Slow Cycling

[CoeurSauvage]

Ok I have a ten gallon freshwater tank with a Marineland Biowheel 150 filter . I have gravel substrate and am doing a fish in cycle. I have two male fancy guppies and 1 ghost shrimp. My water parameters are

Ammonia .50

Nitrites 0

Nitrates 0

The tank has been running for about 2 and a half weeks. I'm dealing with very soft very low ph city water. I don't know the exact hardness of the water but the ph out of the tap is less than 6.0. Could this be slowing down my cycle, or is this normal for fish in cycling? Any help is greatly appreciated! I don't want to worry for no reason. The fish are all doing fine, by the way!

 

[Coyne]

A low pH will slow down and possibly even stop the cycling process all together.

 

[Satwm288]

You need more ammonia to cycle faster. Which you can't do with fish in the tank. Keep ammonia close to where you have it and be patient. It might take 4 to 5 more weeks.

 

[Coyne]

I just did a little reading. Looks like a pH of 6 (or lower) will cause the bacteria to stop reproducing and go dormant, stalling your cycle.

You'll want to find out just how Soft your water is with a GH test so that you have a stating reference point.
Then you'll need to take steps to increase the hardness of your water. I think that the pH will go up up as the buffering capacity increases. My water is already super hard and alkaline, so Ive never needed to look up how to increase it. Adding a baggy of crushed coral seems to be a common solution.

This is something that you'll need to keep an eye on, and adjust as needed, from now on.
Hope this helps some. Good luck.

 

[CoeurSauvage]

Thanks everyone, I'll do what I can to try and raise the ph and see if it improves the cycle. I also plan on getting a master test kit soon, so I can find out the exact hardness.