Nitrite spike...Ammonia 0 Allivymar help!! :)

[stew]

My tank finished cycling a few weeks ago so I added some new fish and noticed the normal mini-cycle that occurs amonia levels dropped to 0 and have stayed there for 2 days since the last water change but nitrites spiked to .8 (which is why i changed the water). After I changed it it read .3 (about a 20% change) 2 days later its back to .8 again!

I will keep changing the water dailey, but is this normal, and more importantly will it drop?! The ahgen kit says that ove .3 can be hazardous to the fish so i'm a little worried about them if it continues. Anything I can do to help stabilize the tank?

Thanks!

 

[Allivymar]

Its not a huge surprise; the bacteria that work on nitrites take longer to get up to speed then the ones that chow down on ammonia.

Keep up the water changes, but you can also add some salt. Salt is THE treatment for nitrite poisoning; the chloride ions keep the nitrite from blocking the oxygen/CO2 exchange in the gills. Doesn't take much; a teaspoon or so should do it for your tank, and your guys can certainly handle it! You may even have salt in the tank already, as mollys really appreciate it. If so, thats probably whats keeping the higher nitrite levels from being a problem *grin*

 

[seranko]

:? Will daily water changes slow down the cycle process ??? By adding bacteria (cycle or something like that) the first step, ammonia to nitrite, was really fast. Is there something that I can add to my tank to accelerate the nitrite to nitrate cycle ???

Thanks

 

[stew]

Thanks Allivymar! I already have salt in the tank, I had no idea that it helped reduce nitrite toxicity, very cool! I only have 1 TBS per 6 gallons or so, should I add more or is that doing the job OK?

I'll keep changing the water to keep it under .3 and hope that those bacteria catch up. This is the 1st time i've seen a radical spike in any levels in only a few hours, kinda freeked me out. I dunno what i'd do without your guidance! Me and My Mollies (and tetras) thank you!

Seranko: Cycle didn't seem to do much of anything for me, do a serach on bio-spira, apperanly that baceria in a bottle really speeds things up.