Stalled Cycle Or Just Super Slow?!?! What's The Deal?

[jdubs]

Hi Everyone,

I know that there are many a post about fishless cycling, but I guess us newbies need some extra help and reassurance.

I am about 5-6 weeks into a fishless cycle with my 16 gallon tank. I was seeding with pure ammonia to get it up to 4ppm. Everything has been working perfect . . . nitrites spiked . . . nitrates spiked. Now the ammonia and nitrites are dropping, which is great. Nitrites have dropped to 0ppm, but the ammonia drop is either super slow or has stopped. It was at 1ppm about 36 hours ago. Yesterday morning it was at .5ppm and today it was the same .5ppm. I was hoping it would keep going down.

Is it stalled? Should I feed more ammonia?

ammonia .5ppm
nitrites 0ppm
nitrates 80+ppm
ph 6 (this may have dropped from about 6.6) I only test this about every 2-3 days


I was soooo excited that my cycle was close to being finished I bought 6 ember tetras (so cute) and left them at the store because I was certain I would be getting them soon to put in my tank.

Any suggestions or words of advice or encouragement would be appreciated!

You guys are awesome!!

 

[Welshweeks]

A water change would probably help and certainly do no harm, especially as your nitrates are 80+

 

[CezzaXV]

It'll be your pH that'll be causing your stall, definitely. Put some bicarbonate of soda into your tank to get it up to a healthier 8.

The ph will be fine when you have fish in it, but for the purposes of your fishless cycle you need to keep the pH as close to 8 a possible. It can be a little unde 8 but not higher or it may start to kill your bacteria.

 

[4seasons]

PH of 8 is best? I know too low will stall but haven't heard that over 8 is too high before. What do you do if your tap water is in the 8.2-8.6 range?

 

[CezzaXV]

If that's your tap water then there's not much that can be done about it. It'll likely be fine and will likely come down pretty quickly - the processes the backs are doing causes the water to become slowly acidic, or quickly acidic in the case of fishless cycling where relatively large amounts of ammonia is being processed in a short amount of time.

It will be your low pH that is causing the stall though and you need to get it up, whether by bicarb or a water change.

 

[jdubs]

so i changed the water in my 16 gallon tank and my 10 gallon tank which is also cycling slowly. The PH from the tap is about 8 and this definitely got the cycle moving again. I tested the PH in both tanks today and they dropped to about 6.6-6.8. For some reason the PH drops quickly in my tanks. I will monitor it more often to keep it from dropping to 6.

If anyone is still reading this thread a few more questions. If PH matters for the nitrogen cycle, shouldn't it matter just as much when I put my fish in? If the PH in the tanks dropped to 6 with fish wouldn't the bacteria stop working the way it should and not take care of the ammonia? How can I stabilize the PH in my tanks to about 7?

I am getting excited because I feel like the end of the cycle is near!!!

Thanks!!!!

 

[CezzaXV]

so i changed the water in my 16 gallon tank and my 10 gallon tank which is also cycling slowly. The PH from the tap is about 8 and this definitely got the cycle moving again. I tested the PH in both tanks today and they dropped to about 6.6-6.8. For some reason the PH drops quickly in my tanks. I will monitor it more often to keep it from dropping to 6.

If anyone is still reading this thread a few more questions. If PH matters for the nitrogen cycle, shouldn't it matter just as much when I put my fish in? If the PH in the tanks dropped to 6 with fish wouldn't the bacteria stop working the way it should and not take care of the ammonia? How can I stabilize the PH in my tanks to about 7?

I am getting excited because I feel like the end of the cycle is near!!!

Thanks!!!!

I'm not quite sure how it works, but I've not really had problems with a low pH affecting my other water stats in my established tank. I have very soft water and my water rarely reaches 7. A pH of 8 will help the bacteria breed more easily, which is what you're trying to encourage in a cycle. My guess is that in an established tank containing fish, the bacteria are dealing with a constant trickle of ammonia, rather than big individual doses like during a cycle.

If I were you, I would add some bicarb to your tank now to get it back up towards 8. It can only help.

 

[OldMan47]

The reason for a fast drop in pH is having a low KH. For cycling, you can stabilize the pH above 7.0 easily by adding a bit of baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, to your water. It will buffer the pH somewhat.