I need some advice

[Frogathy]

I am new to tanks. I did it a long time ago and dont remember having this much trouble. I have been cycling a 37 gallon aquarium for 3 weeks. The first week I went into a bacterial bloom and did a water change of about 5 gallons. Then the algae bloom hit and I shut down the lights and only turned them on for 3 hours everyday. I found out the tap water I have is extremely high in PH so I decided to do a half water change and added RO water. The tank still was a bit cloudy but now the algae Bloom is back. All perimeters of the tank are good, even bought the PH down. I am using an Aqua pure 50 filter and I do have aeration in the tank. Please help me figure what is going on.
Thank you.

 

[Caliban07]

I am new to tanks. I did it a long time ago and dont remember having this much trouble. I have been cycling a 37 gallon aquarium for 3 weeks. The first week I went into a bacterial bloom and did a water change of about 5 gallons. Then the algae bloom hit and I shut down the lights and only turned them on for 3 hours everyday. I found out the tap water I have is extremely high in PH so I decided to do a half water change and added RO water. The tank still was a bit cloudy but now the algae Bloom is back. All perimeters of the tank are good, even bought the PH down. I am using an Aqua pure 50 filter and I do have aeration in the tank. Please help me figure what is going on.
Thank you.

You probably didn’t have this much trouble previously because all these things you mention are something that we really don’t need to worry about as aquarists and the majority of which have been added as a means to confuse and complicate a relatively simple hobby.

If you don’t have fish that are dependent on low pH then you honestly don’t need to worry about the pH level.

The bacterial bloom is the result of a new tank and will certainly go away on its own. Worrying about how to control this natural phenomenon will only lead to more unnecessary trouble. The lighting will not affect this at all so pick a lighting period that suits you that falls anywhere between 8-12 hours and stick with it.

The cycle will almost be complete now and any harmful ammonia and fish problems (if using fish) will have undoubtedly surfaced by now. If no fish were used check for nitrite and ammonia. If they are zero it’ll most likely be safe to start stocking slowly. If they are not, be patient.

You are more than likely going to get algae when you add and begin to feed fish. That is normal. Any attempt at manual removal or chemical treatment will only result in more chaos and stress. Let the tank stabilise. All the time from now the tank is building a suite of various microorganisms that will lead to complete balance. If these microbes are disturbed trouble will ensue. Patience is paramount in this hobby and don’t forget, oxygen is key.

Good luck.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Fro...

It appears to me, you have too many things going with this tank at the same time. This makes a very simple thing like tank cycling much harder than it needs to be. One of the most efficient means of cycling a tank, takes roughly three weeks. You set up the tank and drop in some stems of a floating plant, like Anacharis, Hornwort or Water lettuce. Allow the tank to run for a week without fish. After a week put in some small fish, 3 to 4 for every 10 gallons of water. Feed them a little every day or two and remove and replace a third of the water every three to four days for a couple of weeks. After that, change half the water weekly for as long as you have the tank running. If you decide to get more fish later, add the fish slowly and increase the amount of the weekly water change. No chemicals are needed other than the standard treatment and you don't need to test the water.

B

 

[Frogathy]

I am cycling with fish in tank. The ammonia had been running between 0 - 0.25 ppm, nitrites are at 0 and nitrite is at 10ppm. The ph from the town water was off the charts but I did get it back down to 7.6. So should I just leave the tank alone and let it clear on its own? The fish do not seem to be stressing. Just do testing to make sure nothing is changing to bad. I am feeding them just what they can eat twice a day and I leave the light on for 3 hours in the evening.

 

[Caliban07]

I am cycling with fish in tank. The ammonia had been running between 0 - 0.25 ppm, nitrites are at 0 and nitrite is at 10ppm. The ph from the town water was off the charts but I did get it back down to 7.6. So should I just leave the tank alone and let it clear on its own? The fish do not seem to be stressing. Just do testing to make sure nothing is changing to bad. I am feeding them just what they can eat twice a day and I leave the light on for 3 hours in the evening.

Sounds like you’re doing everything you need to be. Don’t worry about the pH.