pH levels in my aquarium

Question
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Followup To
Question - Only fake driftwood and a fake rock, both made from man-made materials.  We have a piece of slate in the tank as well, which has been there since we set up the tank nearly nine months ago.  We also have a number of fake plants in the tank, which have been there from the beginning.

Perhaps you can shed some light on how long the cycle should take ... I've been assuming 10-15 days, correct?  I have been attempting to help it along with the "Cycle" product.  That wouldn't be sapping the tank of pH, would it?

Thanks again for your help!


Chris -

I have been keeping my pH at 7.2 (or so) by adding disolved baking soda to my tank.  What a great tip - thanks again.  I've also been adding more when I do water changes to keep everything in check.  We are a week into our latest cycle and the nitrates are still at 5ppm and the ammonia is still at .25 ppm.  When we noticed the ammonia had not changed for a day we held off on doing our daily water change.

When testing this morning, the ammonia and nitrates are still the same, but my pH has gone down again (6.4 vs. 7.2 yesterday).  Is this common during the cycle?  The pH in this tank has always been very low, so the fact that we are aggressively keeping it at 7 (or so) is a fairly new thing.  Any thoughts about why it seems to be fluctuating so much?  (BTW - our nitrites are at 0 ppm)

Sincerely -
Ken.
Answer -
Hi Ken;

Wow. Pretty weird! I would keep adding the baking soda until it maintains at 7.0 or so. You've got quite a stubborn tank!

Do you have any driftwood in the tank by any chance? That will definately cause pH levels to stay low.

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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Answer
Hi Ken;

It seems like the tank should be done cycling by now, especially since the nitrates are up. This means both types of bacteria colonies are working. If you are getting a lot of crud out of the gravel, that might part of it. I thought you said already that there wasn't but I don't remember for sure. (I think Christmas vacation has sapped my brain.....kids go back to school today!)

Your tank has been pretty unusual anyway, so maybe it needs more time to settle down. Hopefully it will be soon!

More Followups Welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins