Water Ph so low

[robfishies]

Hey i’ve been having an ongoing battle with my grow out fish tank. I’ve been trying to cycle it for the past 4 weeks and it’s so hard. I had my ammonia spike. Then my nitrite spiked for 4 days. Then my nitrate spiked to 50 ppm. I did a water change right after that. I’ve been doing tests for the past week and a half since the nitrate spike and i have 0.5-1.0 ammonia readings, 0 nitrite, and 30-40ppm nitrate. I’m so confused, but i think it’s my ph and i don’t know how to fix it. My tap water ph is 6.8-7.0 but in the tank my ph reading shows 6.0?! Why is it doing that

 

[duanes]

What process are you using to cycle the tank?
Fishless?
And if fishless, by adding straight ammonia (how much? how often, brand?)
or using something, like a dead shrimp? or ?????
how many

Fish in?
How may?

Other?

Also can you get a readout of your providers water parameters?
You get it by going to your cities web site, type in "Water Quality Report" and scroll until ou see a breakdown of your cities are WQR.
Or if you can't find it, what city do you live in, or what metropolitan area, and I will try?

 

[robfishies]

What process are you using to cycle the tank?
Fishless?
And if fishless, by adding straight ammonia (how much? how often, brand?)
or using something, like a dead shrimp? or ?????
how many

Fish in?
How may?

Other?

Also can you get a readout of your providers water parameters?
You get it by going to your cities web site, type in "Water Quality Report" and scroll until ou see a breakdown of your cities are WQR.
Or if you can't find it, what city do you live in, or what metropolitan area, and I will try?

Yeah i’m doing a fish in cycle with 2 juvenile oscars, and a juvenile severum that was donated to me. I never had problems doing a fish in cycle so i’m not sure what the problem is here. I’m using prime to detoxify the ammonia and nitrate, and using Nite Out 2 as bottled bacteria. For my city’s water parameters i couldn’t find it but it’s NYC. I live in the city, so i don’t think the water is a problem, but i wouldn’t know. I did however test the water straight from tap and readings are all 0, and 6.8-7.0 ph.

 

[duanes]

Below is the link, you need to scroll; down quite far (pass the pic of the lab coated guy) before reaching the parameter data, but everything is there (probably more than you want to know)
New York City 2018 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Reportwww1.nyc.gov › assets › dep › downloads › pdf › 201...
The alkalinity is normally a little low, which may account for pH swings in a cycling tank.
Alkalinity buffers the acids in fish waste, and can only buffer just so much, and if it is overwhelmed, you get a pH drop, so frequent water changes to replace alkalinity may be required until it stabilizes. A substrate such as crushed coral, or aragonite may also help.
I know many people pooh pooh water changes during a cycle but if pH drops I consider them crucial, especially if doing a fish in cycle.
The hardness is also quite low, which in the end, will be good for the oscar and severum.

 

[robfishies]

Below is the link, you need to scroll; down quite far (pass the pic of the lab coated guy) before reaching the parameter data, but everything is there (probably more than you want to know)
New York City 2018 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Reportwww1.nyc.gov › assets › dep › downloads › pdf › 201...
The alkalinity is normally a little low, which may account for pH swings in a cycling tank.
Alkalinity buffers the acids in fish waste, and can only buffer just so much, and if it is overwhelmed, you get a pH drop, so frequent water changes to replace alkalinity may be required until it stabilizes. A substrate such as crushed coral, or aragonite may also help.
I know many people pooh pooh water changes during a cycle but if pH drops I consider them crucial, especially if doing a fish in cycle.
The hardness is also quite low, which in the end, will be good for the oscar and severum.

Thank you! I’ve been doing water changes every 3-4 days bc the nitrate gets high. I’m not sure why i still have ammonia when i already got my nitrite spike. Every other tank i cycled went from ammonia spike to nitrite spike to nitrate spike, water change -> 0,0,0-10 ppm