jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Again, longer than 24 hours (27).
3ppm ammo yesterday, now no reading of ammo, nitrite, nitrate. Time for 4ppm?
3ppm ammo yesterday, now no reading of ammo, nitrite, nitrate. Time for 4ppm?
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- Thread starter jessebs
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jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yep! 
jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Everything is zero again today. Does that mean I'm fully cycled?
Is it ready for fish? Should I keep the 4ppm going for a while? Do I need to throw in a water change?
Is it ready for fish? Should I keep the 4ppm going for a while? Do I need to throw in a water change?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Lets give it one more day of 4ppm to make sure its zeroing. If your not ready for fish yet, just keep dosing 4ppm once day until you are. Is your temp cranked up? If so, drop it a few degrees (2-3) tonight and then another 2-3 tomorrow am and another 2-3pm until your at the temp you want. The night before getting fish, skip the ammonia & do a big water change (as much as possible/90+%). I know your nitrates dont need to be dropped here but you need to restore your buffers & minerals. Make sure you temperature match & properly condition the new water. If your not familiar with drip acclimation, Utube has some easy how-to videos & theres lots of how-to articles on here as well as other sites. Thats about it! Just make sure you keep a close eye on your parameters over the next few weeks after adding fish- newly cycled tanks can be a bit tempermental. Good luck!
jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Thanks again for all the help. Temp is now down to 76. Nirites were still lingering after 24 hours, but now they are gone, so I just redosed to 4. I'll keep doing that until Ammo and Nitrites are both consistently consumed in 24 horus
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes, when you start to drop the temps, it may cause a bit of a lag in your bacteria until they adjust to the lower temps. They should fairly quickly!
jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Ammo is still around after the last dose (0.5ppm). I'm guessing this is just the first set of bacteria getting used to the new temperature. No nitrites, and nitrates are close to 0.
jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Ammo is still at 0.5. I checked pH and it's crashed (6 or below). I'll do a large water change this afternoon to restore it. Hopefully I haven't killed off too much bacteria.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thats common near/at the end of a cycle. Do a big water change (90-100%) and just add 2ppm of ammonia for today so they can recover.Things should be back to normal pretty quickly!
jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Things still haven't gotten back to normal. pH crashed again so I did another big water change, and the Ammo -> nitrite conversion takes about 48 hours or more for 4 ppm. I've upped the temperature some. I thought I was so close, but now it seems like progress has stopped.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
I am sorry to hear this! How is the ph in your tank looking right now? How does it compare to earlier in your cycle when things were progressing at a better rate? If its crashing regularly, you may need to address this a bit further to help keep things stable and finish this out.
jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Sorry, I was out of town for the weekend
6.6 was the pH when things work working fine, but it's been dropping to 6.2 or below. It was 6.2 right before my last big water change. I haven't tested in a few days so I need to do that today.
I also need to test my tap water after it's been sitting out for a day to see what it drops to.
From what I've read, crushed coral might be the best way to stabilize it, do you agree?
6.6 was the pH when things work working fine, but it's been dropping to 6.2 or below. It was 6.2 right before my last big water change. I haven't tested in a few days so I need to do that today.
I also need to test my tap water after it's been sitting out for a day to see what it drops to.
From what I've read, crushed coral might be the best way to stabilize it, do you agree?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yep! Cr coral is a great stabilizer. It's bit of trial and error to figure out the correct amount but start with a water change & add a few spoons in mesh bag/piece pantyhose to your filter. Check ph in 24hrs. If its dropped again, add some more.
If it jumps way beyond your taps range, remove some. Other options are argonite, cr limestone or cr oyster/seashells.
If it jumps way beyond your taps range, remove some. Other options are argonite, cr limestone or cr oyster/seashells.
jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I checked yesterday and it was 6.8, so in a good range. I dosed to 3 ppm yesterday, too. Today (24 hours later) i still have 1ppm ammonia and 0.5 ppm of nitrite, so I'll wait until that goes away, check the ph again, and does again to 3.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
How are things going?
jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Things are currently looking ok. Ammonia and Nitrite are both 0, I didn't bother with nitrates. pH is about 6.6 or maybe slightly less.
I'm going to dose to 4 again in a little bit. I'll be out of town for a few days, so I hope everything fares okay while I'm gone
I'm going to dose to 4 again in a little bit. I'll be out of town for a few days, so I hope everything fares okay while I'm gone
jessebs
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I have to say, I'm getting discouraged. It's still taking two days for the ammonia and nitrites to process. I've been cycling for 2.5 months.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Where has your ph been recently? Did you add a buffer?
Mrs.h2012
Aquarium Advice Addict
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If your pH is already in the 6's and dropping, if it gets to low it will stall your cycle. Try a water change to bring your pH back up.
librarygirl
Look It Up
I think the PH swings are messing things up. The bacteria do better when PH is over 7. Did you ever test your tap water after letting it sit out to see what the PH is? I'm curious to know if the mid-6's is from your tap water or if it's from the cycle.
Have you done any water changes recently? I would try a full water change with dechlorinator to try to get PH back up. Get the PH of your tap after you let it sit out too. Dose ammonia to 2 after and let's see what happens. In the meantime try to get some crushed coral or argonite to add to a mesh media bag or clean (never washed with detergent) nylon stocking and add some of the coral to the stocking and into your filter to try to help buffer the water. I think once the PH is stable the cycle will finish up.
pH
Have you done any water changes recently? I would try a full water change with dechlorinator to try to get PH back up. Get the PH of your tap after you let it sit out too. Dose ammonia to 2 after and let's see what happens. In the meantime try to get some crushed coral or argonite to add to a mesh media bag or clean (never washed with detergent) nylon stocking and add some of the coral to the stocking and into your filter to try to help buffer the water. I think once the PH is stable the cycle will finish up.
pH
The optimum pH range for Nitrosomonas is between 7.8-8.0.
The optimum pH range for Nitrobacter is between 7.3-7.5
Nitrobacter will grow more slowly at the high pH levels typical of marine aquaria and preferred by African Rift Lake Cichlids. Initial high nitrite concentrations may exist. At pH levels below 7.0, Nitrosomonas will grow more slowly and increases in ammonia may become evident. Nitrosomonas growth is inhibited at a pH of 6.5. All nitrification is inhibited if the pH drops to 6.0 or less. Care must be taken to monitor ammonia if the pH begins to drop close to 6.5. At this pH almost all of the ammonia present in the water will be in the mildly toxic, ionized NH3+ state.
From: Nitrifying Bacteria FactsSimilar threads
