KH and pH crashing in the nitrate part of cycling

Yoemen

Yoemen

In Boogeyman's closet
Nov 2, 2005
765
0
16
Galveston
I have my ammonia bacteria established and am doing really good. My nitrates are high, but I am still reading nitrites. However, my KH and pH are dropping a lot. my pH has dropped from almost 8 down to 7.3 and my KH has dropped from around 170 down to 80. I know that when I do a water change and such after finishing the cycle and with weekly water changes this will not be a problem, just wondering if I need to worry about it in regard to the cycle itself.

Oh btw, 10 gallon tank, fishless cycling, day 25 without any bio media to help it.
 
Dropping KH can cause problems, but typically only for those starting out with really low KH. KH readings near 4 degrees will probably crash, while yours look pretty stable. You can always add a smidge of baking soda to boost it up if you are concerned right now--without fish in the system, changes like this won't be a big problem.
 
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Ditto.

The whole nitrification cycle "eats" your Kh, so all the known problems may come. However, with your water parameters I believe that when you start with your water changes routine your Kh will not be an issue.

You can add baking soda to raise it, but I don't see the need. If you are affraid of a Ph crash during your cycle, maybe a partial water change (with declhorinated water) will help.
 
hmm

well I did the partial water change, and I noticed a lot of stuff coming up when I ran my vacc around my caves. I also knocked some stringy stuff off my fake plants. I have read that lots of wierd stuff can occurr during cycle, but I had assumed there wouldn't be much to vaccum up during a cycle?
 
Depends on what all is in the tank. Bio-film is pretty common, as are various algaes and diatoms that can capitilize on all the available free food. Nothing to be too worried about, as long as it doesn't take over the tank.
 
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