Water levels and cycling

G

Ghostshrimp55

AC Members
Sep 30, 2005
382
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Hi all. My tank has started cycling. I added bacteria from filter squeezings from my in-law's filter about 6 days ago and I noticed the ammonia level dropped from 5ppm to ~3ppm. So, two days ago (that's day 4 of the cycle) I decided that it might be a good idea to kickstart the process by adding bio-spira. I did that and I now have detectable levels of nitrites and nitrates. My ammonia is still holding at 3 ppm. I didn't add all of the contents of the package (it was for a 90-something gallon tank). Instead, I waited until I had nitrites present and added the remaining 1/4 of the package to ensure that I would have nitrite eaters present when there was actually something there for them to eat.

Before cycling, my pH was ~7.5 and GH was 5 degrees and my KH was 4 degrees. I just tested it about thirty minutes ago and my pH is now at 8, my GH is at 3 and my KH is at 4. What's going on and is there anything I can do to lower the pH? I'm thinking that I did not have enough in the way of a buffer in the water to maintain a steady pH? I just want to do something before things get out of hand and I wind up halting the process.

I have a 55gallon tank with an eheim canister filter (#2215) if you need to know that and the temp is a constant 79 F. The test kit I use is from Tetratest and the nitrate kit is from Nutrafin.

Thanks a lot!
 
Bump..........Been a day or two more by now (day 7 or 8) and still no change in ammonia. My nirates are at 10mg/L and my nitrites have been holding at .3mg/L.................should I be concerned? Is this normal?
 
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Even adding Bio Spira you can still get some detctable levels of ammonia for a few days. IME, BS is not bullet proof.

You could always add more if you want but I wouldn't spend the money. Give it some time to work out. A full cycle usually takes at least 4 weeks so if this gets there in two you're still short cutting the process.

Have you tested your water out of the tap? Pour a glass of water and let it sit over night. Test it the next day for ph, gh, kh, ammonia, and nitrites. It could be that your first test was off a little because the water from the tap has a lower ph. As it sits, it gasses off C02 and becomes less acidic leading to a higher ph test later.

In all, you have nothing to panic over at all. Just keep testing.
 
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