Really ???

**Honey Badger 1** · 08-21-2012, 02:31 AM

At a ph of 6 they don't die but they do stop reproducing, lower than 6 they start to die off. The only way to know if you lost what has grown is to wait and test.

**Sandcounty** · 08-21-2012, 02:46 AM

I suspect that the ph may have been lower than 6. The sample was a lighter yellow than on the card. I'll give it a day and see what happens.

**Lady Hobbs** · 08-21-2012, 04:48 AM

If the tap water is 7.6, then something in the tank is lowering it. A cycling tank has silly pH levels anyway and move about but should not be going from 7.6 down to less than 6. Shouldn't.....but apparently it is.

What kind of substrate are you using?

**Sandcounty** · 08-22-2012, 02:43 AM

The ammonia has only gone down to .25 over the last 24 hours (from .5). So it seems that I have lost most of the BB. Nitrites are still at 0.

The tank is bare bottom. There were the three plants that I tossed and a sponge filter driven by a Penguin 1140 powerhead. I'm not certain what the brand of the sponge filter is. The writing on the box was all Chinese (I think). The main filter is a HOB SecondNature 3 Whisper Filter. I got the whole setup off Craigslist. The equipment is pretty old and I didn't wash it all that well. I was told that it hadn't been used in about six years and was cleaned before being put in storage. It looked pretty clean when I picked it up.

It was running for about a month before re-starting the cycle. The first cycle failed also. I had assumed that it failed because I forgot to re-dose several times. But maybe the ph fell that time also.

I used Blue Ribbon Clear Ammonia to start the cycle. I've read that it's been used successfully to begin cycles. The temp has been at 77 degrees from the beginning.

What do you think? Bring the ammonia back up to 2? Start again at 4?

**Sandcounty** · 02-15-2013, 03:22 AM

So, I have an update on this tank. :) After giving up for a while, I decided to try again. I purchased an AC 110 and ditched the old power heads and sponge filter. I also added black sand. And instead of trying to cycle with ammonia I put the filter pad from my 10g tank in the Whisper filter. I took the bio-holster and a bag of Biomax that had been sitting on top of an air stone (in the 10g) and put them between the foam and the new Biomax in the AC110. It's now been running for a month without the PH dropping and all water parameters looking good. So my Orandas are finally in a proper tank and doing well. Phew... That took a lot longer than I expected it to. I can't say that I'll miss doing the 50 -60 % water changes three times a week. :)