cycling tank

Hi all,

I'm currently cycling a 155 liter tank with a seeded external filter that was running on a different tank for 3 months.

Ph out of tap seems to be about 7 there is no decimal number with my test kit.

My new cycling tank ph seems to be 8.

All I have in there is 3 small bristle nose and a couple of guppies to help seed the tank.

Ammonia, nitrate and nitrite are 0. I have gravel, about 5 pieces of bogwood and a few terracotta pots in there.

Just wondering if anyone knows why ph is up to 8? My 60 liter that's up and running ph is 7.

I'm suppose to be picking up some angel fish tomorrow and wonder if they will be OK going into my new tank with a ph of 8.

Any info appreciated, I could get some peat moss tomorrow to add to the external if that would help lower ph.

Cheers.

ph will change during cycling. just part of it.
Have you used any of bottle cycling products or taken filter media from your other tank and put in new filter .
Its probably best not to add any other fish to tank till its all sorted

No I didn't use any additives. I just used the whole filter with all the seeded media in it. The filter is turning over the tank at 10 times per hour so I think that's helping!

Done this a few times my self and it works very well
how long has tank with fish in been running
if your testing with an api test kit 0 nitrate may not be 0
had you only the same amount of fish in other tank with that filter.
if filter bacteria or consuming ammonia and nitrite and changing to nitrate
could take some time for high nitrate to show

There are many reasons why pH may change.... here are few reasons...

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...hange-simple-listing


Now, on the test kits.......maybe the ones you are using are not selective enough if there is no grades between 7 and 8.........remember the different in free acide concentration between pH8 and pH7 is 10 times (that is a lot).

On some of the compounds involved in the nitrogen cycle:
firstly, the nitrosofication and nitrification process work best at alkaline pH;
ammonia is basic so that tends to increase pH; ammonium is acidic (it is a salt of a weak base);
nitrites are salts of a weak acid (nitrous acid) and so will tend to increase pH.

When doing any pH tests you need to check temperature (as it depends on temp), and test for alkalinity.

ian

Very interesting read on your topic Ian.

I don't think my tank is fully cycled. Im using a sera test kit and and it only shows ph in full numbers. The gh I think was 7 and kh was 4.

The filter I'm using is an eheim pro 3 600 which was running on a tank with about 20-30 fish in it for the past 3 months until last week when I transferred it with all its media into a different tank.

Could it be a case that nitrate isn't showing as it could take longer? Tests on my other tank the filter was running on come out good.

How long would it usually take to cycle a new tank with seeded media and filter?

swai wrote:

How long would it usually take to cycle a new tank with seeded media and filter?

How long is a piece of string? Every tank varies depending on many factors which can affect (for instance) the rate at which all relevant bacteria can populate.... 3 months in the previous tank may not have been near enough to establish a mature filtration system and then even a seeded filter can take a matter of months to establish a system safe enough for fish... that is why we say this hobby will test your patience in many ways

I thought 3 months would have been well enough! Well at least I learnt something new today!

I'll just let it keep cycling so.

I just promised to get some fish from someone so I'll have to put them on hold!

Thanks for the info.

I have found that even using running filter it takes time for tank to settle in and have found that not putting the fish straight in but adding
ammonia( fish less cycle ) if you can remove fish and do this you will have much more control over the tank the bacteria will grow faster
it wont take as long as a full fish less cycle ,i did not have to wait long at all, but every tank is different ,might be worth thinking about.
and you can stock your happy that the water is like you wont it to be.if you chose to use ammonia start with small amount and work up.

What people call a cycle isn't even a cycle at all.....it is a very small non-cyclic 3 step process that people are calling a "cycle" within a large number of processes.

However, with regards to the comparative toxicity of ammonia vs nitrite vs nitrate (as that is small 3 step process people are trying to write about) the focus is lowering the ammonia and nitrite levels at least as they are very toxic at low concentration.

The producion of ammonia within the so called "cycle" is very rapid......it is in the water from such sources as direct ammonia excretion or from ammonification of waste (food or faeces etc). That process will happen as soon as fish are introduced, and the bacterial ammonification will happen not long after.
The process of oxidising ammonia to nitrite takes longer to establish a decent colony of bacteria to handle a tank (but a week or so can give good results).
The process of oxidising nitrites to nitrates takes much longer, it has a slow turn-over when established, and is easily stopped (these bacteria are generally sensitive to change). That latter porcess can take a month or more to establish a colony good enough sufficiently handle a well stocked tank.
But a low stocked tank would not require as long.

Now, that small 3 step process is not the end of the story..........but you do not need to worry too much about that at this stage if we want to be factually correct.

The ammonia to nitrite, and nitrite to nitrate processes need oxygen as well sufficient local alkalinity and an original source of bacteria (that could from a filter or water from an established tank or a bottle or the air or plants or even on fish) plus other bits and dabs.

But, when talking about "how long", this is like a building proces......if any one of the components required are missing then the whole process will be halted.

You may have a merc 6.3 litre AMG car, but it can only go as fast as the slowest car when in a traffic jam

ian