Nitrite spike

[Horsegirlmaddy]

Hey guys. I recently upgraded my beloved clawed frogs from a 15 gallon to a 35 gallon, and they are loovvviiinnggg all the space! I used the established filter media in the new filter (a Tetra Whisper, which btw is anything but whisper quiet), and used raw shrimp to test the BB, with several consecutive ammonia and nitrite-free readings. So I added my froggies, and continued to test the water to make sure everything stayed ideal. For a week, ammonia and nitrites remained at 0.0, and nitrates less than 5 ppm. Then all of a sudden, nitrites spiked to 3.3 without any ammonia spike preceding it!! So I just did a 30% PWC, but nitrites are still at 3.0, with ammonia at 0.0. I am so confused!!! Where did the nitrites come from? How did they rise so quickly, and how did they rise at all without ammonia rising first? I'm going to continue with daily water changes until everything is back as it should be, but I'm vey confused and I feel terrible for subjecting my froggies to subpar water conditions! Any and all help would be appreciated!

 

[cmbtengnr43]

Something must of caused a loss of nitrifying bacteria best thing to do is keep an eye on it everyday should go down on its own as bacteria re colonize maybe check your LFS for a supplement called prime which detoxifies nitrites until the bacteria can convert them. I have to add it with every water change because my well water naturally is high in nitrites for whatever reason. Hope this helps!

 

[Horsegirlmaddy]

Thanks! I do add the Nutrafin equivalent to Prime, called Cycle, which has the same purpose. I add it with the dechlorinator every time. Do a water change. Hopefully this will help. At least the frogs aren't showing any signs of distress- they're tough little buggers!

 

[cmbtengnr43]

Yea I work at petsmart and get this kind of problem all the time no real way to tell what causes it just gotta let the system balance out on its own be patient should be fine