Cycling

Just an update and check

Cycling now for 8 days. I didn't get anything happen at all for a few days at first, but then I got a drop in Ammonia although the Nitrite stayed 0. Kept dosing up to 4ish.

Now today = PH 7.8 (too high?)
Ammonia 0.50
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 10

I dont know why the Nitrite is going up quicker that the ammonia is coming down? I thought the Ammonia went up, got changed and then went down and as all that was happening the Nitrite went up too.

At least something is happening though so I am not too worried, just dont understand really

The nitrifying bacteria will be growing so you see the nitrIte rise. It will start to consume ammonia & you will see that drop (after a while)....yes?
The nitrAte reading will be all over the place during the cycle so i'd not read much into the readings for nA. As for the pH, it is very difficult to alter it & keep it stable. This can fluctuate during a cycle due to changes in levels of acid/alkaline
It's far better to acclimatise the fish to the level of pH you end up with than subject them to a fluctuating pH while you try to get the balance of chemicals right.
If you want to try & decrease the pH a bit, a piece of bogwood will get it down somewhat & that way it'll stay stable. It depends what stock you eventually settle on too
I think our pH out of the tap is around 7.0 but we have 2 piecs of bogwood in for the plecs...the community tank pH is at 6.8

looks like you and brb are in a bit of a race to see who's going to finish first Fishfan, we should start a bit of a book on it?