PH leap in fishless cycle

[Fishy monkey]

My QT has been doing a fishless cycle for approx 5 weeks, only with crushed food cos I can't find pure ammonia. My pH has always been around 7.6, only a filter and heater in the tank, no decor or substrate.

Today my pH is 8.4, I haven't done any water changes cos its in cycle, do I just leave it and hope it settles or should I change water/get rid of the old flakes?

 

[librarygirl]

That's a little odd; usually the PH will drop during cycling, not rise. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Have you changed water at all in the 5 weeks? What are the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels? Those will tell us where you are in the cycle more than the PH will. A tank clean and water change won't hurt though, especially if ammonia is really high. If you can tell us the other numbers that would help. Also what test kit are you using? Strips or liquid? If it's the API test, are you using the high or low PH test and what do both of them read?

 

[Fishy monkey]

Thanks for the reply, no water changes or cleaning at all since set up. I did think I should be getting rid of the old flakes but when I checked online it said not to do anything till the cycle was done.

API liquid tests-
Amm- either 2 or 4ppm, hard to tell. Last put crushed flakes in around 20 hours ago now, this test was about 4 hours ago.
NitrItes- 0.25-0.50
Didn't test for nitrates, didn't see the point when the ammo was still high
pH low was bluer than bluest and pH High was 8.4