SO story of my life i've wasted about a thousand bucks on this one 10g tank in trying to cycle it and ive found out that the real problem was the low ph which wasn't letting my tank mature. so my question is how can i get my ph to 7 or higher my current tank ph is 6.0 using an api testkit for freshwater my tap water has a ph of about 6.6. i really dont want to buy anything or using baking soda but what i do have alot of is sea shells from the beach. so this tank really what hapopened was a t first i had fish they died left ammonia tank didnt cycle so i drained the tank put water it still had ammonia from the fish so i decided to go fishless cycling the ammonia went from 0.75 to 3ppm and know i just did a 50 % water change hoping it would ragulate my ph i currently also have shells in the tank not crushed or anything just how they were at the beach.I've wasted one year trying to cycle this tank and still nothing so i've had alot of patience the tank has gravel it runs on an aqueon power filter 10 and has an air pump that has air bubbles please help i really don't want to give up fish cause i love fishes and that''l mean the fish that died before died for nothing I've bought cycle, bio-zyme, stress zyme ammo-lock, everything please im open to any suggestions thank you for your time
10g tank cycling
- Thread starter Bartny
- Start date
First don't add any more chemicals besides dechlorinator. They tend to do more harm than good. The sea shells will help buffer and raise your Ph. You could cruch them up and put them under your gravel. You can also use limestone to help buffer the PH as well. Many people use crushed coral which is about the same as the seashells you already have.
When doing a fishless cycle you need to add the ammonia daily and not do any water changes until it's all done. A cycle can take 4-6 weeks. If you know anyone that also keep fish you can get some filter media or squeezings from their filter to help jump start the cycle.
When doing a fishless cycle you need to add the ammonia daily and not do any water changes until it's all done. A cycle can take 4-6 weeks. If you know anyone that also keep fish you can get some filter media or squeezings from their filter to help jump start the cycle.
You could purchase limestone to use as "tank decorations" and use a crushed coral substrate like those used in marine setups. Both of these mentioned help "buffer" the water keeping the pH steady. If the tap water is at 6.6. out of the tap, are you testing this as the water is coming out of the tap or after the water has set and settled for a while? pH will drop based on temperature and oxygen levels.
I would not dose any chemicals as mentioned above. Most tropical fish will acclimate and adjust to a pH below 7 far easier than when we try to raise the pH with chemical additives.
What fish do you plan to keep?
I would not dose any chemicals as mentioned above. Most tropical fish will acclimate and adjust to a pH below 7 far easier than when we try to raise the pH with chemical additives.
What fish do you plan to keep?