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I was forced to do a 30% water today do to a kind of high Ammonia and Nitrite spike. I may have to do another 25% to 30& water change with in 24 hours. How long will the increase my cycle? My tank had an orange tint to it also, I think is was form the drift wood not sure . I toke the drift would out. Did the drift wood have any good bacterial on it? Will that hurt my tank? I also so ran out of ammonia teat stuff. Can you tell if you tank is done cycling with only testing with Nitrite ? Monday after work is when I drive past the pet sore to get more ammonia test kits. Last question……sorry for all the questions it’s been about 10 ears sense I have had fish . My pH is 7.8 I used a hole bottle of proper pH 7.0 to get it down from 7.8 to
7.5 when I did the water change it went back up to 7.8. I have all types of cichlids . Am I fine with the high pH? If not how can I lower it? The stuff I was using did not work to good in my opion . Again sorry for all the question….Thanks

Hi,
Yes, by changing the water, you diluted the "soup" and the
cycling will take longer. How much depends upon your fish
and your tank. I don't believe there is anything in print
that says a 20% water change = 7 day extension.

When you are cycling a tank you should test daily for
the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. At first,
I would check for ammonia only, then say three or four
days later, I'd include nitrite testing along with the
ammonia. Another 4 or 5 days later, I'd start looking at
the nitrate level. You CANNOT test only for nitrate
and know when the tank has cycled. THE key to knowing
when a tank has cycled is to note when there is NO
ammonia and NO nitrite. That is when the tank has cycled.

Once the tank has cycled, you cannot go out and buy a
huge batch of fish. Depending upon the size and quantity
of fish you purchase, you could cause the tank to "mini
cycle" as the bacteria adjust to the normal increase in
fish waste and any excess food waste.

The bacteria that manages the Nitrogen Cycle, is everywhere
in the tank and in the filter. THE primary location is the
substrate. The bacteria colonies are on the entire
surface of every grain of gravel in the tank.
They are on the surfaces of the glass, on the ornaments,
including the driftwood, as well as the heater and in the
filter.

As far as the pH is concerned, find out what the pH of the
tank water at the LFS is. Ask the dealer what their tanks
are kept at, and then if you are on the same water system
you may not have to use anything to adjust your pH.

THE MAIN thing about fish and pH is that it be relatively
constant. Fish are stressed if they have to adjust to more
than about a shift of 2 points (from 8 to a 6)and depending
upon how "delicate" they are, it could kill them.
Acclimate them slowly to their new water taking as much as
24 hours for large shifts in pH, and be sure the
temperatures of both the bag and the tank are within a
couple of degrees of each other before adding them to the
new tank. Most fish today, are raised in fish farms
and in water roughly around a pH of 7 +/- a "tad" and are
not as sensitive as the wild caught fish. Again, check
with your dealer. If he/she is reputable, they won't try
to force you into purchasing pH adjusting chemicals unless
absolutely necessary.
Should adjusting the pH be necessary, you can purchase that
chemical for mere penneys compared to the LFS price from
any pool supply company. The exact same chemical is used
to adjust the pH in swimming pools.

Frank


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