I have a 20gal planted tank that has been cycling for about two months. The tank seemed to stabilize around week four, at which point I added three snails and six shrimp (not all added at once.) Upon testing the water afterward, the nitrite spiked massively to about 5ppm. Many water changes later, I have the tank at a pretty consistent .25ppm of nitrite, and shockingly all of the shrimp and snails survived the spike. The nitrite has remained at .25ppm for about a month now, and the whole tank is carpeted in a hairy, grass-like brown algae. I am not overfeeding, my nitrates are always in check, and the water is changed consistently. What else should I do to help with the nitrite problem? I’m wary of adding anything else to the tank until I have it under control.
Nitrite won’t go down?
- Thread starter cmnacsin
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
What did you do in those 2 months to cycle the tank?
I added dechlorinator and bottled bacteria (API quick start) as well as a little bit of fish food and let it run with the filter going, did I do something wrong there? I did have an air stone in there for the initial cycle but I noticed it was knocking the shrimp around so I took it out, is that my problem?
To complete a fishless cycle you want to be cycling out 2ppm of ammonia into zero ammonia and nitrite in 24 hours. Adding fish food isnt a great way to dose ammonia IMO. Judging how much food to add to get up to that level is difficult. You would also need to add that food every day the ammonia drops and keep doing that until you can add that food and see zero ammonia and nitrite the following day.
From what you have said i cant gauge whether you completed your cycle. Adding a bit of food occasionally wont have been enough to cycle the tank.
However, we are were we are. You have bioload in there and you have detectable nitrite. Whether you completed your cycle or not, you arent cycled now. Keep up with what you are doing. Water changes to manage water parameters until you are cycled. Target should be ammonia + nitrite no higher than 0.5ppm combined.
If you have zero ammonia then do a water change once nitrite exceeds 0.5ppm. You may be doing too many water changes to leave enough waste in to cycle the tank.
From what you have said i cant gauge whether you completed your cycle. Adding a bit of food occasionally wont have been enough to cycle the tank.
However, we are were we are. You have bioload in there and you have detectable nitrite. Whether you completed your cycle or not, you arent cycled now. Keep up with what you are doing. Water changes to manage water parameters until you are cycled. Target should be ammonia + nitrite no higher than 0.5ppm combined.
If you have zero ammonia then do a water change once nitrite exceeds 0.5ppm. You may be doing too many water changes to leave enough waste in to cycle the tank.
Similar threads
