Is This What Is Happening?

[kcharley]

Hi all.

Please help me understand what is happening

The short version

- Nitrites before water change last night 0
- Nitrites this afternoon .5
- Nitrites this evening .25

- Nitrate before water change 40
- Nitrate this afternoon 20

- Ammonia before water change .25
- Ammonia this afternoon 0

Testing done with an API Fresh Water Master Test Kit.

I got carried away, changed 60% of the water and really vacuumed the gravel. New water treated with Prime.

It's a 20g long tank that has been up 2.5 months that I just got cycled.
(I'm a newb. I'm a guy. I read directions after I'm lost or put it together wrong. )


I'm perplexed that nitrities went from 0 to .5 with a water change.

I'm guessing it may be a combination of three things.
- My aggressive gravel cleaning may have cost me some of newly established bacteria.
- The combination of the large water change and my tap water having ammonia, converted to ammonium by the
Prime, overwhelmed my newly established bacteria.
- Water temp increase of 6 degrees (we turned on the furnace this morning and I nudged the heater a little bit last night),
sped the decay process overwhelming my bacteria.

As the nitrites are now down to .25, I'm guessing I'm okay.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Thank you.

 

[Corleone]

My guess would be the aggressive gravel cleaning, though not in the way you think (Unless you have an undergravel filter). Disturbing the substrate can dig up deeply buried muck. Even in mature tanks, moving a lot of decoration or plants around can cause a minor ammonia spike.

 

[kcharley]

My guess would be the aggressive gravel cleaning, though not in the way you think (Unless you have an undergravel filter). Disturbing the substrate can dig up deeply buried muck. Even in mature tanks, moving a lot of decoration or plants around can cause a minor ammonia spike.

Thanks Corleone,

Nitrite and Ammonia are both at zero this morning.

I'll go easier on the cleaning and see what happens next week.