NitrIte Question!

[NewFish1]

Last Saturday I found out from a highly recommended local fish store (the guy has been in business in the same location for the last 38 years!!) that I have been doing too high of a percentage of PWC causing my tank to go back into a cycle. He advised me to hold off on ANY water changes for about a week or so. The tank has been set up since last November and completed the cycle and remained cycled about mid-January so I've been SLOWLY adding a few fish here and there. Tonight I did my daily water check (I've been doing them every day "just to be safe") and my NitrItes are up to 0.50. Ammonia is zero, NitrAtes are at 20.0 with pH at 7.8.

Now, should I do a PWC tonight because my NitrItes are at 0.50? I would call the LFS but he is closed on Monday's and I want to make sure I don't endanger my fish with the NitrItes at this level.

Thanks so very much,



Mike

 

[Cynic]

Unless you've been doing daily 80-90% PWCs I wouldn't say that's your problem.

Do you add Prime or some form of chlorine remover when you do your water changes? I'd say your biggest risk of recycling that could be associated with water changes would be chlorine getting to your filter. You should be adding double the recommended amount of water conditioner to ensure this doesn't happen.

As of now, I'd definitely do a 50% PWC now, nitrite is highly toxic and is a danger to your fish.

 

[boadams87]

Last Saturday I found out from a highly recommended local fish store (the guy has been in business in the same location for the last 38 years!!) that I have been doing too high of a percentage of PWC causing my tank to go back into a cycle. He advised me to hold off on ANY water changes for about a week or so. The tank has been set up since last November and completed the cycle and remained cycled about mid-January so I've been SLOWLY adding a few fish here and there. Tonight I did my daily water check (I've been doing them every day "just to be safe") and my NitrItes are up to 0.50. Ammonia is zero, NitrAtes are at 20.0 with pH at 7.8.

Now, should I do a PWC tonight because my NitrItes are at 0.50? I would call the LFS but he is closed on Monday's and I want to make sure I don't endanger my fish with the NitrItes at this level.

Thanks so very much,



Mike

Doing wc will not cause it to go into cycle!!! It'll only cycle again if you kill off or remove the bb that are growing in your media!!!!

 

[NewFish1]

Unless you've been doing daily 80-90% PWCs I wouldn't say that's your problem.

Do you add Prime or some form of chlorine remover when you do your water changes? I'd say your biggest risk of recycling that could be associated with water changes would be chlorine getting to your filter. You should be adding double the recommended amount of water conditioner to ensure this doesn't happen.

As of now, I'd definitely do a 50% PWC now, nitrite is highly toxic and is a danger to your fish.

Yes, I add Prime every time I do a PWC. I add 8 drops of prime per 3 gallons which is the size of my aquarium only bucket. SHOULD I ADD PRIME TO THE REST OF THE TANK AS WELL?

I just did a 6 gallon PWC which is about a 25% change.

Mike

 

[Cynic]

So just to confirm you had a fully cycled tank (Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate >0), you started adding fish and now suddenly you've got Nitrite?

Only other thing I can think of is to ask what fish and how many you've added recently? A large fish or large number of fish would create a small spike.

 

[jlk]

I am curious how you cycled the tank. Did you do it fishless with pure ammonia or fish-in? Second, are you doing anything drastic such as changing your filter media every month?

 

[NewFish1]

So just to confirm you had a fully cycled tank (Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate >0), you started adding fish and now suddenly you've got Nitrite?

Only other thing I can think of is to ask what fish and how many you've added recently? A large fish or large number of fish would create a small spike.

All fish are small. Over the course of about 6 or 7 weeks I've added 3 Serpae Tetra's, 3 Lemon Tetra's, 3 Rosy Barbs (These fish must be the "clowns" of the fish world because they are so curious and entertaining!!!), 2 Zebra Danio's and 2 Cory's.

 

[boadams87]

Those small fish spread out that much shouldn't have caused that much of a spike! How do you clean your media?

 

[NewFish1]

I am curious how you cycled the tank. Did you do it fishless with pure ammonia or fish-in? Second, are you doing anything drastic such as changing your filter media every month?

I have two AquaClear HOB filters. the tank is 28 gallons. I rinse the sponge in old aquarium water every 30 days in one filter then wait two weeks and rinse the other sponge in the other filter. I replace the charcoal on the same schedule but NEVER at the same time I rinse the sponges. I have NOT replaced or rinsed the BioMax in either filter.

I did a fish-in cycle with two Zebra Danio's which are still alive and doing well!

 

[boadams87]

I have two AquaClear HOB filters. the tank is 28 gallons. I rinse the sponge in old aquarium water every 30 days in one filter then wait two weeks and rinse the other sponge in the other filter. I replace the charcoal on the same schedule but NEVER at the same time I rinse the sponges. I have NOT replaced or rinsed the BioMax in either filter.

I did a fish-in cycle with two Zebra Danio's which are still alive and doing well!

That sounds great.

 

[jlk]

Small fish or not, when was the last time you added new fish to the tank?

 

[NewFish1]

That sounds great.

I will also add that my tap water isn't great. pH is at 8.0, ammonia is upwards of .25, nitrites are around .25 and Nitrates around 10.0.

 

[NewFish1]

Small fish or not, when was the last time you added new fish to the tank?

Two weeks ago- added the Rosy Barbs and cats. Parameters stayed at zero until late last week.

 

[Cynic]

Two weeks ago- added the Rosy Barbs and cats. Parameters stayed at zero until late last week.

What do you use to test the water?

 

[jlk]

Well, this helps to answer your issue here. Its not the wcs affecting your cycle but every time you have added new fish, you are increasing the bioload of your tank. You bb then have to adjust upwards to the increase in ammonia that is present & your tank is thus back in a cycle until the bb increase & can handle the new amounts of ammonia & nitrite. A well-established tank should be able to handle the amounts of amm & nitrite that are present in your tap without an issue.

 

[NewFish1]

What do you use to test the water?

I use the API Master Freshwater Test Kit.