nitrite HELP

[phishfriend]

Very good! Your almost there!

 

[Stacie3972]

Ok so 3 days ago I added a huge piece of driftwood to the tank the next day my nitrites dropped in half from 5 to 2.5. Yesterday dropped even lower today GONE! I did a 75 pwc yesterday none today my water is super cloudy(I'm guessing from the driftwood) but I could be wrong? So here is my question
Ph 7.8
ammonia is at 0
Nitrite is 0
And here is what I'm worried about
Nitrate is at 0
Does this mean cycled tank or something else because of the driftwood? I'm freaking out and don't know if it should be good or bad freaking out? HELP!!

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Ok so 3 days ago I added a huge piece of driftwood to the tank the next day my nitrites dropped in half from 5 to 2.5. Yesterday dropped even lower today GONE! I did a 75 pwc yesterday none today my water is super cloudy(I'm guessing from the driftwood) but I could be wrong? So here is my question
Ph 7.8
ammonia is at 0
Nitrite is 0
And here is what I'm worried about
Nitrate is at 0
Does this mean cycled tank or something else because of the driftwood? I'm freaking out and don't know if it should be good or bad freaking out? HELP!!

All sounds good
When.i 1st cycled my.tank,fishless cycle and i had no nitrates at the end of mine and i never did !!!!
I have real.plants in my 10 gallon.
So to me it looks like you are cycled congrats

 

[tropicalfishlady]

All sounds good
When.i 1st cycled my.tank,fishless cycle and i had no nitrates at the end of mine and i never did !!!!
I have real.plants in my 10 gallon.
So to me it looks like you are cycled congrats

Plus did you.boil your wood quite a few times then soak it in cool water for about a week because they can leak tannins.my.wood is mopani i have one piece in my tank and during all the boils loads of brown tea like looking water,it still can leach but mine is not too bad

 

[Stacie3972]

Plus did you.boil your wood quite a few times then soak it in cool water for about a week because they can leak tannins.my.wood is mopani i have one piece in my tank and during all the boils loads of brown tea like looking water,it still can leach but mine is not too bad

It was to big to actually put in a pot and boil so I had to pour boiling water on it in my kitchen sink i did that 3 times then soaked it in cold water for 3 days in my bathtub. It's not turning the water brown just sooooo cloudy. I moved it during a water change today and it feels slimy. The fish are loving it. Kinda weird though I had nitrites again today after none yesterday?? Is this normal for them to bounce around?? And just barley detectable nitrates. Did a water change to get rid of the cloudy water helped for a little while but it's clouding up again real fast.

 

[Stacie3972]

All sounds good
When.i 1st cycled my.tank,fishless cycle and i had no nitrates at the end of mine and i never did !!!!
I have real.plants in my 10 gallon.
So to me it looks like you are cycled congrats [/QUOTE
Thanks!!! I hope it's real and not just from the wood. Now if I could just get my other one to start. I'm fish less cycling that one. I put ammonia in it on Thanksgiving Day and I haven't had to add any and I still don't have nitrites yet :-( I don't know if there's something wrong or that I just don't have any patients.

 

[librarygirl]

Ok so 3 days ago I added a huge piece of driftwood to the tank the next day my nitrites dropped in half from 5 to 2.5. Yesterday dropped even lower today GONE! I did a 75 pwc yesterday none today my water is super cloudy(I'm guessing from the driftwood) but I could be wrong? So here is my question
Ph 7.8
ammonia is at 0
Nitrite is 0
And here is what I'm worried about
Nitrate is at 0
Does this mean cycled tank or something else because of the driftwood? I'm freaking out and don't know if it should be good or bad freaking out? HELP!!

0 ammonia and nitrites are great; if they stay that way without water changes then you're cycled. I wouldn't worry about the 0 nitrate; the last large water change you did probably knocked them out. They should rise some again in time; it'll depend on how high your bioload is (how much fish you have). I have a 40 gal about halfway stocked and I only get about 5 ppms nitrate between water changes (my tank is pretty heavily planted though but even before that my nitrates never rose too much between water changes, 10 max).

The cloudiness could be from the driftwood or/and from disturbing the substrate when adding the wood. It should settle if it's from the substrate. If it's tannins from the wood (if the wood is tea colored) they'll go away eventually but depending on the type of wood it can leach for some time; water change will remove the tannins temporarily. Tannins are not harmful to fish (in fact some fish even like it).

 

[Stacie3972]

0 ammonia and nitrites are great; if they stay that way without water changes then you're cycled. I wouldn't worry about the 0 nitrate; the last large water change you did probably knocked them out. They should rise some again in time; it'll depend on how high your bioload is (how much fish you have). I have a 40 gal about halfway stocked and I only get about 5 ppms nitrate between water changes (my tank is pretty heavily planted though but even before that my nitrates never rose too much between water changes, 10 max).

The cloudiness could be from the driftwood or/and from disturbing the substrate when adding the wood. It should settle if it's from the substrate. If it's tannins from the wood (if the wood is tea colored) they'll go away eventually but depending on the type of wood it can leach for some time; water change will remove the tannins temporarily. Tannins are not harmful to fish (in fact some fish even like it).

Well checked it this morning and had nitrites just the light purple color right above the blue. (sorry I am not looking at my test result card with the numbers on it) I just know purple means they are there I'm using api master test kit. Did a water change not because they were too high but because the water was sooooo cloudy just checked again 8 hrs after water change and there one color block higher now than they were this morning. Uggghhh what happened???

 

[librarygirl]

I wouldn't worry too much yet. You had 5 nitrite on the 27th and then they went down to 2.5 on Dec 3 and on the 4th they dropped more and yesterday they were gone. It could be that the nitrite phase was ending. In between you added driftwood which probably disturbed stuff on the substrate (fish waste and leftover food) which can sometimes cause a spike in toxin levels. Hopefully it'll even out and then drop again but we'll see what happens. Try not to let the nitrite get higher than 1 before you do a water change; high nitrite levels are pretty dangerous for fish just like ammonia and most dechlorinators will only detoxify nitrite to a certain point (usually 1 ppms). Just keep an eye on things and we'll see what happens in the next few days.

 

[Stacie3972]

I wouldn't worry too much yet. You had 5 nitrite on the 27th and then they went down to 2.5 on Dec 3 and on the 4th they dropped more and yesterday they were gone. It could be that the nitrite phase was ending. In between you added driftwood which probably disturbed stuff on the substrate (fish waste and leftover food) which can sometimes cause a spike in toxin levels. Hopefully it'll even out and then drop again but we'll see what happens. Try not to let the nitrite get higher than 1 before you do a water change; high nitrite levels are pretty dangerous for fish just like ammonia and most dechlorinators will only detoxify nitrite to a certain point (usually 1 ppms). Just keep an eye on things and we'll see what happens in the next few days.

Thank you so much for the help ill check it in the morning again and see where I am and keep everyone posted. I really hope it drops again. I vacuumed the bottom some today while I was doing the water change so that might be it??

 

[librarygirl]

It could be, but I'm leaning more toward when you put the wood in, that probably disturbed it more.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Thank you so much for the help ill check it in the morning again and see where I am and keep everyone posted. I really hope it drops again. I vacuumed the bottom some today while I was doing the water change so that might be it??

I know how you feel,its like a huge relief to be cycled then,that happens and.your puzzled again :-/,i did a 16 hour boil and then a week soak in cold water and mine still leaches a very small amount if tannins not.noticable now.
It can easy get cloudy when you do maintenance,moving around adding stuff,sometimes clears quickly other times a couple of days or so,ive just had to re cycle my tank from adding a few too many fish !!! Really stupidly of me and it took a while and last week i had 3 clear zeros on everything and this week a 0.25 ppm ammonia spike so that has puzzled me lol isnt water chemistry great !!!! Just when i was about to get my new Betta fish so ill have to hang fire again,so ive had to ask about it on here,the more i learn i still seem to find out something else but these are great forums

 

[Stacie3972]

I am going to cry!!! Woke up and tested
Ammonia. 25
Nitrite 5.0
Nitrate 0
I just did a water change not even 15 hours ago. I know I've got to many fish so I could move some I've got a 30 gallon that I was trying to fishless cycle and it's not doing anything I put ammonia in on Thanksgivings day and it's still what I put it with no nitrites. The fish in have in the 50 gallon is
1 chocolate cichlid
1 pleco the black one
5 gromies
2 blood parrots
1 golden severum
And a red cichlid can't remember the name of him. Would it be worth it to move anything to the 30 gallon and start fish in cycling the 30 gallon? I'm at my wits end right now with both of them.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

I am going to cry!!! Woke up and tested
Ammonia. 25
Nitrite 5.0
Nitrate 0
I just did a water change not even 15 hours ago. I know I've got to many fish so I could move some I've got a 30 gallon that I was trying to fishless cycle and it's not doing anything I put ammonia in on Thanksgivings day and it's still what I put it with no nitrites. The fish in have in the 50 gallon is
1 chocolate cichlid
1 pleco the black one
5 gromies
2 blood parrots
1 golden severum
And a red cichlid can't remember the name of him. Would it be worth it to move anything to the 30 gallon and start fish in cycling the 30 gallon? I'm at my wits end right now with both of them.

I know.how you feel fun,this cycling is not easy.ive just had to re cycle my 10 gallon and i too have a 0.25 ammonia spike after 3 tests if zeros,but my PH is low its 6 and Rivercats on here has said a low ph can affect my Beneficial bacteria so i have to add small amounts of crushed coral which ive now ordered !!!!
I know thats not much help to you jist to let you know i know how you feel.
I think if it were me i would not move your fish especially if your fishless cycle is not moving.
There are articles on here about fishless cycling,if you type in the search it should bring them up
What is your PH in the tank with fish in,you are sort of getting there but you have the ammonia spike,im doing a 25% wc everyday at present to help with the spike so keep doing that Librarylady is good she will pop back with help.im sure good luck

 

[tropicalfishlady]

I am going to cry!!! Woke up and tested
Ammonia. 25
Nitrite 5.0
Nitrate 0
I just did a water change not even 15 hours ago. I know I've got to many fish so I could move some I've got a 30 gallon that I was trying to fishless cycle and it's not doing anything I put ammonia in on Thanksgivings day and it's still what I put it with no nitrites. The fish in have in the 50 gallon is
1 chocolate cichlid
1 pleco the black one
5 gromies
2 blood parrots
1 golden severum
And a red cichlid can't remember the name of him. Would it be worth it to move anything to the 30 gallon and start fish in cycling the 30 gallon? I'm at my wits end right now with both of them.

Ooops apologies didn't notice your nitrite level,i think you are heading in right direction,a 50 gallon is a decent size but it depends on size of your fish whether you are overstocked or not

 

[Stacie3972]

Ooops apologies didn't notice your nitrite level,i think you are heading in right direction,a 50 gallon is a decent size but it depends on size of your fish whether you are overstocked or not

My golden severum is fully grown 3 or 4 inches he's a big boy. My parrots are between small and medium. The chocolate cichlid is nedium sized and everyone else are small. It just sucks I appreciate all the help just frustrating I've had this tank up before and not had this many problems. Of course I didn't have a test kit and obviously didn't know what I was doing just throw the fish in vac once a month and totally clean the HOB filter once a month with hot water never did a water change just added water as it evaporated. Of course that why I never kept a fish over 6 months except for the 2 Oscars I had. Trying to do it the right way and it's hard.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

My golden severum is fully grown 3 or 4 inches he's a big boy. My parrots are between small and medium. The chocolate cichlid is nedium sized and everyone else are small. It just sucks I appreciate all the help just frustrating I've had this tank up before and not had this many problems. Of course I didn't have a test kit and obviously didn't know what I was doing just throw the fish in vac once a month and totally clean the HOB filter once a month with hot water never did a water change just added water as it evaporated. Of course that why I never kept a fish over 6 months except for the 2 Oscars I had. Trying to do it the right way and it's hard.

Yeah it is hard hun,water changes are v.important and clean ya filter in tank water to keep vital bacteria,ive been there before,a few year back ny 1st tank,set it up left it a week like it said on instructions,add fish i did get test kits like and did water changes but i did not know much about the nitrogen cycle and i then i wondered why i kept losing my fish so this 3rd tank has been much better because i did a fishless cycle i did a fish in cycle 3 danios in a 30 litre bi-orb and i cycled it had it a year and decided i didn't really like that type of tank and this.3rd one my 10 hlf gallon really 48 litre,i fishless cycled it but i had plenty of seeding from biorb and it cycled in 4 wks maybe less,and all has been good until i changed species and overloaded it and caused a mini cycle,lost all my fish sadly and its took months and i was there until 2 days ago hence ammonia spike again which looks like its cos of my low PH levels !!!! Phew i tell ya :-/

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Ooops apologies didn't notice your nitrite level,i think you are heading in right direction,a 50 gallon is a decent size but it depends on size of your fish whether you are overstocked or not

Looking at your levels,nitrites are up and ammonia is down so thats nxt stage bacteria to help with lower nitrites so ya will av to wait for them to come dwn,mine went up to 5 then started to come down from that level,then nitrates may rise or not mine didn,t but thts what water changes are for to help keep that down the ammonia and nitrites are the bad toxic ones,cycling with fish in can take a good while so you will av to keep.up.with regular water changes when nitrites are high

 

[Stacie3972]

My water bill went up 60 buck this month because of all the water changes I am going to have to cut back I can't afford it 120 gallons a day is ridiculous

 

[phishfriend]

What kind of sub material is best for plants? I have sand is this okay and how deep does it need to be my 50 gallon is about and inch and a half my 30 about an inch.

I use Eco-complete as do allot of people. You don't need to replace it ever and there is no rinsing. just put it in and go! comes in black or red. that's if you choose to change.