# Cycleing A 55 Gall



## BigdaddypIrahna (Jan 2, 2011)

I'm cycling a 55 gall it's been 4 days now , my ph is 7.8 ammonia 1,nitrite 0 , nitrates 0 how far am I off cycled which readings will change as I'm getting closer, plus how can I lower my ph without ph down?


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## r1dermon (Mar 9, 2005)

put peat in your filter or a piece of driftwood to lower your ph. dont expect it to lower overnight. these are also nice "buffers" to keep your ph at a specific value.

your ammonia should be in the spike phase. i dont expect it to go much higher. what'll happen is your nitrites will steadily rise as your ammonia falls, then your nitrites will bottom out to 0 and your nitrate will build up to 20, 30, 40ppm...i dont like nitrates to be over 40ppm, so you can either introduce some plants, or do a water change. my general practice is a 5% water change weekly unless nitrates start to get out of line.

i also suggest getting a cannister filter, even on a small tank, and filling it with biomedia. it doesn't have to filter out small particles, it's purpose is to house beneficial bacteria which munch on ammonia and keep your tank at a healthy non-toxic level.

at 4 days i'd say you're at least a good week and a half away from satisfaction. sometimes it's faster, sometimes it's much slower.


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## klink67 (Feb 14, 2010)

Blackwater extract


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

BigdaddypIrahna said:


> I'm cycling a 55 gall it's been 4 days now , my ph is 7.8 ammonia 1,nitrite 0 , nitrates 0 how far am I off cycled which readings will change as I'm getting closer, plus how can I lower my ph without ph down?


Please Read

To get the pH down I would just add some driftwood and peat to your filter. If you don't like the tannins look keep carbon in your filter to keep your waterclear.


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## BigdaddypIrahna (Jan 2, 2011)

My ph has gone down to 7.6 which is the same as my existing tank my ammonia is0 nitrates
5 nitrite 0 is this ready?


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## r1dermon (Mar 9, 2005)

no possible way you cycled a tank in 5 days...i'd recheck your numbers. you should still be showing ammonia, although you may see some nitrites, you will not see noticeable nitrates.


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## BigdaddypIrahna (Jan 2, 2011)

I'm going to add my existing gravel in a min ( from the tank my ps in now) and with the existing filter and some tank water it should be fine shouldn't it ? Iv got a 120 gall coming tomorrow need to move my p to cycle that , that's the rush . P.s iv checked again my results r same


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