Hey all, just tested my tank and it has maybe .25-.5 ppm of nitrite! not sure how. I dosed twice with prime and am not sure the cause or what to do. In the tank i have 2 angel fish, its a 29 gal. there are also a handful of MTS.... any ideas? i have not changed the filter recently. Should i do a quick PWC? thanks
nitrite spike! help!!
- Thread starter patola_l
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jsoong
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Water changes to get rid of the nitrites is always a good idea. prime will help but is temporary (it lasts ~ 24 hrs, so you need to dose daily for continued protection.)
You need to get to the root cause of the spike. Looking at this logically:
1. Did the biofilter died for any reason & you are seeing a mini-cycle - say a power outage (pads get dried or anaerobic), temp swing, a big pwc without dechlorinator, contamination of the tank with soap or other chemicals ....
2. Did the bioload increased & the filter is now catching up - eg someone dumped a bunch of fish food in the tank, something died & is rotting (not just the fish, look for the snails, plants, etc.) Doing a good gravel vac to remove gunk is a good start in removing some of the bioload, of course, remove anything that is dead.
3. Is this a test error? Nitrite & nitrate tests are tricky, and also cross react (ie high nitrate will show up as nitrite & vise versa). Before panicking, it might be good to test some tap water to make sure you are reading zero. (Kits can get bad.), and also test for other parameters to get a clue as to what is going on.
if you truly have nitrites, then a mini-cycle is happening. I am one for going back to basics & just do water changes until the filter catches up. Although using a binder (Prime) or adding salt to protect fish are alternatives.
You need to get to the root cause of the spike. Looking at this logically:
1. Did the biofilter died for any reason & you are seeing a mini-cycle - say a power outage (pads get dried or anaerobic), temp swing, a big pwc without dechlorinator, contamination of the tank with soap or other chemicals ....
2. Did the bioload increased & the filter is now catching up - eg someone dumped a bunch of fish food in the tank, something died & is rotting (not just the fish, look for the snails, plants, etc.) Doing a good gravel vac to remove gunk is a good start in removing some of the bioload, of course, remove anything that is dead.
3. Is this a test error? Nitrite & nitrate tests are tricky, and also cross react (ie high nitrate will show up as nitrite & vise versa). Before panicking, it might be good to test some tap water to make sure you are reading zero. (Kits can get bad.), and also test for other parameters to get a clue as to what is going on.
if you truly have nitrites, then a mini-cycle is happening. I am one for going back to basics & just do water changes until the filter catches up. Although using a binder (Prime) or adding salt to protect fish are alternatives.
I know it was not a power outage, temp swing, pwc without dechlorinator, or chemicals, or the pads drying for sure.... bioload may have increase...but i doubt it....i trust the tests, as i am using 2 and am getting the same results... i just did a 50% WC, and added prime to the new water before adding it. before i did that i tested the water. i get 0ppm ammonia(the yellow/light green look quite similar to me...but testing it with purified water it looks to be 0), nitrite i am getting- 1ppm, and nitrate i am getting 10 ppm. I added double prime after the PWC to help with the nitrite, i will test again in the morning before class, and do another 50% PWC tomorrow evening.
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