Ph Advice.

[Leedsboi86]

Hi everyone.

Currently cycling my Aquarium and all well going well til this morning.
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: HIGH

But the odd thing is my PH has gone from 7.5 to 6.0! I haven't changed or done anything to the tank other then adding plants which I ordered from an Aquatic website.

I did the liquid drop test 3 times and it's same each time!

 

[Dan Robbins]

Strange indeed.
You may find that in stagnent waters, pH is slightly lower, If you try adding an additional Air pump into the water, this should alter the pH.
Dan

 

[Leedsboi86]

My Filter blows alot of air in the water, It's BioLife ya can actually see lots of lil bubbles in water lol

 

[loachman]

Don't worry about it while cycling. It can go up and down with the cycling process.

 

[minxfishy]

Ph can and does fluctuate during a fishless cycle. However, when it get down below 6.0 you may find the process stalls.

I would do a 90% water change to re-charge if you like, the ph back up to get the cycle going again.

You aim to keep the ph between 7.0 and 8.0 in a fishless cycle.

The water change will not hurt and can sometimes speed things along, just remember to add more ammonia to keep the cycle going.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

Ph can and does fluctuate during a fishless cycle. However, when it get down below 6.0 you may find the process stalls.

I would do a 90% water change to re-charge if you like, the ph back up to get the cycle going again.

You aim to keep the ph between 7.0 and 8.0 in a fishless cycle.

The water change will not hurt and can sometimes speed things along, just remember to add more ammonia to keep the cycle going.

if u do 90% then what he has done so far has been a waste of time

 

[minxfishy]

No it hasnt, you just top up the ammonia again.

 

[Colin_T]

Ammonia & nitrite are acidic and will drop the PH if there is nothing in the water to buffer the PH. You probably have a low carbonate hardness (KH) in the water allowing this to happen. You can buffer the KH & PH with sodium bicarb or by adding some shells or limestone to the tank.

 

[jacden]

this happened on two occasions when i was cycling my tank. Iwas advised to do a large water change, worked fine, just top back up to 5ppm of ammonia following wc and your cycle will carry on as normal. my tap water has a low kh and therefore ph was less stable during cycling. Good luck.

 

[Leedsboi86]

I'm using prawns to do the cycle.
Mainly cause I tried a million stores and they all say they don't sell Ammonia anymore.

 

[backtotropical]

Ammonia & nitrite are acidic

Are you sure about that, Colin?

 

[Bignose]

Ammonia & nitrite are acidic

Are you sure about that, Colin?

Yeah, BTT, that caught my eye too. Ammonia itself isn't acidic, if anything it is basic because it is a proton acceptor. NH3 + H+ --> NH4+

If you want to be completely technical, nitrite and nitrate themselves aren't acidic, either, but they are part of a disassociated acid.

Nitrous Acid disassociates into nitrite and a proton: NO2H <--> NO2- + H+

Nitric Acid disassociates into nitrate and a proton: NO3H <--> NO3- + H+

The end product of ammonia oxidation is nitrous acid which is acidic, and the end product of nitrite/nitrous acid oxidation is nitric acid which is acidic.

So, just a small type by Colin, the main point remains the same. The results of the ammonia oxidation and the nitrite oxidation are acidic and if the water has low buffering, those acids can indeed lower the pH. If the OP would post the results of KH test, that'd be best, though if they can only post the results of a GH test, you can usually infer the magnitude of the KH from a GH test result.

 

[Colin_T]

thanks for the correction Bignose The end result of the filtration cycle produces acids that will drop the PH if there isn't enough KH to buffer the water.

 

[Leedsboi86]

Just tested again today and P.H has dropped to 5.5

 

[Bignose]

Leeds, is there anyway you could post the results of a KH test?