what should I do?? how much water should I change

[sonnytree23]

I did a 30% water change this mourning because my nitrite wss high and now I tested 2 hours later and my levels are a lot lower my nitrite went from 2.0 to .25 my ammonia is .25 my ph 7.5 7.6 MY nitrate is 5.0 should I do another water change?

 

[Convict2161]

I did a 30% water change this mourning because my nitrite wss high and now I tested 2 hours later and my levels are a lot lower my nitrite went from 2.0 to .25 my ammonia is .25 my ph 7.5 7.6 MY nitrate is 5.0 should I do another water change?

Yeah do another water change. You can do a 50% water change. That should help get your levels to a more manageable level

 

[sonnytree23]

Okay a 50% cant I do another 30% then see what there at then do another 30% if the levels didnt go down

 

[ztigris]

I would do another 50% with RO water. You're tap water maybe coming in with those spikes.

 

[sonnytree23]

Im using prime dechloranater

 

[blert]

Don't do a 50% change with RO unless you are reconstituting it with minerals and matching the tank pH. Doing straight RO will cause a huge shift in water chemistry.

Run all tests on the tank again. You can't drop nitrite from 2.0 to .25 with a 30% PWC, the math just doesn't work. At best that would bring it down to 1.33ppm. It would take three 50% changes to make that drop (or a >75%).

Run all tests on your source water to see what is the lowest it could possibly be. There can be all three toxins in city tap water, or there may be none, you won't know until you test.

If you are using a good water conditioner that temporarily detoxifies ammonia and nitrite then .25ppm is nothing to worry about. Just keep an eye on things at least twice a day and change water as needed based on the test results and the test results of your source water.

 

[sonnytree23]

Okay thanks a lot man

 

[Convict2161]

You don't need RO water unless your tap water is the issue. If your tap checks out then you can do a 50% water change and add Prime for water taken out. I do a 50% water change once a month and 20-25% waters all other times. Water changes are done every Saturday.


I don't add anything other then Prime. I do however have a bag if crushed coral to help buffer my water. My tap water pH is really low, like 6.0.

 

[ztigris]

I recommend the ro water because if your tap contains your spikes (city changed something in the chemicals) then a water change with the same water will do good. I wouldnt worry about it not having enough minerals unless you are living with soft water. And in that case you probably ought to be adding minerals any way. Personally I live with liquid rock. All of my water changes are 50% ro and every two months I add 5 gallons of tap. 55 gallon tank. My fish and flora are happily growing and thriving and are never stressed after water changes.