Nitrite, pH

[TheTinMan85]

I have a 10 gallon tank, with two zebra danios (having baby's) one red wag, otto . my water is crystal clear but my nitrite are over 10.0 (danger) on the chart, pH below 6.2 (acidic), alkalinity a little on the low side.

I upgrade my filter to a 20 gal 2wk ago and put in some live plates last week, and the water is still acting up please help, any idea what i can do?

 

[jeffp]

was your tank cycled before you changed filters? when you changed filters, did you keep the old filter media to seed the new?

 

[TheTinMan85]

Yes it did cycle, i just in stall the new pump and washed out the filter like it said

 

[Ozydego]

If you did not seed the new filter with the old filter media then you are doing a serious backpedal... If the old media/ filter insert is still wet, get it in the new filter ASAP so the bacteria can jump ship to the new filter... That or you have to start the cycle over, it may not take as long though because the gravel will still seed, but the bio filter is your main source to keep the chemicals at bay...

 

[TheTinMan85]

crap, i have the old filter but its not wet. The fish seem to doing just fine

 

[librarygirl]

crap, i have the old filter but its not wet. The fish seem to doing just fine

If your nitrites are really 10 they won't be fine for long. What's your ammonia reading?

I'd treat this like a fish-in cycle situation until everything is stable. In my signature there's a link (new tank with fish); it'll guide you. Basically any time ammonia or nitrite are over .25 do a water change to get them down; same with nitrates over 20. Keep everything as low as possible until nitrites and ammonia stay at 0 on their own. With nitrites over 10 now though, you should do back-to-back large water changes (like 80% each time) until nitrites are <.5. For future reference you shouldn't need to remove or change out your filter media until it's literally falling apart; even if you upgrade filters just move the media over to the new one from the old; and the instructions on the package that tell you to change it out every few months is a ploy to get you to spend more money (and will only throw your tank into a re-cycle as it's doing now). Good luck!

 

[TheTinMan85]

Okay, when its time to change the filter, what should i do? so my tank wont go through a cycle every time.

 

[Ozydego]

When chunks start falling off your sponge, get a new one and stuff both down into the filter to seed the new sponge, as far as the charcoal or bio media, just don't change them... You can swap out the charcoal layer for another sponge a while from now, so then you can take turns on swapping sponges, but from what I have heard, it's only like once a year or so... As far as cleaning your existing sponge, just swish it through water you have taken out of the tank on a water change, and put it back in the filter... You can do this weekly when you do your water changes... Can anyone else confirm this info?

 

[TheTinMan85]

Okay, i just tested my water my nitrites are dropping down (about time) its still a little acidic, every thing else is good. will that level its self out? I feed them twice a day in the morning and at night.