Stalled cycle

[beglely]

Been cycling my 55g for over a month now, and my cycle is whack. I seeded the tank to begin with and showed high ammonia, mild nitrites (0-.5ppm) and low nitrates. After a few days every test was high. After around 2 to 3 weeks ammonia started to drop from around 8ppm to 1ppm until it spiked again with no change in the other levels. This remained for a week or so until the last few days where my nitrites have plummeted to 0. This would be great except right now my ammonia is at 8ppm and nitrates at almost 80ppm. I havent been doing water changes because of the cycle. This is a planted tank and ive been injecting DIYc02 during the process. I have also read that low pH levels can kill the necessary bacteria in a cycle, and this could be my case as my pH is 6.0. Ive been testing a bucket of water with my rainbow rock from my 20g in it to see if it raises the pH (it does as the pH has risen .6 in the last week) so I might move all my rainbow rock to the 55g permanently if this can help correct my cycle. I also forgot to mention that as of 2 days ago ive now got green water in this tank. Suggestions on how to get things back in order?? All my other tanks cycled fine except this one.
edit*:forgot to mention that I only brought up greenwater because maybe it can explain why my cycle is wierd. Ive fixed green water algae before so thats nbd

 

[meegosh]

Just saw your post, sorry for the late replies. The green water is caused by excess nutrients (nitrates) in the water column and excessive light. I would recommend you keep the lights off, if you haven't already turned them off, and let the algae die off. Is there any fish in the tank? If so you might want to consider adding an airstone if there are a lot of fish. Green water can suffocate fish at night when the algae uses up O2.

I'm not sure what caused the stall. What did you use to seed the tank? A filter, gravel, or decor? What are your readings now? It has been three days, any changes?

 

[happygirl65]

The low pH could be a factor, but at 6.0 I think there is still some bacteria there just can't reproduce as quickly as it does with higher pH.

I would recommend you turn the lights off, and CO2 off while you cycle. You could also do a pwc to reduce nitrates as long as you don't disturb the substrate or plants since the majority of your beneficial bacteria is on the surfaces, not too much actually free floating in the water itself.

I think you are almost there. With nitrates that high you have to have a decent amount of bacteria going in there you just have to let everything else catch up.

 

[beglely]

Yeah not very concerned about the algae at the moment, and I dont cycle with fish. Im cutting back on lighting tho, which is already dimly lit. I finished around a 25% pwc tonight. I emptied 25% last night and fell asleep before adding in fresh water, which i did upon returning home from work this evening. I just tested my water and results are as follows:
Ammonia: 8ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 40ppm
pH: 6.4
KH: 1
GH: 10
Only change appears to be in my pH after the water change, which is the first change I have ever noticed in the tank. I seeded the tank with gravel and filter material from both my 10g and 20g long.

 

[beglely]

pH has maintainted at 6.4 and no change in ammonia, but i dont expect to see instant results anyway. I was hoping to have this tank running a month ago but its been a slow start. Any suggestions on how to prevent pH swings while maintaining the current or a slightly higer pH? I am looking at possibly keeping rams and I would like to give them optimal conditions, but obviously first priority is keeping a stable pH instead of thier preferred conditions. My buffering capacity is horribly low at the moment, which although allows me a lower pH than my tap, it still has the threat of large fluctuations (as seen by my water change raising it .4). I know that by adding limestone rock or driftwood or other buffers I can up my KH to prevent potential fish-threatening pH swings, but that will also up my pH to the ridiculously high levels that my other tanks have. Has anyone found a good method to regulate lower pH aquariums? Obviously reverse osmosis filters will be suggested but Im avoiding those because of cost and the extreme water waste created. I know peat filtration also works but is inconsistent and unpredictable ive read. Open to suggestions

 

[happygirl65]

It depends on what you can ridiculously high pH. Peat and driftwood will lower your pH while not adding any buffering capacity.

I think you would probably want to add baking soda (I will defer to the experts as to how much) but this way you can accurately control your KH and help prevent pH swings without making the pH too high because you can control how much you put in. Some people have also used a small bag of crushed coral or something like that, or some sea shells that will slowly dissolve, but it's harder to control than something you add like baking soda.

 

[beglely]

Ridiculously high means 7.8 or higher. Great for cichlids but bad for freshwater shrimp. And i thought about the baking soda method but not sure on amounts yet or effects on fish