Ammonia & Nitrite Spike

[ger87410]

If your nitrates are high enough it's not uncommon for bacteria blooms to arise in the water and cloud it up. Ammonia, I read somewhere, stops the bubbles from popping as quickly. Also, new tanks have this problem.

 

[GP]

OK thanks.. I'll just stick to daily water changes then...

 

[GP]

OK guys, these readings of mine look a little drastic, so I wanted to post my parameters to see if they seem normal for a overall spike..

Nitrite-off chart
Nitrate- 42ppm
Ammonia- 5.0
Alkalinity- 0ppm
pH-6.1
Hardness- 120ppm

pH kind of scares me, the N's and Ammonia to me just sound like the cycle spike. Could the pH be off because of my Hardness?

 

[GP]

bump

 

[luxum]

Don't worry about the Ph and hardness right now, do more water changes to get the ammonia and nitrite down, those levels are toxic.

 

[GP]

but is that part of the cycle? I'm using reverse osmosis water in my tank, and the guy at petco said that's why my alk is so low.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Ammonia and nitrite at those levels are downright deadly. Forget the cycle, water changes must be done to save the fish's life.

P.T.

 

[ger87410]

Having a low alkalinity will cause your ph to be unstable and frequently "dip" into the lower regions of ph. If you want to have a sustained ph of around 7.0, U want you alkalinity and hardness to be in the middle regions. Raise your alkalinity by finding a source of alkaline water. Sea shells also raise alkalinity. Raise or lower your hardness by finding a source of hard or soft water. IMO try to never use chemicals unless you're treating something. Keep doing daily, sometimes twice daily if your toxin levels are high enough, water changes or your fish might die. Make sure that the water you are using to replace the old water doesn't have any toxins in it.

 

[jvis0606]

What does it mean when you turn a tank "brakish"?

 

[GP]

What does it mean when you turn a tank "brakish"?

changing subject, but its turning it into a light salt water tank..

Anyway, I'm going to test the results in a little bit to see whats going on...

 

[GP]

OK guys, i've been doing daily water changes and still there hasn't been any changes in the nitrite levels. Ammonia is still very high. I've been doing water changes and vacuuming, should I stop vacuuming and just swap water? I've been feeding the fish less too...

 

[ger87410]

How big is your daily water changes? If it's more then 25% you MAY be taking out too much nitrite. If you got another tank that's already cycled, take the decorations and some gravel and throw the gravel in the filter and the decorations in the tank to tremendously speed up the cycling process. That's what I've always done. I heard that the nitrite spike last for like forever, but I don't know cuz I've always used the method stated above.

 

[luxum]

I'm using reverse osmosis water in my tank, and the guy at petco said that's why my alk is so low.

RO water should not be used on it's own due it's lack of buffers, it should be mixed with either tap water or a commercial buffering product.

Cut back on the feeding to minimal levels so you don't need to vacuum the gravel and for the moment stop gravel vaccing beyond just getting up anything on the surface of the gravel. Once the tank is established go back to vacuuming as normal.

What are the exact ammonia and nitrite levels in your tank at the moment?

 

[GP]

nitrite is off chart and ammonia is about 5.0 Yea, really high. And yea I have been doing about 25% water changes daily... I'll cut back to about 10%

 

[luxum]

DO NOT cut back on water changes at this point, those levels are extremely toxic, and your fish will soon be very dead. If anything, you should do more frequent changes to get those levels down.