Need help with nitite

[surferjoe86]

I have a
150 liter aquarium
75 liter sump
skimmer
phosphate remover
20000k Hilide
2 wave makers
heat at 25c
SG 0.024
nitrate close to 0
ammonia 0
ph 8.4
NITRITE .25ppm
Phosphate 0.25ppm

My tank has been set up and running for 6 months now

I keep gettin upto .25ppm Nitrite after about 5 days.
I do a 20% water change when I get this reading. The Nitrite drops back down to 0ppm for a few days then spikes again? has anyone any idea what this could be? because My nitrate never rises?
I only have 2 kg of live rock
mushroom coral
seafan
xenia
2 clowns
coral beauty

I lost a very happy and eating well long nose butterfly today. It seemed perfectly happy last night. But I introduced a blue trigger yesterday not sure if the trigger stressed it to death?? I was told at my LFS that it wouldnt bother my fish but may peck at corals now and again.
I woke up to find my butterfly laying on its side... I thought it was dead so tapped on the glass and it woke up. I though because of their strange behaviour (like swimming upside down)I thought that it was just resting on its side. But I got home from work this evening and it's well and truely dead! Im gutted!
I have done a 20% water change and removed the body. I know that butterflys are hardish to keep. I'd like to know if it was the water that killed it or was the water permaters changed because of its death?
because I have tested the water this evening and I have a high reading of nitrate and nitrite now


thankyou for taking the time to read
Joe

 

[AaronH]

if you have hight nitrite i would get the fish out. how are your amonia levels. have you thought about getting more lr... maby doing a bigger water change may help the situation

 

[pat8you]

It seems very strange that you have nitrite levels showing in a tank that has been up for 6 months. How are you testing the levels? Do you have liquid test kits or the dip strips?

As for the butterfly I would guess that the trigger was probably attacking him and stressing him to the point of death. If it was doing fine and then you added a trigger and the next day it was on it's side this really points to the trigger to me. Butterflys are very docile and can be easily stressed by bullying. Triggers are notorious for being aggressive. Very sorry for your loss.

 

[surferjoe86]

yeah I need some more LV But i fall into the trap of buying fish instead
Im using a liquid test kit (nutrafin)
Just done a test and I have
0.5ppm ammonia
5.0ppm Nitrate (usually 0 till today)
0.25ppm Nitrite

I feel really bad about it The guy at the LFS assured me they'd be okay. My butterfly was a birthday prestent too woe is me
Sould I do another 20% water change? tonight
thanks J

 

[pat8you]

Hmmm that is very odd. Could you think of any reason your tank would go through another mini-cycle? Have you moved rocks, stirred up your sand, accidentally overfed, anything along those lines? I would do another water change tonight just to be on the safe side and keep a close eye on your fish. I would probably also take a water sample in to your LFS and have them double check your water levels. Maybe something wonky is going on with your test kit.

 

[AaronH]

agreed

 

[surferjoe86]

All i have done recently is put a new oveflow box in the side? I may possibly have overfed??? I couldn't see any excess uneaten food though?? Will do another water change...
All the fish seem happy. The Trigger is swimming round like he owns the place.
cheers
Joe

 

[Emelinda76]

Av

 

[Turbosnail]

Defiantly double check your test readings. I recently had my test read .25 ammonia and .5 nitrite. I freaked out then noticed that my kit had expired by two years, anyway I purchased a new kit and everything tested fine.