Crazy nitrite readings after big water change

[neilanh]

Nope, I think that's a good plan.

[Zagz]

I agree, that's what I would do.

[omgfish]

I got my fishies tonight and I'm very excited. Although my nitrite readings refuse to move from 2ppm (I believe this to be inaccurate), my ammonia went back down to 0 after dosing this morning. The fish seem very happy in their new home. I have kept the tank dark after acclimating them, and have observed them exploring and acting very normal. I purchased 5 red glass barbs, 3 congo tetras, 2 bristlenose plecos, and 1 ivory snail. If nitrites were truly 2ppm, would the fish be showing strange behavior? Also, will an ivory snail (apple snail) ever come out of the water? I haven't put the plastic backs on the glass canopy and I was a little worried he might find his way out of the tank. Anyway, I will continue to watch them closely and do pwcs if anything starts to go wrong. Thanks for everybody's help. I really appreciate it.

[jsoong]

1. Apple snails WILL come out of the water - females need to lay eggs in the air, and they will also leave the water if the conditions are bad (ie NH3, low O2 etc). I've had a few gone sky diving, ending up with cracked shells. You should either cover the tank, or put towels or something soft around it to soften the fall.

2. I think the NO2 reading is false. Snails are very sensitive to NH3/NO2, so if your snail acts fine (& not trying to leave), the NO2 level is likely fine.

Prime breaks the chloramines in your tap water, and bind to the resulting NH3 & CL. If you have high chloramine levels in your tap, it is possible for the Prime complexes to give false reading in the tests.

To test this theory, you can take out some tank water, measure the NO2. Then mix some tank water 1:1 with tap & measure again. If the tap water has no NO2, your diluted tank water should read half of the NO2 of undiluted. If not, then there is a problem with the test (high NO3 will also give false positive NO2) or there is residue Prime in your tank water, or something & you should not trust the readings. You might also test Prime + tap water & see what that shows as well.

[omgfish]

Day 2 with fish...all of the them are still doing well. Bristlenose plecos have found their favorite piece of driftwood. The snail has been busy cleaning. Barbs and tetras have been schooling nicely. Ammonia still reads 0 and nitrites actually came down today, they are closer to 1.0ppm. I'm assuming this is still a false reading.

[omgfish]

Well its been 48 hours since I added fish. They are all thriving. No deaths or signs of disease. I tested ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates today. They are 0ppm, 0ppm, and 40ppm respectively. Whatever was causing my nitrites to read at 2ppm is gone, and I am more at ease now. Thanks for everybody's help.

[neilanh]

Very nice!

I would try to get my nitrAtes down and manage those a little lower, but it sounds like you're doing great! Congrats!

[An t-iasg]

Good job!

[MyCatsDrool]

Hey there!

Grats on researching and getting thru the hard part of waiting.

I suggest to bring your NO3 reading down, next H2O change, rinse your biomedia in your canister filter.

Other than that, sounds like you are well on your way. good job! and welcome to the addiction!