Nitrite

[empirekevin]

I have a FW tank about 2 months in, amonia levels have been high, LFS advised Ammonia Lock. Used it once, thought about it after using it, well...too late now. Been doing 20% changes a week. Nitrate and Nitrites have been non existent.

Did a 40% change Friday to help get rid of the Ammonia and then checked the water. Nitrates around 50 and Nitrites off the strip. Changed my filter pad but did not disturb the media

Doing 2 a day changes now. going to change my conditioner to Seachem Prime after reading some posts. I believe I have read that I should get some bacteria in the tank. If this is true, what is the best kind I can get from Petco so I can implement this ASAP.

Also, any other advice.

 

[Convict2161]

I have a FW tank about 2 months in, amonia levels have been high, LFS advised Ammonia Lock. Used it once, thought about it after using it, well...too late now. Been doing 20% changes a week. Nitrate and Nitrites have been non existent.

Did a 40% change Friday to help get rid of the Ammonia and then checked the water. Nitrates around 50 and Nitrites off the strip. Changed my filter pad but did not disturb the media

Doing 2 a day changes now. going to change my conditioner to Seachem Prime after reading some posts. I believe I have read that I should get some bacteria in the tank. If this is true, what is the best kind I can get from Petco so I can implement this ASAP.

Also, any other advice.

So you replaced the filter? Did you keep the old one to seed the new one? You don't wanna replace your filter until its falling apart in your hands literally.

Was your tank cycled? Do you have live stock in it?

I wouldn't use chemicals other then Prime, ammonia lock will only mask the problem. Not resolve the problem.

 

[librarygirl]

What size tank and what fish do you have? What filter?

Bacteria is probably already in there, just not enough to keep the levels down yet. After two months though it should be about cycled by now so I'm suspecting that you're overstocked and/or underfiltered.

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? If not do so, to see where you're starting from. Your nitrates are pretty high as well. Are you continuously changing out filter media? That can prolong things as well; generally you want to leave it alone.

Chemicals aren't really the answer; larger more frequent water changes are. And tank size/stocking info will help along with testing your tap water and letting us know the results.

Here's a guide if you haven't seen it: https://www.aquariumadvice.com/arti...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[empirekevin]

I did not "seed" the new filter. I am not familiar with that however I did not disturb the media. I had read that there may be a spike in "N" due to clogging in the filter or solid mass decay so I just threw in a new filter pad (non carbon)

I have a 36G tank with a Ecco 60G canister.

I have about 25 tetras in it so it is a high pop tank but with that filer I understood that I could do that.

I believe the cycling was delayed do to the oversized filer, ammonia lock and that when the tank started I received Ich fish so I did alot of FWC.

Tap water is soft with no issues.

One question I do have about the FWC. When I use my python to clean the gravel, should I just hover over the gravel or go deep to the bottom of the tank? The way I do it now is I go deep to the bottom of the tank on 1/3rd of the tank and dont even move the fake coral that is in there taking up 1/2 of the tank.

 

[librarygirl]

Water changes and an oversized filter wouldn't delay the cycling. Sounds like you're in the nitrite phase, which is normal in a new cycling tank. You just want to do extra water changes to keep the nitrite levels as low as you can until the cycle completes. If nitrate is 40+ and your tap water doesn't have nitrate then it could be an issue of overfeeding. Yes when siphoning the gravel you want to put the siphon into the gravel so the gravel starts to move upwards into the siphon; the gravel itself won't get sucked into the siphon but the waste, etc will.

 

[empirekevin]

Should I add bacteria?

I feed once a day at night, one pinch. Also blood worms once a week. Prepack cube.

Did I do the opposite of the right thing by replacing the filter pad?

 

[empirekevin]

OK, I just did a 33% change and went with the Prime. I also added Microbe-Lift Nite-out 2 and API Stress Zyme+

 

[Wroberson]

I have to suggest a Pura filter pad. It's designed for phosphate removal, but it also removes heavy metals and ammonia. Lowering the ammonia should reduce the amount of nitrite created. I know when I used it within 48 hours both the ammonia and nitrite were gone and the phosphate was reduced 90%.

There's also an ammonia filter pad. I've not tested it. While pads and stuff remove the "dirt" in question, it's always better to get the biological system balanced so that There's enough bacteria to remove each set of dirt, ammonia and nitrite.

One cut to fit pad will only last about 6 weeks, but it does what it's advertised to do.

 

[bkiggy]

Colonize and Stability are the best bacteria

 

[empirekevin]

I guess my tank was cycling. I thought it was past that point but as I am a noob, what do I know!

For the first time in a month my ammonia level shows ideal. I think that the amonia lock products should be scrubbed from the shelves since all that is really needed is PWC.

Thanks to the advice of this forum, my nitrites have dropped from over 10ppm to 5ppm this morning. I guess the next phase is NitrAtes. Once I have the ammonia and NitrItes at a good level, will the NitrAte spike be marginal?

What can I expect over the next 2 weeks. I had a 2 week trip scheduled for this friday but am considereing scratching that because of the uncertanty of the tank condition. Thoughts?