank well. Try doing water changes once a week (10%). For your ammonia levels, feed your fish every other day and test your water after a couple of days again to see the levels. If ammonia hasn't decreased... then I recommend Prime. It's a solution that lowers your ammonia, nitritite, and nitrate levels without affecting your pH.

If I am wrong with my advice, feel free to correct me. This is what I know so far because like I mentioned before... I am dealing with high water levels myself without cycling my tank the proper way.

 

[10walkham]

Hi


Im currently in the process or trying to re cycle my 120 ltr tank after my friend decided it would be helpful to clean my filter out using tap water whilst i was on holiday !

I have been trying to cycle for 2 weeks now and not much success , my PH has also dropped from 7.5 to 5.5. Here is my setup:

120 ltr tank
Tetratek EX700
5 Red Plattys
5 Neon Tetras
5 Yellow tail guppys
1 Red Sailfin Plec

PH 5.5
Am 0.4
Nitrite : 0.1
Nitrate 0.0

Water temperature is 26 c

I have no real plants or bogwood, only fake plants and a couple of rocks and ive cut back to feeding the fish every 2 days. plus im doing a 10% water change every day to keep the ammonia levels down

I am worried about this , so any suggestions would be great !

My first question is: are your fish fine with your current pH? If there is one thing you should know abou the pH is that if you're fish are doing well under your current pH, you shouldn't mess with it. Providing a stable pH is usually more important than the exact value, as long as extremes are avoided. I know a pH of 5.5 is a little high. I am still getting familiarized with the chemicals. But my suggestion for you is to use some type of buffering salt like limestone or the use of crushed coral in the filter before going with the commercial buffers.

As far as water changes, since your tank is not cycled... I wouldn't recommend to do water changes every day. I am in the same boat as you besides the pH level. I lost two fish already because I didn't cycle my tank well. Try doing water changes once a week (10%). For your ammonia levels, feed your fish every other day and test your water after a couple of days again to see the levels. If ammonia hasn't decreased... then I recommend Prime. It's a solution that lowers your ammonia, nitritite, and nitrate levels without affecting your pH.

If I am wrong with my advice, feel free to correct me. This is what I know so far because like I mentioned before... I am dealing with high water levels myself without cycling my tank the proper way.

Hi

thanks for the reply, my fish seem to be fine, so you reckon its better not to do daily water changes ? i do have some prime so maybe il lay off the daily water changes and just do a weekly water change and use prime .

I heard that prime only lasts in a tank for 24 hours. so i guess il have to add it directly into the tank every day until my tank is cycled ?

 

[omordn]

Hi


Im currently in the process or trying to re cycle my 120 ltr tank after my friend decided it would be helpful to clean my filter out using tap water whilst i was on holiday !

I have been trying to cycle for 2 weeks now and not much success , my PH has also dropped from 7.5 to 5.5. Here is my setup:

120 ltr tank
Tetratek EX700
5 Red Plattys
5 Neon Tetras
5 Yellow tail guppys
1 Red Sailfin Plec

PH 5.5
Am 0.4
Nitrite : 0.1
Nitrate 0.0

Water temperature is 26 c

I have no real plants or bogwood, only fake plants and a couple of rocks and ive cut back to feeding the fish every 2 days. plus im doing a 10% water change every day to keep the ammonia levels down

I am worried about this , so any suggestions would be great !

My first question is: are your fish fine with your current pH? If there is one thing you should know abou the pH is that if you're fish are doing well under your current pH, you shouldn't mess with it. Providing a stable pH is usually more important than the exact value, as long as extremes are avoided. I know a pH of 5.5 is a little high. I am still getting familiarized with the chemicals. But my suggestion for you is to use some type of buffering salt like limestone or the use of crushed coral in the filter before going with the commercial buffers.

As far as water changes, since your tank is not cycled... I wouldn't recommend to do water changes every day. I am in the same boat as you besides the pH level. I lost two fish already because I didn't cycle my tank well. Try doing water changes once a week (10%). For your ammonia levels, feed your fish every other day and test your water after a couple of days again to see the levels. If ammonia hasn't decreased... then I recommend Prime. It's a solution that lowers your ammonia, nitritite, and nitrate levels without affecting your pH.

If I am wrong with my advice, feel free to correct me. This is what I know so far because like I mentioned before... I am dealing with high water levels myself without cycling my tank the proper way.

Hi

thanks for the reply, my fish seem to be fine, so you reckon its better not to do daily water changes ? i do have some prime so maybe il lay off the daily water changes and just do a weekly water change and use prime .

I heard that prime only lasts in a tank for 24 hours. so i guess il have to add it directly into the tank every day until my tank is cycled ?

Yes, sorry that I forgot to mention that. Try using Prime for 5 days in a row and then do your weekly water changes. After 2-3 weeks check your levels again. Try not to test your water levels every day because you will not see a change. Just be patient. I would concentrate more on your pH right now. I am still new with this so if you can try to find someone who can guide you with your pH and see if leaving it at its current level (5.5) is fine or if you should try buffering. If so, how.

 

[10walkham]

Hi

Ok il do what you suggest , thanks for taking the time to post

 

[Daveyg1969]

I always use coral gravel for balancing P.H as it adds buffers to the water, and it also seems to hold cycling bacteria well.
And I wouldn't have cleaned the filter out after just 2 weeks either as the bacteria colony would't have established properly.
I only clean my filter if the flow is reduced, and if I change any of the pads just do em 1 at a time.

 

[wolfwolf]

If you are in the US go to a reputable LFS and buy some Bio Spira. I have had good luck with it speeding up the cycling in my tank after some medication wiped out my beneficial bacteria. As far as water changes I think its best to keep changing the water in order to keep nitrite and ammonia below .25ppm. It may extend the cycling time but it is easier on the fish. Also, be careful using Prime if you do use Bio Spira. I do not think they are compatible.

 

[10walkham]

If you are in the US go to a reputable LFS and buy some Bio Spira. I have had good luck with it speeding up the cycling in my tank after some medication wiped out my beneficial bacteria. As far as water changes I think its best to keep changing the water in order to keep nitrite and ammonia below .25ppm. It may extend the cycling time but it is easier on the fish. Also, be careful using Prime if you do use Bio Spira. I do not think they are compatible.

Thanks for the advice , maybe il stop using prime and instead do a daily water change, i live in the UK but i heard that the equivelent to bio spira is called Soll bactinettes.

Does anyone have any experience with this ?

 

[Daveyg1969]

Filter Start by interpet is a good UK Bio starter.