One Week In Cycling Question

HI all!
Had a question on cycling. I used tetrasafestart+ and Dr Tim's ammonia to cycle.
It is 9 days into cycling and I'm reading:

6.4 PH
2-4ppm Ammonia
0 NitrITES
20ppm NitrATES

Seems as though my cycle skipped nitrITES entirely. My question is that the ammonia has been sitting at that level for the past 3 days even though I had nitrates developed. Will it drop overnight some time soon?
And, should I try to raise the PH with a buffer of sorts to enhance the environment for the bacteria, or should I just wait until it's cycled and see what the PH is?
Thanks

 

You're still in the 1st stage of your cycle. Nitrates can be produced from a variety of sources and even your water could have them up to those levels easily. Also liquid test strips are more accurate than the paper strips so you could be getting a false reading using those. Just keep your ammonia around 2-4ppm until you start to see the nitrites then continue from there. Usually it takes closer to 2 weeks to start seeing a real change daily. I'm assuming you do know to keep dosing up until you're about ready to add fish and all that.

 

Sometimes with Safestart you won’t ever see the nitrites though. How much are you dosing the ammonia?

 

You may want to consider getting some crushed coral to help raise your PH. If you can get the chunks of coral just add a handful to a media bag and put it in your filter. If there isn't room in there hang the bag under the output of your filter so the water is running over it.

If you choose to use something like aragonite (coral crushed into the size of sand) just add a couple of tablespoon fulls. It doesn't take much of it to raise the PH. If you can hold yours closer to 7 it should help your cycle.

As was already said, lots of folks never see a high nitrite spike when using TSS. Have you run your tests on your source water? It is always a good idea to have a base line of the water we are using for our water changes.

 

Sometimes with Safestart you won’t ever see the nitrites though. How much are you dosing the ammonia?

Yep that's what I figured, only thing is that I dosed once 4ppm at the beginning and since then it has dropped a little bit but not enough, although I have 20ppm nitrates

You may want to consider getting some crushed coral to help raise your PH. If you can get the chunks of coral just add a handful to a media bag and put it in your filter. If there isn't room in there hang the bag under the output of your filter so the water is running over it.

If you choose to use something like aragonite (coral crushed into the size of sand) just add a couple of tablespoon fulls. It doesn't take much of it to raise the PH. If you can hold yours closer to 7 it should help your cycle.

As was already said, lots of folks never see a high nitrite spike when using TSS. Have you run your tests on your source water? It is always a good idea to have a base line of the water we are using for our water changes.

I thought about that too, but my substrate is made specifically for cichlids so I'm pretty sure its made mostly of coral. I don't want to add too much coral. I would assume that my PH should jump up because of it, but am wondering if the PH drop is only temporary.

 

I thought about that too, but my substrate is made specifically for cichlids so I'm pretty sure its made mostly of coral. I don't want to add too much coral. I would assume that my PH should jump up because of it, but am wondering if the PH drop is only temporary.

From all I have read I have learned that when the PH drops this low the ammonia turns into ammonium. The bacteria can still use it but not as well as ammonia. The cycling process often causes the PH to drop. I think your cycle would progress better if you could get your PH to at the very least 7.

Others may be able to scientifically discuss the why's but I just know it happens and how to fix it. Just keep an eye on it and if it doesn't start going up you may have to help it.

 

From all I have read I have learned that when the PH drops this low the ammonia turns into ammonium. The bacteria can still use it but not as well as ammonia. The cycling process often causes the PH to drop. I think your cycle would progress better if you could get your PH to at the very least 7.

Others may be able to scientifically discuss the why's but I just know it happens and how to fix it. Just keep an eye on it and if it doesn't start going up you may have to help it.

Good to know! Thanks!
Wonder if a cichlid buffer powder would work? Or would it throw things off? Since it is made to get the PH closer to 8

 

Good to know! Thanks!
Wonder if a cichlid buffer powder would work? Or would it throw things off? Since it is made to get the PH closer to 8

Since I've never used anything other than crushed coral to raise and stabilize my soft water thus keeping the PH up where it needs to be I can't in good conscious recommend any other product. Getting the PH closer to 8 wouldn't be a problem at all though. Once the cycle is complete you can stop using it if necessary.

what is the PH of your source water? If it is higher than your tank, water changes should keep it up to the level of the source water and you shouldn't have to add anything to keep it up and stable.