Veeshun
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
My 10 gallon tank finished cycling last month (I did a fishless cycle and followed the guide on these forums). I'm at the part where I'm adding 1.0 ppm of ammonia daily to keep the bacteria fed until I add fish. I haven't been able to add fish due to me traveling a lot lately due to work. I plan to add fish very soon after my last trip during Memorial Day Weekend.
Last week I happened to do a pH test after not being able to do so for a few weeks. My pH dropped like crazy and my ammonia spiked with my Nitrites no place to be found. My water also had a tint to it. I noticed my nitrates were still really high so I did a 90% water change to drop the ammonia to neutral and get the pH back to normal (out of my tap it's 7.8, orange on the high pH test). The nitrites landed up coming back and started eating the ammonia again like normal while being converted to nitrates so my tank is still fully cycled. Tonight (one week later) I noticed my pH is dropping again, it was down to a 6.4/6.6 on the test. I had to add some water tonight due to evaporation because I still have my temps up like the guide says. The added water brought it up to a 7.4.
I have a piece of Malaysian driftwood in there as my center piece. I figured that it dropped my pH in those couple of weeks because of how the water was a slight tea color when I changed it last week. Could the driftwood drop my pH again this fast in just one week now? When I got the wood I boiled it for about 20 minutes, the water was pretty dark. Should I take it out and boil it some more? The water doesn't have a tea tint this time.
I'm just not sure what else it could be, if anyone has any other ideas please let me know. I also have attached a picture of my tank so you can see how big the driftwood is.
Last week I happened to do a pH test after not being able to do so for a few weeks. My pH dropped like crazy and my ammonia spiked with my Nitrites no place to be found. My water also had a tint to it. I noticed my nitrates were still really high so I did a 90% water change to drop the ammonia to neutral and get the pH back to normal (out of my tap it's 7.8, orange on the high pH test). The nitrites landed up coming back and started eating the ammonia again like normal while being converted to nitrates so my tank is still fully cycled. Tonight (one week later) I noticed my pH is dropping again, it was down to a 6.4/6.6 on the test. I had to add some water tonight due to evaporation because I still have my temps up like the guide says. The added water brought it up to a 7.4.
I have a piece of Malaysian driftwood in there as my center piece. I figured that it dropped my pH in those couple of weeks because of how the water was a slight tea color when I changed it last week. Could the driftwood drop my pH again this fast in just one week now? When I got the wood I boiled it for about 20 minutes, the water was pretty dark. Should I take it out and boil it some more? The water doesn't have a tea tint this time.
I'm just not sure what else it could be, if anyone has any other ideas please let me know. I also have attached a picture of my tank so you can see how big the driftwood is.