nitrite constantly spiking

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tommygunzz

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
16
my nitrites keep jumping all over the board.... i havent changed anything except adding a water fall filter for extra surface current, could this help???
does current have these types of effects on a tank??
 
nitrite

yea i am sure it is nitrite, and yes it is i converted my 35 to my 90 gallon used 60 lbs old rock and the old gravel
 
I guess gravel you mean Crushed coral. I always suggest you dont carry the substrate over. It usually has some really nasty stuff in it that causes mini cycles when you change over. No matter how much you clean it. Also crushed coral traps water in it that clean up crews cant get to it and it causes ammonia and nitrite problems. Just some suggestions I`m thinking.
 
nitrite ****

how can i solve the problem?? are my fish going to be at risk for awhile??
 
Your fish might be affected. I'd get a lot of pre-mixed salt water to do plenty, maybe daily water changes. Likely started a cycle when that crushed coral was stirred, mixed and water added. Dead stuff previously undisturbed now all thru the water for a while.

Skimmer running? Didja upgrade that too?

Your surface current has no bearing on nitrites.
 
no i havent got one running right now...this weekend i am putting a 220 gallon filter on my 90 tank
 
How long since you changed over tanks? Mind telling us NH3 and NO3? NO2 really has to literally skyrocket to affect fish, but can signal whether your NO3 is measuring high or low. Either case, it is NH3 you should be worried about since all tanks will have residual NO2 that most test kits cannot test at. I agree with the water changes since you pretty much disturbed all the sedimentation and organics that are now probably in your water column and if anything your fish are at risk from possible NH3 and low DO (Dissolved Oxygen) until things calm, depending on when you actually transferred.
 
i transfered about 2.5 weeks ago.. have done tons and tons of water changes and nothing seems to help the nitrites just come back. except since i put the waterfall on it breaks the surface alot more. the local lfs tested my water today and said that it was all good as far as no2 and amonia/ph, my no3 was on the second patch on the scale they said it wasnt any thing to worry about. my testers have all run out tonight so tommorow i can tell you guys the exact readings
 
i cant have clean up crew type fish in my tank either as my 5 inch puffer just eats
 
Hmm if I were you I would invest in some liquid test kits and run them yourself. I never trust someone to tell me everything is "ok" without knowing actual figures. Their "ok" may be far different than mine or anyone else's. Are the fish behaving as usual or is there rapid breathing, odd swimming patterns, or even irregular feedings?
 
Hmm if I were you I would invest in some liquid test kits and run them yourself. I never trust someone to tell me everything is "ok" without knowing actual figures.

Agree with Innovator. Also sounds like the LFS is using test strips. Not the greatest when trying to troubleshoot.
 
no no i have all the proper test kits to do it i just used the last of them tonight and the local fish store used a digital thing for phosphte and chemical tests for everything else
 
Puffer? Crushed coral? Messy eater. What else is in there? Sounds like a problem with nasty water may perpetuate.

I'd be alittle suspicious also of a 220g skimmer on a 90g tank. I'm not sure, but the water might move too fast thru that to really help. Maybe a 125g rated skimmer??

What are your nitrates reading bythe way?

Any other thoughts on that big skimmer from anyone that might not be guessing like me?? :)
 
From what I've read, I don't think you can oversize a skimmer. It's just the quantity of bubbles it produces... right?. Too big of a skimmer just means you could possibly overskim the water - which in this case probably isn't a bad idea!
 
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