My 28 gallon has completed 6 weeks of new tank cycling. I change 25-30% of the water at least twice a week. I'm not comfortable with my pH, which ranges from 7.6 to 8.0. My numbers today were:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 5
Nitrate 5
pH 8.0
My load is:
5 Guppies
5 Black Neon Tetras
2 Male Swordtails
I feed once, sometimes twice a day, sparingly, and I'm careful to vacuum the gravel with each water change. And sometimes I just vacuum between water changes.
I use the Marineland Bio-Wheel that came with my aquarium. I also put an extra filter pad in the filter, and after a fish died, I added an additional media bag of Marineland Black Diamond Charcoal because the tank smelled a bit fishy. The smell is fine now, but I left the charcoal bag in the filter.
My pH seems high, is it? And does it fluctuate too much? It can be 7.6 one day and 8.0 the next. If it's high, how do I lower it?
sounds like your tank hasn't finished cycling... stop doing so many waterchanges... don't clean your filter pads and vacuum at the same time... when i do waterchanges, i vacuum one week, then the next week i just change the water but change the filterpads... vacuuming the gravel kills some of your bacteria...
I agree with gumbii.... dont do as many water changes, u dont need them this far into the cycle as long as your nitrites and ammo are at zero... when you say nitrite of 5 im guessing you meant 0.50 because 5.0 is deadly!!
Also, glad to hear the carbon helped the smell. Every surface carries beneficials, so like gumbii says, clean only one item whenever you put your hands in the water... if you are doing water changes, clean only the filter pad... next time clean only the gravel... time after that clean the carbon... this gives time for your existing beneficials to latch back on to whatever you just cleaned.
Have you measured your tap water ph after it sits out for a day? Water changes are what keep moving your ph around... what kind of aeration do you have going on too?
Oh, and when you say you vacuum between water changes, how do you vacuum without replacing water? or do you mean one time you vacuum water change and the next time you are only changing water without vacuuming?
Did you really mean 5 ppm nitrites when you said it in your post? If you did then I would have to disagree with the others and say that you need to do major water changes until that is below 1 ppm. I know you are still cycling, but you want to keep that spike as low as possible. I do enough water changes during the cycling process to keep my nitrite and ammonia spike at or below 1 ppm at all times. Changing the water will not hurt your cycle as there are very little bacteria in your water. Follow what has already been said about vacuuming and filter pads as these areas are where the bacteria are colonizing.
If you meant 0.50 as spongebob suggested, then you are fine - just do what he said and you should be on your way to a fully cycled tank here in no time.
Also, as spongebob said, water changes affect the pH. Your tanks ability to maintain a constant pH is dependant upon its hardness or softness. This may be what is causing you problems. Reply back about whether you meant 0.5 ppm or 5 ppm nitrites and then we can worry about the pH.
I believe my nitrites are 5.0 ppm. I'm using the API drops test and my outcome matches the deep purple which is 5.0, and is the highest possible on the little card so I guess it could even be higher, meaning off the chart.
When I say that sometimes I just clean the gravel between water changes I mean that I clean as usual, but do it very close to the gravel quickly getting as much muck as possible. I usually get about 1 gallon of water with this. I let that sit for about 5 minutes letting all the junk sink to the bottom then I pour that 1 gallon back into the tank (the clean top portion leaving the muck in the bottom of my bucket). I read somewhere to do this?
I have tested my tap water pH after 24 hours and it was around 7.6-7.8 and very hard, the hardest possible according to the test I was using at the time.
I keep thinking I'm doing it all right, I can't figure out why I can't finish the cycle. Frustrating. Your help is greatly appreciated. I'd be in a bigger mess without your advice!
Oh, and the aeration. I'm just learning about it. I guess the only aeration I have is my filter, which does cause a decent ripple in the water. My 28 gallon is 24" wide, 12" deep, and 19" tall (including the gravel). My fish seem content, they are swimming around in all levels of the tank, eating, not hanging out by the surface or the filter.
I wouldn't imagine that you have to do this "mid-cleaning" process of vacuuming and putting the same water back in... your weekly water changes should pick up most of your waste. And if you are doing twice weekly water changes, your nitrites should never reach these dangerous levels... that's a lot of nitrites.
I know this is a silly question, but when you do your regular water changes, you are vacuuming the gravel and actually picking up all the gravel, not just floating the tube above the surface of the gravel right? Meaning you need to be sucking from the bottom of the gravel on up, as detritus moves settles all the way thru your substrate. Just making sure, as this would allow the accumulation of waste and cause such incredibly high nitrites... so high that your just newly cycled tank wont have the capacity to turn them into nitrates fast enough.
I agree with miami, your first priority is the high nitrites... that would be significantly more deadly than the ph issue to your fish at this time.
Hmmm, maybe that's it. When I vacuum the gravel I agitate the surface of the gravel, about the top 1"-1.5", but not all the way to the bottom of my tank. I didn't realize that the muck would settle all the way to the very bottom past all gravel. With my frequent cleanings I just thought it would only be in the top portion of the gravel. I'll start getting the siphon all the way down.
I'm also wondering about my filter and whether it is adequate. I use a Marineland Bio-Wheel 150 gph rated for up to 30 gallons, so I assume that my 28 gallon tank is pushing it to the limit. I've got it wide open and I put a second filter pad in the filter. There is a spot made for a second filter pad and it's recommended by Marineland (of course), so I did that. I change the oldest filter every 2 weeks and add a new second filter pad. Maybe I'm throwing away valuable bacteria? And because of the fishy smell I had, I still have a media bag with some Black Diamond Charcoal in the filter. With every water change (2x per week), I rinse the filter pads and charcoal media bag in tank water, and I never touch the bio-wheel, as instructed in the Marineland instructions. Ok? Or contributing to my problems?
I have a 20 gallon and since the good people on this forum advised me to increase my filteration (I also run a penguin 150)... i have since added a Whisper 10 (an additional 90gph) which makes my water crystal clear... and requires less maintenance... i would have put a larger filter but this was the largest that would fit on the back alongside my penguin. I would suggest this, especially as you have 8 extra gallons than me. You will notice a difference believe me.
And yes, vacuuming the entire substrate is needed, not just the surface... as detiritus breaks down, it will sift through the cracks in your substrate and drift to the bottom. This most likely explains the high nitrites. To properly vacuum all the substrate might end up taking more than a 25% water change, you just have to see how fast and efficient you can be... i personally had to work on being able to do this properly.
The rinsing is fine, this wont destroy anything. And throwing away any filter pads is fine as long as you are completely cycled, otherwise you will lengthen your cycle time, but you say you have nitrates so you should be ok.
Try what you have suggested and see your nitrites go down hopefully. I think this will also solve your ph problem slightly. good luck
My water is very clear, would you still recommend an extra filter? I had considered this recently and have lots of room for a second filter. If I do, would I still keep 2 filter pads in the Bio-wheel? One pad in each filter? Two filter pads in each filter? How would that work? And since I have lots of room, would I get a 90 gph or larger? I was considering another Bio-wheel, but the next smallest works a bit differently in that the water sort of passes over the pad, instead of through the pad, and I'm not sure how effective that is. I thought using the same size Bio-Wheel might be over-kill? I don't mind using another brand for the second filter though. Thanks for your help. Both my fish and I greatly appreciate it.
If your water is clear always, then an additional filter will help your ammonia stay near zero for longer. I personally would stick with the system you have in place... if you ever feel you are doing too many water changes, or losing your beneficials to often (meaning you dont break down ammonia into nitrates fast enough), then look into an additional filter. Just a note, i thought my water was pretty clear until i added a second filter and the carbon bag... then again, i had many fish for my tank size... adding a second filter can allow you to add a few more smaller fish, a second filter pad doesnt allow this (as it doesnt add gph to your filteration). Just a thought for the future. let us know how the next gravel vac/water change goes, and post your water test results.
Regarding how my water exits the filter -- it is a cascading waterfall.. It makes a prominent sound in the room and can be heard in the next room, with the water line pretty high. I keep the water line fairly high, like between the indicated water line and barely below the top edge of the tank. I do this because my significant other doesn't like the waterfall sound. (WTF?!) I'm going to do a water change later tonight and I'm not sure how long I need to wait to test the water so I'll test tomorrow. (?) I really want to do whatever I can to keep my tank nice and my fish happy. I adopt fish like I adopt my cats and dogs, seriously.
I changed 25% of my tank tonight stirring the gravel all the way to the bottom of the tank. I didn't get much detritus up, no more than usual. Maybe my frequent changes including stirring 1.5" of gravel has been enough to keep the muck from settling all the way to the bottom? Also, I feed my fish very sparingly, not even to the recommended amount. They aren't bottom feeders, but I notice that my guys will eat off the bottom, and I assume that's because I feed them sparingly.
I think this is A LOT better. Your nitrites went from deadly to workable... good job... i believe the thoroughness helped, because a water change alone couldnt have dropped your nitrites this much alone, so thats good. Keep it up!
And yes your tap water has decreased your ph a bit... i bet if you took a test tomorrow your ph will be back where it was at 8.0. Now we need to figure out whats raising your ph if its not your tap water.... hmm we need others to chime in here
