My fishless cycle thus far...

[asphaltblues]

I have a 29 gal tank that is consuming over 20 Mils of ammonia a day... Nitrites through the roof as is Nitrate, and Ph is off the charts acid? (lower than 7.6)... It has been just about 4 weeks, and yes... I'm getting impatient LOL... I read last night an article that somebody posted about fishless cycling... It said I should do a 50% water change to thin out the Nitrite and Nitrate in the water... and also to re-buffer the water to a more neutral Ph... I did a 50% wc, and my readings are still the same... Not to worry?... Do more water changes? I just don't want to kill what would seem to be a thriving colony of bacteria with a low Ph... Thoughts?

 

[homedog98]

What test kit are you using? That PWC should have done something.

 

[Rbishop]

I'd do a 90% water change and not worry about the pH at all.

 

[asphaltblues]

API Master is my test kit

 

[asphaltblues]

I'd do a 90% water change and not worry about the pH at all.

OK... I was concerned because the article said low ph could kill the bacteria... so I freaked out...LOL...

 

[homedog98]

did you test normal ph as well or just high range? I agree with Rbishop on the 90% change, but if Ph gets too high or too low it will stall your cycle. The bacteria won't die, but they will go dormant if the Ph goes below 6.5. So while not as important after a cycle, it's really important to watch during a cycle.

 

[Rbishop]

It can be an issue...but not IME until it drops below 6.0

 

[allaboutfish]

it could be below 6.0 depending on what ph test she is testing

 

[Rbishop]

errmm..doubtful...

 

[asphaltblues]

did you test normal ph as well or just high range?

I was only using normal ph test... I just did a high range test and it shows a ph of 7.4