Still No Fish! Please Help

[Watersprite]

Getting really fed up now. Have been cycling my tank now for over five weeks. Got really excited 10 days ago as ammonia levels and nitrite levels were both zero. Was about to get fish, did water change and retested water, ammonia was slightly raised. Decided to wait a couple of days before getting fish. Added a plant fertilser (Tetra Plant) about 7 days ago. My readings have been erratic ever since water change.

125 Litre Tank

Todays readings:
Ammonia 2.0
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 100
PH 5

Up until now PH has been high 8 dropping to 7 about a week ago. Have 2 pieces of bogwood which I have had in the tank since I set it Up. Also have live plants (which are thriving).

I do de-chloranate the water.

Why has my pH dropped so drastically, Tap water is 8?

What can I do to get my tank cycled, feel like I am never going to get any fish!!!

Please any help would be appreciated

 

[moey23q]

Getting really fed up now. Have been cycling my tank now for over five weeks. Got really excited 10 days ago as ammonia levels and nitrite levels were both zero. Was about to get fish, did water change and retested water, ammonia was slightly raised. Decided to wait a couple of days before getting fish. Added a plant fertilser (Tetra Plant) about 7 days ago. My readings have been erratic ever since water change.

125 Litre Tank

Todays readings:
Ammonia 2.0
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 100
PH 5

Up until now PH has been high 8 dropping to 7 about a week ago. Have 2 pieces of bogwood which I have had in the tank since I set it Up. Also have live plants (which are thriving).

I do de-chloranate the water.

Why has my pH dropped so drastically, Tap water is 8?

What can I do to get my tank cycled, feel like I am never going to get any fish!!!

Please any help would be appreciated

Just get very hardy fish, they should be fine, think of what fish you are going to get, then check what their recommended pH levels are. Don't panic too much, a tip from me is to not get Tetras on your first time, purchase silver sharks or something, or gourami's. btw this is my first post so just getting used to it.

moey.

 

[vinylman]

Not sure at all about the Bala Sharks - we have no idea what size tank the OP has; you'd need a very large tank for more than one. Plus Dwarf Gouramis aren't a great idea. Better to go with something like Platies or Danios for a first fish (and check with your LFS if you can exchange them for something else later on) but with regular water changes.

 

[Watersprite]

Thanks for replies

Tank size was in original post ( 125 litres).

I don't want to put any fish in until I manage to sort out water parameters. Can anyone help with sorting these?

 

[Tiger Barb]

Hi Watersprite -

I'm pretty new to fishkeeping myself, so cannot really advise you re your water parameters. However, I just wanted to congratulate you on your persistence with your fishless cycle, and your determination not to subject any fish ("hardy" or not) to any levels of ammonia and/or nitrite. Well done.... eventually your fish will love you!

Keep at it!

 

[Watersprite]

Hi Watersprite -

I'm pretty new to fishkeeping myself, so cannot really advise you re your water parameters. However, I just wanted to congratulate you on your persistence with your fishless cycle, and your determination not to subject any fish ("hardy" or not) to any levels of ammonia and/or nitrite. Well done.... eventually your fish will love you!

Keep at it!

Thanks for the encouragement, it's appreciated

 

[vinylman]

Sorry, missed the tank size. Yes, persevere with the fishless cycle. No set rules, I'm afraid; some cycle after three weeks, some just take longer. It's not much consolation now, but when it's sorted, your fish will be very grateful you did it that way. Keep at it.

 

[Watersprite]

Should I do a large water change in the hope that it resolves my pH problem?
It has never been as low as 5 before, in fact it has always been on the slighty high side, 7.5 two weeks ago and 8 prior to that.
Could the Tetra Plant feed (added 1 week ago) have been a factor in the large drop in pH.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

your pH of 5 is the problem.

i've some bad news for you i'm afraid

the nitrifying bacteria you've been cultivating for the last 5 weeks cannot live at a pH of below 5.5, chances are they have all died off which is why your ammonia and nitrite are now not being processed.



i'm so sorry to be the one to tell you that i can imagine it's absolutely gutting.

do a big water change and get your pH back up to a reasonable level, take out the bogwood and anything else that could be affecting pH immediately the start adding ammonia up to 5ppm again, fingers crossed some bacteria will be surviving and your cycle won't have to start from scratch but there is a fair chance that you'll have to start all over again.

if you haven't already look for someone in your area with mature media, if there's no one on the list put a post in tropical chat with your location, lets hope there's someone near to you as that would kick start the cycle

 

[dwarfgourami]

I am really surprised by the ph dropping that low. I would expect it in Essex to come out of the tap pretty high, so if the readings are correct something pretty drastic is happening in your tank. I can't imagine a couple of pieces of bogwood having that much of an effect on their own, though I would certainly remove them too on the principle that every little helps. Should you maybe recheck the ph?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

absolutely right DG, any really odd test readings you should get confirmed by your lfs or someone else with a different test kit

 

[Watersprite]

Thanks for replies. Will recheck pH right now. Will then do very large water change, then check parameters again. Will add ammonia back up to five.
Hopefully will still have some good bacteria left, if not, your right will be gutted.
If no luck restarting cycle will try to post nearby members in the hope of some mature filter material to hasten things up.
Will keep you posted.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

got my fingers crossed for you

 

[Nosnibor]

Thanks for replies. Will recheck pH right now. Will then do very large water change, then check parameters again. Will add ammonia back up to five.
Hopefully will still have some good bacteria left, if not, your right will be gutted.
If no luck restarting cycle will try to post nearby members in the hope of some mature filter material to hasten things up.
Will keep you posted.

Yeah Watersprite,

Just so you don't feel alone there, I had pretty much the same situation. My PH dropped, and I think the Great Miss W is right about the bog wood, but I'm so near the end of my cycle I'm leeping mine in there and will just do the water changes.

I did a 50% water change yesterday as my cycle had stalled, but my PH level didn't go down as low as 5.5 (and not for too long). There's proof that my ammonia killing bacteria (Nitrosomonas and Nitrosococcus) is quite strong as I put in the wrong amount of pure ammonia in yesterday Basically twice the amount But this morning when I did my tests, the ammonia level result was 2mg

The ammonia I use is 9.5% (from Homebase) and the calculations for my 180 litre tank is:
Add 9ml of ammonia for a 5mg result
Add 7.2ml of ammonia for a 4mg result
Add 5.4 of ammonia for a 3mg result
(worked out with the help from Squid )

Anyhoo, I reckon you should just do the same by doing the 50% water change and keep your eye on it, especially the PH level. If it starts to drop again, then do a 20% water change.

Seems to be working for me

Good luck fellow fishless keeper cycling kid

Martin

 

[Watersprite]

Retested pH at 12.30 - 6.5, then did approx 65/70 per cent water change.

Rechecked water parameters 2hrs ago
pH 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.5
Nitrate 50

Added ammonia to bring it back up to 5ppm.

Now just keeping fingers crossed that some of my bacteria have survived, will retest in the morning. Wish I knew what caused the pH to drop like that. Wasn't testing pH every day as I know that it alters whilst cycling so not sure how long it had been that low. Will now test every day.

Thanks for everyones help.