Am I Headin In The Right Direction

[This Old Spouse]

Check that snail with a little poke to see if it moves. If it doesn't and it's not upright, it's likely dead, and that will cause an ammonia, therefore nitrite spike. They're really nasty when they die.
 
Also, without rereading this whole post, have you checked the levels of the tap water you're using?

 

[snowfam]

Check that snail with a little poke to see if it moves. If it doesn't and it's not upright, it's likely dead, and that will cause an ammonia, therefore nitrite spike. They're really nasty when they die.
 
Also, without rereading this whole post, have you checked the levels of the tap water you're using?

 
 
i  checked the levels a while back, like 3 weeks ago, found some nitrates in there but no ammonia, you got me curious to check them now though
 
amd yes hes dead.. he didnt move when i poked him

 

[Chad]

Snails are awful when they die...just the biggest mess in the world...it's almost like they are composed of nothing but ammonia!

 

[snowfam]

i just tested the TAP water and is as follows
 
Ammonia - 0 ppm
 
NitrItes - .25 ppm
 
NitrAtes - 20 ppm

 

[This Old Spouse]

Get the snail out if you haven't already, then another big water change, I'm afraid.

 

[snowfam]

Snails are awful when they die...just the biggest mess in the world...it's almost like they are composed of nothing but ammonia!

had 2 snails die in last 4 days and surprisingly the ammonia has been low its the nitrItes and  NitrAtes that are spiked... they seemed to die after the water changes

 

Get the snail out if you haven't already, then another big water change, I'm afraid.

 
i just did a water change 2 hours ago, took the snail out 1 hour ago. Should i still do another or wait till tomorrow?
 
scratch that we took him out before the water change, wife just corrected me

 

[This Old Spouse]

It sounds like your A-bacs are doing well, but your N-bacs haven't colonized quite yet, and it's the nitrites that are killing things off. 

 

[snowfam]

so correct me if im wrong, but a few weeks ago both ammonia and nitrites were high, now the ammonia seems to be around 0 ppm and the nitrItes and nitrAtes higher than before,,, does this mean that my cycle is back on,  track..... or on its way to being on track to be fully cycled
 
 ammonia up then down, then when ammonia goes down nitrites spike then drop then nitrAtes spike n drop right?
 that seem to be my situation right now

 

[This Old Spouse]

That sounds about right. 

 

[the_lock_man]

I can't remember which fish you've got, but assuming you've got ones which aren't badly intolerant of salt, you can add about 2 grammes (about 0.1oz) of salt to your tank, it will help stop the toxicity of the nitrite.

 

[fluttermoth]

 ammonia up then down, then when ammonia goes down nitrites spike then drop then nitrAtes spike n drop right?

That's right, except you won't get a drop in nitrate (there aren't any bacteria in freshwater that eat nitrate). That just builds up until you reduce it with water changes.
 
Whether you need to do another water change now depends entirely on the numbers from your tests; if the nitrite isn't zero then, yes, you need to do another one.