Help!

[AJRenee]

My tank has been great, fish have been thriving since I got them in May, and literally just this week my nitrites have been super high! I have been doing partial water changes every day since, as it’s only a 20 call... and this may be off the subject, but water is also very hard (and always has been) but now the ph and kh are low) how do I fix this!? I’ve been feeding less and water changing more, adding prime and am guard! Do I do a bigger water change?

 

[hansgruber7]

That's strange. Did you do anything differently than usual recently? Was the tank fully cycled? I wonder if you had a cycle crash somehow by accidentally killing beneficial bacteria, which I think could cause a nitrite spike.

 

[FishBearer9845]

How do you wash your filter and other stuff in the tank? Have you removed or replaced anything recently?

 

[FishGuest5123]

How much are you feeding? Over feeding will cause nitrates to rise.

 

[AJRenee]

That's strange. Did you do anything differently than usual recently? Was the tank fully cycled? I wonder if you had a cycle crash somehow by accidentally killing beneficial bacteria, which I think could cause a nitrite spike.

Yes, it was fully cycled, and when I would test the water, the hardness of the water was always high, but the ph was at 7 and there were no nitrites and barely any nitrates, I must’ve done something wrong along the way, should I do a 50% water change? I’ve done several smaller water changes but now im
Worried!

 

[CrazyBettaLady]

Think about adding a small, easy plant like a moss ball to help keep nitrites down in the future. Add more bacteria to the tank to help get rid of high waste levels. pH/Hardness shouldn't be causing anything (says someone with a tank back home of pH 8.5-9 and hardness at max) besides helping lower your ammonia levels.

 

[FishGuest5123]

A water change won’t hurt and may help. Vacuum the substrate also.

 

[AJRenee]

How do you wash your filter and other stuff in the tank? Have you removed or replaced anything recently?

Honestly, I haven’t really taken the filter off yet to clean, I’ve only had the tank set up with the fish since May, I replaced the cartridge about 1 week ago, other than that I just wipe the glass and surfaces of the filter with the fiber cloth rag I have. When I clean the objects inside
The tank, I take them out and rinse under tap water wipe off and put back in. However I don’t do that every week, I do that every other week.

 

[FishGuest5123]

That’s it! You changed the cartridge and threw out a lot of your BB. Never change your cartridge. Only swish it in tank water. Most of my cartridges are over 2 years old. The manufacturers just want to sell more and make money when they tell you to change it. Most of your beneficial bacteria grows on those cartridges. As far as cleaning your tank, never remove your fish. This causes them stress. Use a syphon hose to vacuum the substrate and drain the tank about 70%. Wipe the sides and refill with dechlorinated tap water as close as possible to same temp as tank water.

edited

 

[AJRenee]

Think about adding a small, easy plant like a moss ball to help keep nitrites down in the future. Add more bacteria to the tank to help get rid of high waste levels. pH/Hardness shouldn't be causing anything (says someone with a tank back home of pH 8.5-9 and hardness at max) besides helping lower your ammonia levels.

Thank you, yeah I have a bottle of the bacteria stuff I can add, so I’ll do that and water change, but what about raising ph? Is there a safe effective way to do that? It’s literally acidic like at 5.8 and im worried it’s too low

 

[AJRenee]

That’s it! You changed the cartridge and threw out a lot of your BB. Never change your cartridge. Only swish it in tank water.

Oh really!? So just take it out and swish it in tank water then put it back in? Do I ever replace it? I just don’t want my fish to die

 

[AJRenee]

How much are you feeding? Over feeding will cause nitrates to rise.

I feed them
Usually two times a day and make sure they eat, I try to be good about getting leftovers out of any

 

[FishBearer9845]

Sponges will last for years, I just swish mine about once a month or so in the tank water in a bucket (water taken during water change)
Some people squish them like a kitchen sponge but I can't really say I do!

 

[FishGuest5123]

Oh really!? So just take it out and swish it in tank water then put it back in? Do I ever replace it? I just don’t want my fish to die

Only when it is literally falling apart. Your fish have a higher risk of issues with a new cartridge as you are seeing. Just swish it every 2 weeks in tank water when cleaning.

 

[hansgruber7]

I agree that changing out your cartridge probably caused a cycle crash and a nitrite spike. Your tank is probably recycling. You can probably change out one at a time if you have at least three or four, if they start getting too dirty or falling apart, but I definitely wouldn't exchange the whole cartridge because you will crash your beneficial bacteria.

On the PH,I'm not an expert, but you can buy Acid and Alkaline buffers from Seachem, which is what I have been doing. Others might disagree with that approach.