cycling question!

[jlk]

As long as the temp of the new water is within a few degrees of the tank water, your fine! I know nothing about rcs, so Im not going to be of much help. I would suggest asking in the invert section for more information!

 

[Paulcm10]

I did a 50% water change last night and i just tested today. for some reason my ph went down from 7.6 to 7.0 or maybe 6.8. its hard to tell but why did it go down that much?
and also for some reason i have a small trace of ammonia about 0.50ppm. how do i have ammonia? when i clearly did a water change which is supposed to make ammonia stay on 0ppm. am i not done with the ammonia cycle just yet?
and my nitrite stayed the same..
my nitrate actually went down to 5.0ppm. is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[Paulcm10]

here's the results

 

[librarygirl]

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? If not, it's a good idea to do so. If your ammonia was 0 before the water change and then went up, it's possible your tap water has ammonia in it (which isn't horrible as long as it isn't too high; the bacteria will consume it quikcly and the dechlorinator you use for water changes should keep your fish safe from the ammonia until the bacteria can consume it). Your nitrates probably went down because of the water change, no worries there. Nitrite is still high though. I'd check your tap water for everything to see whre you're starting from. If your tap water has more nitrite or ammonia, etc than your tank then there's no reason to do more water changes yet just to put those things back in. If your tap has less nitrite though I'd do some more water changes to get that down. Try larger water changes, 50-60%, then wait an hour and test again.

 

[Unwritten]

They also sell packets at petsmart and petco for QuickStart. That would bring your pH to 7.., I bought a pH 8.2 packet and it worked perfectly. I would assume they have a pH 6 packet and if not you could always buy the aqueon pH down chemical...that usually helps instantly.

 

[librarygirl]

I did a 50% water change last night and i just tested today. for some reason my ph went down from 7.6 to 7.0 or maybe 6.8. its hard to tell but why did it go down that much?
and also for some reason i have a small trace of ammonia about 0.50ppm. how do i have ammonia? when i clearly did a water change which is supposed to make ammonia stay on 0ppm. am i not done with the ammonia cycle just yet?
and my nitrite stayed the same..
my nitrate actually went down to 5.0ppm. is that a good thing or a bad thing?

PH fluctuations during cycling are normal; once the cycle completes the PH should remain more stable. You can always add a natural buffer like crushed coral to the filter to keep the water buffered but I wouldn't worry about that yet. I don't have shrimp but I've heard of them breeding in PH's as high as 8+; to be sure you can ask on the invert forum but generally you don't want to mess with PH especially with fish in the tank. THey'll adapt to what your PH is and fluctuations can be detrimental.

 

[jetajockey]

it's fine if its within a few degrees.

 

[Paulcm10]

ok i just tested today.
my water in my tank
PH: 6.8
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 5.0ppm still
Nitrate: 40ppm (which seems like it went up) why?

now my Tap water
PH:7.6
Ammonia: 4.0ppm which is surprisingly high..
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm

here's a pic of my test from my tap water

 

[jlk]

The nitrate in your tank went up because your second set of bacteria are starting to process the nitrite. This is good progression! Now, the pic of your tap water, the ammonia looks to be in the 1-2ppm range. Its likely your municipality uses chloramine to disinfect the water and this is why your seeing such high ammonia levels. This is where Prime/Amquel Plus will help alot to keep the toxicity of your ammonia in check until your bacteria are able to process it. Once your tank is fully cycled, I would suggest doing two smaller (20-25%) a week instead of one big water change to limit the amount of ammonia your adding to your tank.

 

[librarygirl]

I agree with what Jlk said. This complicates things a bit now though as you have fish in the tank but your nitrites are too high for the fish but your tap has ammonia in it. Try doing some smaller water changes to get the nitrite down and to limit the amount of ammonia going into the tank. Once your Amquel is gone, try to get some Prime; it's more concentrated so you'll use less and it'll last a lot longer; 2 drops of Prime treats 1 gallon.

 

[Paulcm10]

ohhhh i see. will it work if i only do one 30% water change in a week?

 

[jlk]

I would really do two smaller changes a week so you dont overwhelm your good bacteria with ammonia from one bigger change.

 

[Paulcm10]

I see. I just don't know if I can do that because I have school during the week. And I don't think u guys suggest for me to do a water change on a Friday then on a Sunday.
I will test again tonight because I was told that when I test my tap water. I need to let it sit out overnight to get a more accurate test.

 

[jlk]

You only need to let your tap water sit out for testing ph- everything else test straight from the tap. Ok, your school schedule makes things a bit difficult for water changes. i guess its going to be one 30% change a week. I would do it at the beginning of the weekend so you can monitor your tank for the next 2 days to make sure the amm drops & nitrites dont spike from the extra ammonia. Maybe someone else has a better suggestion!

 

[Paulcm10]

oh okay thanks!
after a hectic schedule this week i was able to test my aquarium water again.
and i have to say I'm surprised my

ph is back to 7.6,
ammonia 0ppm,
nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

so my question is am i cycled?
since nitrite is 0ppm?
but how did my nitrite drop from 5ppm to 0ppm so fast?
is that normal?

 

[jlk]

Wow, thats great! Ok, your numbers zeroed but a single day of zeroes doesnt guarentee your fully cycled. New tanks can be a bit tempermental. What you will need to do is dose ammonia and see how everything looks in 24hrs. If you can dose daily and get steady zeroes in 24hrs for a couple of days in a row, then we can officially say your cycled!

 

[Paulcm10]

Well I have a couple of fish and MTS in there so does that count?

 

[jlk]

I am so sorry!!! I sometimes mix up threads! My fault!!! Yes, you are cycled!!!! You will still need to continue to monitor your tank for atleast another 2weeks (or anytime you add new fish) to make sure everything is staying stable. As I said, new tanks can be a bit tempermental and sometimes there can be unexpected fluctuations. If you plan on adding more fish/creatures, wait atleast a full week and stock gradually so your bacteria has time to catch up to the increase in the bioload. If you see any spikes, just do some extra water changes until things stabilize. Congrats!!!

 

[Paulcm10]

Oh great! Thanks!
I do plan on adding a bamboo shrimp first but u said wait another week. Or would it be ok to do it since bamboos don't have much of a bioload?

 

[jlk]

I would definitely your give tank atleast a few days before adding the shrimp just to be sure everything is staying stable first. This weekend should be fine. Just make sure you continue to monitor everything.