Weird nitrite problem

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nibynool

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
31
Location
Wiangaree, NSW, Australia
Hi everyone,
I've got an issue with nitrites, so here's a heap of info about my aquarium with the problem listed at the end.

Tank Description:
I have a 20 gallon tank. It's well on it's way to being heavily planted, it has more plants than an average planted tank, but isn't at the point were i'd add it to the 'heavily planted' section just yet. The tank has a 3-4mm gravel substrate with some 1-2mm substrate near the back where the majority of the plants are. The substrate is about an inch deep. Filtration on the tank is an external canister filter rated at 300gph. I have a pile of driftwood in each corner. Heating is taken care of by a 300W Hydor ETH inline heater on the filter return. The tank has DIY CO2 (which is running VERY slowly due to the current cold temperatures in Australia). I added some Osmocote ferts under the substrate. The aquarium has been cycled for around 5 weeks.

Current Stocking:
This aquarium currently has 21 Neon Tetras. For plants there is some Java Moss, Water Wisteria, Ambulia and Anubias.

The Problem:
My issue is that when I do a nitrite test at night the reading comes back extremely high, but in the morning it is always 0. I have done the test with both an API and a Hagen test kit. These fluctuations have only started occurring in the last week, approximately 1 week after adding the Osmocote, and around the time I added 10 Neon Tetras and the Java Moss.

Does anyone know what could be causing my nitrites to increase during the day?
 
are you sure your not mixing up your nitrite and nitrate tests ? because that would make no sense , is this a cycled tank ?
 
The tank is cycled and I'm 100% sure I haven't mixed the tests up. I am starting to wonder about the accuracy of my test kit(s) though, I'm hoping to have some money this weekend to replace them. I did another round of tests last night, using 3 different kits and got three completely different results.
 
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