Did a 90% PWC this morning and Nitrites jumped sky high?

[flvol77]

I followed the guide, (thought my tank was cycled) turned down the heater, did a huge PWC 90% and I tested my water about an hour after and the Ammonia is gone, Nitrites went sky high (before it would start out dark purple and in 5 minutes they would be gone)

Now after 5 minutes its dark purple, starts out almost clear after me shaking it up it goes purple?

I thought I was cycled, I assume not.....Strange because I tested my nitrites before and they were gone after 5 mins.

Any thoughts on what to do?

 

[jlk]

Just I am clear, you were testing nitrites before and they went from purple to blue/clear in 5 minutes, correct? This indicates your nitrites were so high that the test could not read them accurately. If the drops turn purple as soon as you add the drops (before shaking), then your nitrites are off the charts high.

Unfortunately, you still have have a ways to go cycling but your atleast halfway complete. I would do another big wc or two to drop your nitrites to a readable level (under 2ppm) and add a small amount of ammonia (1-2ppm) until your bb get up to speed. Please ask if you have questions!

 

[flvol77]

Just I am clear, you were testing nitrites before and they went from purple to blue/clear in 5 minutes, correct? This indicates your nitrites were so high that the test could not read them accurately. If the drops turn purple as soon as you add the drops (before shaking), then your nitrites are off the charts high.

Unfortunately, you still have have a ways to go cycling but your atleast halfway complete. I would do another big wc or two to drop your nitrites to a readable level (under 2ppm) and add a small amount of ammonia (1-2ppm) until your bb get up to speed. Please ask if you have questions!

Thanks, not what I was wanting to hear but oh well.

One question, wouldn't I continue to dose my Ammonia up to 4 ppm? BTW this is a fishless cycle, and watch my PH and wait for another WC?

 

[jlk]

Nope, reduce the ammonia dose for a bit until your second set of bacteria catch up. Once they start converting nitrite easily, you can gradually increase the ammonia dose over a couple of days to a week until your tank is converting 4ppm of ammonia to zero in 24hrs.

 

[flvol77]

Nope, reduce the ammonia dose for a bit until your second set of bacteria catch up. Once they start converting nitrite easily, you can gradually increase the ammonia dose over a couple of days to a week until your tank is converting 4ppm of ammonia to zero in 24hrs.

Guess I should have told you my tank is converting 4 ppm of ammonia at a rate of every 8 to 12 hours, I can't keep ammonia in my tank...

Also the water change helped it lowered my nitrites some, still obviously high, but it lowered it, when I checked it again it starts off clear/blue and gradually goes to purple.

 

[jlk]

Your tank converting 4ppm of ammonia in under 12hrs is great and perfectly normal! You do not want to dose ammonia more than once every 24 hours even if it converts everything to zero in just a few hours. Your nitrite>nitrate bacteria are considerably slower- overwhelming them with very high nitrite levels will in fact slow or stall your cycle so relax on the dosing and give them a chance to catch up. If your nitrite levels are still reading above 2ppm, I would do another big wc.

 

[flvol77]

Your tank converting 4ppm of ammonia in under 12hrs is great and perfectly normal! You do not want to dose ammonia more than once every 24 hours even if it converts everything to zero in just a few hours. Your nitrite>nitrate bacteria are considerably slower- overwhelming them with very high nitrite levels will in fact slow or stall your cycle so relax on the dosing and give them a chance to catch up. If your nitrite levels are still reading above 2ppm, I would do another big wc.

How many water changes would you suggest until I get it down? I did 90% yesterday, 90% today and Nitrites are still reading off the charts high.

Also thanks for the suggestion about the ammonia, I was adding it twice a day to get it back up to 4 ppm, which I think is part of my problem with the nitrites.

I did test my tap water again and its at 0 ppm. Nitrates right now are at 5 to 10 ppm, so what you are said about the Nitrites to Nitrates bacteria makes perfect sense now, I am converting the Ammonia fast but it almost stuck when converting from Nitrites to Nitrates.

I will wait another couple of hours or so and do another wc to try to to get things in line, and tonight I will add my ammonia up to around 2 ppm which is 4 ml of ammonia for me.

 

[flvol77]

I did two more water changes, one that was about 70%, which brought the nitrites down some but after 5 mins the water in the test tube was barney purple. That was at around 3:30 - just did another one at 7 pm - Nitrites are now around 2 ppm.

I will dose ammonia up this evening to 2 ppm....its been a lot of work today, but it was needed.

 

[jlk]

Great job! Dont be surprised if your nitrites spike up high again in 24hrs.

 

[flvol77]

Great job! Dont be surprised if your nitrites spike up high again in 24hrs.

Wonderful - I am hoping that me backing off dosing the ammonia will kick start part 2 of the cycle and my Nitrites will reduce on their own. I have the temperate cranked up and the bubble wand going.

 

[flvol77]

Well, you were right, but it wasn't 24 hours, it was more like 9 hours

I added 4 ML of ammonia which put me at 2 ppm and it was gone over night, Nitrites were sky high, PH is at 7.6 (the level of my tab water) and Nitrates are at 20 ppm

 

[jlk]

This may sound a bit impossible but just ignore your tank for a few days. You know where you stand on ammonia, nitrite and nitrate right now. Dont add any ammonia for the next 2-3 days. Nothing is going to starve or die so do not worry or panic. If you want to test anything over the next few days, check your nitrates to see if they are increasing at all. Hopefully, you will notice your nitrates start to increase. If theres no change on day 3, we will address it then.

 

[flvol77]

Good call, and it will not be impossible, I may not even check any chemicals until wed evening. Thanks for the help.

 

[flvol77]

I went through my log, saw some key areas where I messed up, one I knew it would mess up my cycle, I changed the filter media (not all of it), I pulled the carbon out of filter and added different bio media, it was something I should have done from the start but I didn't. What is interesting I have read a lot of conflicting reports about whether carbon is good or bad, the fluval 406 comes with 4 carbon bags, I think it was too many, so I change my set up from bottom to top Bio Foam in the bottom two trays, Biomax Bio Rings, in tray three, polisher thin pad and biomax bio rings in tray four.

It seems after that change it stopped my cycle in its tracks, which is interesting because all I removed was the Carbon, but I did add a lot to the filter.

 

[flvol77]

Tested the Nitrates and they are around 80 ppm - Monday they were 20 ppm ... PH 7.6 that is what my tap water is, Ammonia 0 ppm - Nitrites started off perfect then went to 5.0 ppm.

I checked my Nitrites from tap water and they are zero.....

 

[jlk]

Your tank looks fine! I would be a bit concerned if your nitrates did not increase but they did. Add a small amount of ammonia to keep everyone happy in the interim (like 1ppm or less) today and lets see how things go over the next 2-3 days. Once your nitrite coversion gets into gear, you can increase the ammonia dose gradually over a couple of days (.5 a day) and you will be fully cycled to 4ppm in no time. Your very close- hang in there!

 

[flvol77]

Your tank looks fine! I would be a bit concerned if your nitrates did not increase but they did. Add a small amount of ammonia to keep everyone happy in the interim (like 1ppm or less) today and lets see how things go over the next 2-3 days. Once your nitrite coversion gets into gear, you can increase the ammonia dose gradually over a couple of days (.5 a day) and you will be fully cycled to 4ppm in no time. Your very close- hang in there!

Thanks for the help - Just checked the Nitrates, they are higher than 80, not at 160 yet but the color is red, not so much orange anymore, so they are increasing....

 

[jlk]

That's good progress!

 

[flvol77]

That's good progress!

When this is all said and done if you are ever down in South Florida I will owe you an adult beverage

 

[jlk]

Happy to help!!! If Fort Myers qualifies as south Fl, I just may take you up on that offer!