acid water cycling

[onlyme]

Hello all !!!
I am new to Apistos but I have kept rift lakers for some time now. I have a 12 gal tank, heater, and 2 air driven box filters with 10 sub adult apistos. Temp 26 deg, Gen hardness 2~3 G degs, Kh. unmeasnureable. I am using rainwater Ph 6.9, and Seachem PH down and Seachem Equilibrium to give the water some free ions in solution. I am trying to hold the tank at Ph 6~6.2 My question is this, the tank wont cycle biologically like a rift lake tank does and I am still getting 4~5 ppm ammonium readings. The tank has some annubias and plenty of Java moss in it. Any ideas ??

THanks,

Craig.

 

[farm41]

How long has it been setup?

 

[onlyme]

4 or 5 weeks. I should have added I used Cycle and another brand of biological helper. I have been doing a 30% water change twice a week as well. Does Kh need to be above 3Gd to allow the nitrofying bacteria to work?

Craig.

 

[Randall]

Cycling Acidic Water

Dear Craig,

The level of calcium cabonate in water should not effect nitrifying bacteria. All my tanks contain soft, acidic water and routinely cycle within four weeks. Perhaps your situation has more to do with bioload? Ten sub adult dwarf cichlids in a new 12-gallon setup sounds like overstocking to me. The good news is ammonia is not absorbed by fish in acidic water nearly as much as it is in alkaline water. Perhaps you just need to wait it out.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn