What the...? HELP! QUICK!

[bosk1]

Okay, ignore my previous rant about the lfs yesterday. I tested my water yesterday. I got: 0/0/10
The lfs tested it yesterday. They told me it was 0/.25/10. I looked at the nitrite test, and it was 0, not .25. (they are using the AP liquid test kit, as am I)

I tested the water today after I got home from work. I got: 0/.25. (Didn't bother testing nitrates) Hmm... That's strange. Zero to .25 on the nitrites. I started doubting myself, but I'm absolutely certain that my test kit read zero nitrites yesterday, and when I looked at the lfs's test vial, it also showed zero. So I figure I'll do a pwc just to make sure I don't get a worse spike. So, 50% pwc. I go out for a while and come back to...

Nitrites between 2 and 5 ppm and one clown loach dead! I don't get it! How could 2 separate test kits show zero one day, a test kit show .25 the next day, and then above 2 a couple of hours later after a 50% pwc? In any case, I must have seriously screwed something up. But right now, I just want to save my remaining fish. What do I do? The only thing I can think of is another massive pwc, and more to follow tomorrow. This is very upsetting!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Ouch... That's about all you can do, other than adding Bio Spira if you could get some, or do a PWC on an existing cycled tank with gravel vac and add that to the tank. That's what helped speed mine up, since I had access to a cycled tank. Let us know how things go...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Are you down to just the fish in your signature? If that's all that's in the 55G, then once you do a massive PWC, should be easy to keep the nitrites down til it cycles, as it's a small bioload. But first things first, get the nitrites down.

 

[bosk1]

Tested again just to make sure. Right at 2.0.

PWC in progress...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Also, you just want to feed lightly. The hardest part is getting the nitrites down, but once it's down, will be easier keeping it down with regular daily PWC's.

 

[bosk1]

Okay. 60% PWC complete. Man, I'm gonna be good with that python by the time this is over! Anyway...

The smaller of the two loaches was loving the PWC. He was swimming all over the place, and then when he realized where the water was coming in, he played in the stream until the tank filled and I pulled the python out. I'm a bit worried about the larger one. He was acting very listless earlier. He just sat there on his side, not moving--which may be just normal loach behavior, but he just didn't seem active. He moved around a little bit when the new water started coming in, and is now sitting upright in a different part of the tank. His breathing seems a bit fast, and his gills seem a bit dark. But I don't know what else I can do at this point. My little blue gourami seems okay, but I'd still like to see her come out in the open. I will check my nitrite level again in a bit once the water has a chance to circulate. Then, it's off to bed. Hopefully, things will hold relatively steady while I am at work tomorrow. If they don't...well, there's not much I can do until I get home.

 

[bosk1]

Okay, I'm back. Thanks so much for all the feedback, both in this thread and in the pm's I have been getting.

I guess I have to swallow my pride and admit I messed up. But the thing is, I'm not sure what I messed up. Aside from the loss of fish, which is frustrating enough, the other thing that frustrates me about this is thinking I understood what my tank was doing, and then having this happen and not know why. My nitrites were zero, according to my AP kit, and my LFS's AP kit. Then, 0.25, which could mean they were in between 0 and .25, and crept up a little. But then to spike at 2.0 withing hours after a 50% pwc...I just don't get it--especially with the low bioload in a 55 g tank! As a little more background, I saw my nitrites creep up over the last few weeks until they were about 5, and then come back down again until they disappeared. This fact, combined with me verifying that the lfs's kit was showing zero is what led me to disregard what they had initially told me.

Okay, and I just checked the nitrites again. After the 60% pwc, I'm still showing 2.0. This makes no sense to me. It is not, and has not been the same color as the 5.0 reading on the chart, but hasn't moved from 2.0 after changing 60% of the water a little while ago, and 50% earlier tonight. This just defies all logic as I understand it.

 

[Crusis]

I agree. That's definitely odd. I hope you find the answer, I'd like to know it as well. Sorry for your losses, Bosk

 

[malkore]

Bosk,

so you have the AP nitrite kit...and you say when you added all the reagents, it turned purple, then faded to the light blue which you felt indicated 0.00ppm right?

Because, I have the AP nitrite kit too, and when using it, it ALWAYS starts off powder blue, and then turns purple if nitrites are present.
Either AP changed their kit reagents, or you may have a faulty kit that wasn't reading properly.

Keep nitrites down thru PWC's. 2.0 shouldn't be that toxic to most fish, but I can see the clown being the most sensitive.
Nitrite blocks the fish's ability to absorb oxygen when 'breathing', so as long as it's kept under 2.0ppm the remaining fish should be fine. Other than some stress, they won't be permanently damaged.

 

[bosk1]

Before my nitrites started to spike about 2+ weeks ago, the reaction in my test vials was as you describe. After I saw them appear to peak and come down, it would get the bright magenta color in the beginning after mixing the water (approximately the 2.0 reading color), and then it would fade to the light powder blue over the 5-minute waiting period. Since the kit says the reaction is supposed to take 5 minutes before you are supposed to get a reading, I ignored the initial color. The color after the 5 minutes was definitely the powder blue 0 color. I don't know if this is the case or not, but perhaps if the nitrites get too high, the reagent will not function properly and will give false readings. That's the only explanation I can come up with. I also considered that perhaps I got a bad batch of reagent (there could be a number of causes for that), but the LFS got the same results.

Anyhow, I tested again this morning. Same reading, if not a little higher. Another 60% pwc, and I'm off to work. We'll see what happens.

 

[Johnmc]

Very strange. Have you tested the nitrite level of the water out of your tap?

 

[bosk1]

Okay. PWC'd. Prime'd. Bio-Spira'd. Let's see what happens...

The remaining fish seem to be doing okay. The loaches are swimming around a little. And the gourami is exploring around a bit, which she was not doing before (although she is still skittish). I'm lucky to have only lost one loach so far. Hopefully, it will stay that way. The sooner I can move from "I hope my fish survive" to "my fish are thriving," the better.


Edit: A few hours later: nitrites are 0.5. Looks like things are moving in the right direction...

 

[bosk1]

Next morning: zero nitrites. Happy fish.

...and one more anecdote about my lfs: When I went in to buy my Bio-Spira, they of course asked me questions about my tank. When I mentioned that I am fishless cycling with pure ammonia (as I have mentioned before), they guy just stares at me and says he has never, ever heard of doing that before and doesn't think Bio-Spira or anything else can help.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Did you tell him to go to AA? lol

 

[bosk1]

Not directly. I did tell him the majority of people I know recommend fishless cycling, and that a lot of those use pure ammonia. His response was, "I've been doing this for 5 years, and I've never heard of that." At that point, I didn't bother telling him to go here because, with his attitude, I think it would have just come across as, "well, I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I read about it on the Internet, so it must work."

 

[bosk1]

Also, I put in just a tiny bit of flake food this morning. The gourami came up to the top to eat, and then spent a lot of time cruising around the middle and top of the tank. Good to see she's doing that instead of just hiding in her little spot behind my big plant (which is also just about an inch from the heater, which she must like). I am assuming the loaches are eating since a lot of the diatoms seem to be gone.

 

[rich311k]

Glad everything is working out for you.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Sounding very good.....

 

[bosk1]

Just tested my water earlier, and all seems VERY well. That dose of Bio-Spira seems to have done the trick.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15
Ph: 7.5

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Good to hear...