What Could Have Killed My Bacteria?

[mnemonik23]

Nice chart.

During fishless cycling I found that I could work with baking soda to counteract the really low pH crashes I was getting. The ideal way to do this is to be measuring KH as well as pH so that you can get used to the relationship. But there's nothing wrong (that I can see) with going ahead with some baking soda prior to having a KH kit, you just won't be able to see the results of your baking soda actions as well.

In your case you are down to pH=6.4, which is not quite at 6.2 where the cycle is generally expected to stall, so technically you could wait another day or two possibly, watching pH, but if you have some pure baking soda in the kitchen (make sure its baking soda (aka NaHCO3, aka Sodium Bicarbonate) and not baking powder!) you should add 2 teaspoons, I'd say, for a 29G. Just sprinkle slowly on surface, it will all dissolve eventually.

This will raise the carbonate hardness (measured in german degrees KH) and may not immediately raise the pH, but it should stabilize the pH and help it to resist going down farther. Then just continue to record your stats and post them and we'll keep an eye out for whether we should do a big water change at some point here and recharge with ammonia and baking soda. If your ammonia gets to zero then recharge it to 5 again of course.

Did I forget anything?
~~waterdrop~~

Thanks wd!

Of course there is a pure baking soda in the kitchen (Sodium Bicarbonate, checked)! Added 2 teaspoons and ordered API GH & KH test kit.
What do I do if tomorrow pH will drop to 6.2 or even below (just want to have some backup plan and be prepared in case...)?

 

[drobbyb]

I bet your KH is low. Sodium Bicarbonate will buffer your water proper.

 

[waterdrop]

If it actually hits 6.2 and you have the time, I'd do a 90% water change (w/conditioner & rough temp of course) and recharge to 4-5ppm ammonia and add 3 teaspoons of baking soda.

If you don't have time for the water change that day then just add one more teaspoon of baking soda.

I'm glad you had the baking soda and that you ordered the KH/GH test, good work!

How is the chart going to work? Are you going to go back up to the post up there and edit the link with a new link that points to an updated picture of an updated chart or are you just going to post a new line for us in your thread here?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[mnemonik23]

If it actually hits 6.2 and you have the time, I'd do a 90% water change (w/conditioner & rough temp of course) and recharge to 4-5ppm ammonia and add 3 teaspoons of baking soda.

If you don't have time for the water change that day then just add one more teaspoon of baking soda.

I'm glad you had the baking soda and that you ordered the KH/GH test, good work!

How is the chart going to work? Are you going to go back up to the post up there and edit the link with a new link that points to an updated picture of an updated chart or are you just going to post a new line for us in your thread here?

~~waterdrop~~

Good news! pH raised to 7.2 over night! Yay
Ammonia 0, Nitrites: drops become purple at the bottom as soon as they reach it. Nitrates between 15 and 20.
I will update chart this evening.

I believe now I wait 24 hours prior recharging ammonia.
If I checked it this morning and it was 0, I than will have to add ammonia back to 3-4ppm tomorrow morning, right?


Thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

Glad to hear your good news.

The ammonia "recharge" is the thing that is the 24hour clock tick. If you did it in the morning then the next time will be morning too, or if you did it in the evening then the next time will be evening too.

Its not important that the ammonia add be exactly on 24 hours. What's important is just that you record the time you put it in so that you can later see accurately how many hours it took to drop to zero.

Make sense?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[mnemonik23]

Glad to hear your good news.

The ammonia "recharge" is the thing that is the 24hour clock tick. If you did it in the morning then the next time will be morning too, or if you did it in the evening then the next time will be evening too.

Its not important that the ammonia add be exactly on 24 hours. What's important is just that you record the time you put it in so that you can later see accurately how many hours it took to drop to zero.

Make sense?

~~waterdrop~~

Got it, thanks!

 

[mnemonik23]

Ok, 4ppm of ammonia processed in less than 12 hours. But, where the heck did my nitrates go? From 15+ to 5 ?? Did two tests just in case - same results: 5.0. Is there anything out there that can lower nitrates besides water change (which I did not perform)?

pH also slightly dropped from 7.4 to 7.2

 

[waterdrop]

mnemonik, don't worry about the nitrates, it will just drive you crazy. I don't have an explanation for it (MW just puts it down to the tests jumping around sometimes) but I do know that its happened to all of us wno have been here a while and its reported -a lot- in our beginner threads here and its just not worth focusing on or worrying about. You just have to keep steadily going on with the fishless cycle and keep focusing on ammonia, nitrite and pH. And in our case we want to keep considering whether to try small increases in the amount of baking soda we add so that we get closer to that pH in the 8+ range. The fact that you are up above 7 though, and that you are regularly adding ammonia and the A-Bacs are clearly producing NO2 and that just the existance of NO3 readings of any sort means the N-Bacs are trying to grow, means you will eventually win out no matter what.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[mnemonik23]

mnemonik, don't worry about the nitrates, it will just drive you crazy. I don't have an explanation for it (MW just puts it down to the tests jumping around sometimes) but I do know that its happened to all of us wno have been here a while and its reported -a lot- in our beginner threads here and its just not worth focusing on or worrying about. You just have to keep steadily going on with the fishless cycle and keep focusing on ammonia, nitrite and pH. And in our case we want to keep considering whether to try small increases in the amount of baking soda we add so that we get closer to that pH in the 8+ range. The fact that you are up above 7 though, and that you are regularly adding ammonia and the A-Bacs are clearly producing NO2 and that just the existance of NO3 readings of any sort means the N-Bacs are trying to grow, means you will eventually win out no matter what.

~~waterdrop~~

waterdrop, is there any limitation on when to add baking soda? I mean, should I add it now you have to wait some # of days after its last addition?

Thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

No, the baking soda is nothing like the ammonia in that regard. You can just experiment around with baking soda as you please. Of course, the wise course with anything like this is to proceed slowly, carefully and clearly, always leaving clear notes to yourself about what you did and what your motives were.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[mnemonik23]

Just an update on my cycling progress. No nitrates change for 4 days already but as waterdrop said I should not worry about it Or should I?
Ammonia processes from 5ppm to 0ppm in about 12-14 hours.
Btw, measured kH and GH. In kH case the results are when water changed color to pale yellow, not bright yellow. And GH when water changed to light green.

Aquarium
-----------
kH: 4-5 (71.6 - 89.5)
GH: 10-11 (179 - 196.9)

Tap
----
kH: 3-4 (53.7 - 71.6)
GH: 12+ (214.8+)



Click on the black bar to view original size:

 

[waterdrop]

Wow, you're looking pretty good for only 14 days. Be aware that the nitrite spike is often at least twice as long as however long it took to drop ammonia to zero quickly (ie. first stage.) I like your graph.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[TheDood326]

possibly the new water treatment

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes don't stress over the nitrate for two reasons really

1 - nitrate test kits are notoriously inaccurate, the readings should be taken as indicative at best, so you just have 'low' nitrate.

2 - the plants will be using some of it up so the growth is not what you would expect in a tank without any plants in.

 

[drobbyb]

I actually live within 2 hours driving distance from Atlanta Georgia and my water is soft just like yours. There are a good many LFS in your area. Lucky for you! I wish I had half the nice stores you have!

It sounds as if you are close to being finished with your cycle. When ammonia and nitrites both hit zero you will be golden.