Jadenlea Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Started a new topic just because its a new question. I had a thought this morning. About my controsoil tank not buffering below 6.7 after what is now almost 2 weeks. (after completing cycle) I used baking soda to raise ph for easier cycling. I did an almost 100 percent water change, that being all the water right down to the sand. Could it be that the canister filter is holding large amounts of baking soda and keeping thewater PH high? It seems hard to believe but it is the only thing I can think of. Those of you who raise your PH to cycle, what do you do to make sure all the baking soda is gone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Test KH and 1-2 100% water change. Depends on how much baking soda was added. One time, I added too much baking soda and lost it's buffer ability within 5 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 "Test KH and 1-2 100% water change." Yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vpier Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Started a new topic just because its a new question. I had a thought this morning. About my controsoil tank not buffering below 6.7 after what is now almost 2 weeks. (after completing cycle) I used baking soda to raise ph for easier cycling. I did an almost 100 percent water change, that being all the water right down to the sand. Could it be that the canister filter is holding large amounts of baking soda and keeping thewater PH high? It seems hard to believe but it is the only thing I can think of. Those of you who raise your PH to cycle, what do you do to make sure all the baking soda is gone? All my tanks are around 5.9-6.0 range and I used shrimp daddy products for cycling and then did 80% once it was done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Ooooo baking soda can be a double edge sword. I never used it in my tank and it was cycled in 1 week. Grant it I have a fully cycled filter and I added bonus bacteria right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 came home and checked the KH It is 0. I never turned blue at all. To make sure the test kit was ok I also did a tap water test and got blue on the first drop . I think my next step will be to take a handful of the controsoil out of the tank and put it in a bowl, watch it with RO water and then cover it in RO and see if the PH drops. I guess that will tell me if the soil is inert I am open to other ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 A possibility is that you added too much baking soda and used up all of it's buffer ability. This happened to me before. Half a bag of ControSoil down the drain because I kept adding baking soda daily/every other day for a week to speed up bacteria growth. Depending on how deep the substrate is, you can try scooping some from the bottom to top and see if that helps. Jadenlea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 ok another experiment. Last night I scooped out some of the controsoil from the tank. I washed it in RO water. then added a couple inches of clean RO water ontop of the substrate in the cup. Today I tested the PH. IT WENT UP. 7.0 what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Sounds like you might have burned out the buffering capability with the baking soda. Just did a WC in my Contrasoil tank PH went up slightly 6.2 then drop within the hour to 5.6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 (sigh) I didnt think I added that much. I only buffered it to 6.8 - 7 and only added when it would fall below 6.8. So... Add peat to the filter or empty the tank and change the substrate? I do have another bag of soil..but what a project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 I have to imagine that that couldn't wear out the buffer. I was using baking soda for my aqua sand to go up .3ph, and over the course of a few days it would slowly fall again and I would raise it. I did that for a good 6 months will buffering still happening. I would think you just got a bad batch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 Thanks Bryce. I feel like I am going crazy. Soothing Shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 (sigh) I didnt think I added that much. I only buffered it to 6.8 - 7 and only added when it would fall below 6.8. So... Add peat to the filter or empty the tank and change the substrate? I do have another bag of soil..but what a project. How long did you keep the buffer between 6.8-7.0 for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 I think the cycle took about a month poopian. maybe 3 weeks I forget exactly. Id have to go back and look at dates. I have decided Im going to take the canister apart tomorrow and watch all the media in RO.. make sure there is no baking soda residue , do another water change and add some peat to the filter. Kinda sucks to need to use peat after spending all that money on controsoil but I dont want to tear the tank apart again and disturb the few shrimp that are in there.. They had a hard life in the tank o death and seem very happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Yep. Looks like you screwed up Even ShrimpyDaddy recommends 1 week of increasing pH above 6.8 only as the buffering capability has been weakened a lot. http://www.shrimpydaddy.com/pages/how-to-setup-shrimp-tank-cycling-phase 2-3 weeks will basically make your substrate depleted of buffering capability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Live and Learn I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Live and Learn I guess. Depending on amount of shrimp you are putting in, you could just add Baking Soda for 2-3 days, staying around 6.8-7.0 pH just to weaken buffering a bit. Do full water changes to remove KH and your pH should be about 5.5-5.7. If you don't do the baking soda part for a few days, depending on batch, your pH may buffer to 5.0-5.3. If you're putting like 10 shrimp for a 10G, there's no real need to start the bacteria growth early. You can add biofilm additives like Bacter AE and when you add the shrimp, just dose Stability as recommended or w/e Bacteria supplement you like. Ammonia in ph 5.5-5.7 is in non toxic form and can be used by bacteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomCruise Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Do you have any rocks or ornaments? Sometimes they can buffer pH up or down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 No Tom. there are ornaments but they should no have any effect on PH. No rocks. On the contrary.. driftwood and leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 Ok I know you guys are probably sick of hearing about this issue but yesterday I took the canister filter apart washed all the media, put it back together, did a 3 gallon water change .. (ro water) and added peat to the canister filter. I didnt add alot. I was afraid of crashing the ph to fast but I added about the amount you would add to an aquaclear HOB filter. Today the ph is UP 7.0 . I dont understand.. I am so frustrated . None of this makes sense. Is it possible that the filter media that comes with the Eheim could be raising PH? It is the media that comes with the 2213. There are no rocks in the tank.. just driftwood and plants and 2 aquarium decorations from petsmart. My RO water tests in the low 6.s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 Do you use an airstone on your RO water for few hours before testing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vpier Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Ok I know you guys are probably sick of hearing about this issue but yesterday I took the canister filter apart washed all the media, put it back together, did a 3 gallon water change .. (ro water) and added peat to the canister filter. I didnt add alot. I was afraid of crashing the ph to fast but I added about the amount you would add to an aquaclear HOB filter. Today the ph is UP 7.0 . I dont understand.. I am so frustrated . None of this makes sense. Is it possible that the filter media that comes with the Eheim could be raising PH? It is the media that comes with the 2213. There are no rocks in the tank.. just driftwood and plants and 2 aquarium decorations from petsmart. My RO water tests in the low 6.s I wouldnt think Eheims media would be the cause. Been using Eheim for 20+ years and never had an issue. Your situation is as weird as my shrimps hopping from one tank to another. Soothing Shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastu Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 I have always cycled my tanks at ph 5.5 . No bacteria ever added, cycled well and going strong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santos aluiso Posted October 13, 2017 Report Share Posted October 13, 2017 how long does it takes if i just put controsoil in a tank and put an already established sponge filter from another tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimple minded Posted October 13, 2017 Report Share Posted October 13, 2017 Hey Santos, I've cycled Controsoil in 22 days (using primarily Dr. Tim's Ammonia and Seachem Stability). With a established sponge filters, I and many others have successfully transferred shrimp (in reasonable quantities) into newly setup Controsoil tanks in as little as 24-48 hours. I first attempted this during an emergency, but have done other times as well with success. I certainly would recommend completing a full cycle, but it is good to know in case an emergency arises. santos aluiso 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.