Sudden high nitrites

[Sandrago]

Hi everyone! Just got a 10 gal tank 4 weeks ago. Nitrites and nitrates were great, at 0 until i cleaned the tank. Then wow they jumped into the danger zone. The nitrites are the highest. I have done 2 50% water changes. Now nitrites are in stress zone. I have 4 glofish and 2 glo tetra and one algea eater. What the heck happened? Why did the levels jump 4 days after cleaning tank? I siphoned half of the gravel and was very carefull to clean as much food as i could. Filter waschanged as well. Thanks for any advise

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Filter waschanged as well.

Heres the problem. By changing the filter you have thrown out a great number of the BB (beneficial bacteria). Your tank is now in what's called a mini cycle. What needs to happen is the BB colony needs to multiply again. While this happens your going to experience spikes in ammonia and/or nitrites. To counteract these spikes water changes must be done (which you're doing already ).
In the future, when the filter media is dirty, just swish it in a bucket of old tank water to remove any build up. By doing that it will preserve the BB.
Since the tank is still very new the BB might not have been very establish to begin with. Newer tank are more sensitive to changes like this.

 

[Sandrago]

Oh wow

Ah man! What am i supposed to do in the future? The filter needs to be changed every month and its a carbon filter. Will this happen every month? Should i get some liquid bacteria to supplement? Also i did wash the new filter in the old tank water like a youtube video said to do. And i only cleaned half the gravel to keep some bacteria in there. Anything i can do to prevent losing bacteria with future cleaning? Also thank you so much!

 

[Link119]

Cut the carbon out of the cartridge and just reuse the floss until it falls apart.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ah man! What am i supposed to do in the future? The filter needs to be changed every month and its a carbon filter. Will this happen every month? Should i get some liquid bacteria to supplement? Also i did wash the new filter in the old tank water like a youtube video said to do. And i only cleaned half the gravel to keep some bacteria in there. Anything i can do to prevent losing bacteria with future cleaning? Also thank you so much!

You can just leave it be and not change the carbon. It's not needed in a healthy tank. The tank will eventually stabilize again without any additives. As I said, newer tank cycles are a bit more sensitive. Cleaning half the gravel at a time is a good idea and only rinsing media instead of changing it helps also. After 6 months + the bb colony will be larger so a little over cleaning here or there won't have a significant impact like this time round.

 

[Sandrago]

Thanks guys

Thanks guys! I will cut the carbon out and use the floss till it falls apart and i just checked the water and the nitrites have not spiked but are still in stress zone. I will do another water change tomorrow. Are too many water changes bad? Is it going to affect the fish or the bb that is trying to grow? Fish seem fine so far. I am keeping an eye on them. You know i bought this aquarium as a gift for my son. Funny how us parents do all the work. I do like having the aquarium and taking care of it, probably more than i enjoy having the fish

 

[TheresaMcmurrough]

Thanks guys! I will cut the carbon out and use the floss till it falls apart and i just checked the water and the nitrites have not spiked but are still in stress zone. I will do another water change tomorrow. Are too many water changes bad? Is it going to affect the fish or the bb that is trying to grow? Fish seem fine so far. I am keeping an eye on them. You know i bought this aquarium as a gift for my son. Funny how us parents do all the work. I do like having the aquarium and taking care of it, probably more than i enjoy having the fish

You can never do enough water changes. Make sure to not over feed at this point. Water change and water for things to stabilize before gravel or filter cleaning. Let the good bacteria build up

 

[aqua_chem]

I would just leave the carbon in there. Once it gets used up, it can serve as substrate for BB to grow on.

 

[Sandrago]

You guys are great! Never going to petsmart for advise again. They just want to sell you a chemical. Thanks again. I will definitly be looking for advise from you guys again