Mishiri Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 Hello all, I am new to shrimp keeping and hoping to get some help with my cycle before adding shrimp. I started to use SL-Aqua Soil, which takes my PH down to about 6 to 6.2. I heard that having a low PH during the cycle process can slow it down. Is this true? On average, how fast do you guys cycle your shrimp tank, with lower PH? I started the tank on 12/20/2017, and currently still had 1 PPM Ammonia, and zero nitrite and 1-5ppm Nitrate. Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClownPlanted Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 Yeah I ran into that issue cycling two of my 10 gallon tanks with controsoil which brought the PH down to 6.2. Here is the trick I used to get it going though. Raise the temp to 86f. And also use tap water initially. This will kick start the cycle and after it gets going you can go back to using RO with adding GH. I have done this a few times and is the trick for cycling tanks with buffering substrates. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mishiri Posted January 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 Essentially it just slows it down right? Not stop it right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 correct. unless the bottom falls out of your ph. then it stalls. since you are 3 weeks into your cycle just keep going. Most of my cycles are usually 5-6 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mishiri Posted January 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 7 hours ago, chappy6107 said: correct. unless the bottom falls out of your ph. then it stalls. since you are 3 weeks into your cycle just keep going. Most of my cycles are usually 5-6 weeks. I was able to take about .5- 1lbs ceramic rings from my cousin, which was in his 500g tank for about 8 years. Hopefully this is enough to seed my tank and speed up the cycle a bit. Current parameters: 6.2-6.3 PH Ammonia 1 PPM Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0-2ppm KH- 0 GH- 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastu Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 I dont believe in speedy cycles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 13 hours ago, Mishiri said: I was able to take about .5- 1lbs ceramic rings from my cousin, which was in his 500g tank for about 8 years. Hopefully this is enough to seed my tank and speed up the cycle a bit. That should help quite a bit. check your parameters daily. Once the cycle is finished make sure make sure the bacteria doesnt die. You have to feed the bacteria an ammonia source until you put live shrimp/fish/creatures in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mishiri Posted January 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 10 minutes ago, chappy6107 said: That should help quite a bit. check your parameters daily. Once the cycle is finished make sure make sure the bacteria doesnt die. You have to feed the bacteria an ammonia source until you put live shrimp/fish/creatures in the tank. I actually have 4 otos in there now. They look perfectly fine. When I first purchased the tank, the guy at the fish store said my tank was ready, but after 1 week, I noticed ammonia, which means it never even started the cycle. chappy6107 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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