Does High pH affect fishless cycling?

[cowgrlw]

Hi again folks,

I'm doing fishless cycling with a US 29 gal tank, bubbler, water temp at 82F, hard water, pure ammonia, and no substrate. Since I did a 50% water change last week when the tank finally looked as though it was fully cycled, the ammonia has been at 0.25 ppm each morning and nitrites were at 2.0 but have dropped to just above 0.25 ppm. Nitrates have slowly climbed to somewhere below 5 ppm (maybe 3.0 or 4.0). I'm dosing to 4.0 ppm of ammonia every morning, as I have been for just shy of 4 weeks. I also added some salt to the tank water in hopes that would help get the cycle going. (I had added it right from the start, so I topped it up.)

I checked the High pH right after the pwc and letting the ammonia work through for 20 minutes, and the High pH was at 7.4. I thought that was high, but that it might fix up by itself. I checked again this morning and the High pH has climbed to just below 8.0! I think I can fix it by adding filtered tap water. We live in a rural area and we're on a well. Our tap water goes through a softener, then we filter it with a charcoal water filter for drinking purposes. (I get the tank water from outside, where it bypasses the softener so it's hard water.) Our drinking water is consistently acidic, so my thought is that adding that water to the tank will correct the pH level. Is that a good idea, and will it work? Would I have to do a pwc again, or should I just add some of that filtered water to the tank? I have about an inch or so of space in the tank right now, so there's a little room.

I'm also wondering if the high pH level is stalling the cycle. Is that possible? Everything changed for the worse when I did the pwc and I can't figure out what else might have caused that to happen. I thought I was finished, but now I feel as though I'm back almost at square one.

Thanks for any help!
Wendy

 

[philipraposo198]

Higher pH like yours is actually best for growing bb.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[PNWaquarist]

If you're far enough into your cycle that you have 2-5 ppm nitrites, you don't need to dose with 4 ppm every morning. In fact, some say that having > 5 ppm ammonia or nitrites will slow your cycle. At the very least, it's a waste. Dose with 0.5 ppm ammonia while your nitrites are in the 2-5 ppm range.

If you still have 0.25 ppm nitrites present, your cycle is not finished. While some cycled tanks will show a slight hint of ammonia (a very light yellow-green via the API Master Kit), your nitrites should clearly be zero (light, clear blue... not that dull, gray-colored blue).

From what I've read, tanks seem to cycle best between pH 7.5 and 8.0. If you're between pH 7.0-8.5 or so, you should be fine. 82 F is a good temperature for cycling.

 

[cowgrlw]

That's really good news, philipraposo198! Thanks for the encouragement!

Thank youfor the advice, PNWaquarist! I'll do that tomorrow morning.

I'd sure like to get this cycle finished. I've been dying to get fish for AGES! I've seen cute orange-tailed guppies, neon tetras, green cobra guppies, and a few others I'd love to see swimming in that tank. I'm planning to get two shrimp, as well. I have big dreams of a beautiful and colourful tank of small pretty fish. Someday soon, I hope.

Thanks again!
Wendy