Nitrite Spike After Stocking

[mattlee]

Ok, did another 70% or more water change and we're reading 0 ppm.

Whew. I'll keep monitoring the parameters closely, though.

well done give it 12 or 24 hours and test again if any signs of nitrite then you know what to do..... just remember if it reads 0.25 then a 50% change will/should be enough to dilute and rid any toxins, a reading higher than 0.25 and a bigger change is required but try 50% leave it an hour then take it from there.

i hope you still had chance to go for your dinner.......! fish keeping can be time consuming some times but you have done the right thing and probably saved your new fish. well done

let us know if you have any more probs.

Matt.

 

[nork]

Thanks for the help!

I tested before I went to dinner, if only just to put my mind at ease a bit while I ate, and it was about 10-15 after the last water change and it read appx 0 ppm. Tested when we got home and the test tube color was baby blue, but just slightly darker than the baby blue on the test results card, so it appears it's not quite 0 ppm, but much closer to 0 than it is .25.

I'm testing again when I get home from work and see where they are then.

 

[mattlee]

Thanks for the help!

I tested before I went to dinner, if only just to put my mind at ease a bit while I ate, and it was about 10-15 after the last water change and it read appx 0 ppm. Tested when we got home and the test tube color was baby blue, but just slightly darker than the baby blue on the test results card, so it appears it's not quite 0 ppm, but much closer to 0 than it is .25.

I'm testing again when I get home from work and see where they are then.

good work Nork, your fish will thank you for it mate

if its not quite the right blue then just do a small water change and this should put it right. keep your eye on it for a few days and test dailly until your happy with the results, then just test weekly until the 0'S are permanent.

even with a fishless cycle you still have to be carefull when adding stock as the bacteria is still new and not mature enough to handle such big bioloads at once. if you add more fish then just add 2 or so at a time and check the water stats for a few days after. also plecs are massive waste producers so adding 2 at once may have been the downfall.... i would give it a couple of weeks to let the tank settle and catch up with its self before adding anything else

good luck,
Matt

 

[nork]

Today's test reveals ammonia levels at 0 ppm, and nitrites at somewhere between .25-.5 ppm. The test tube showed a pastel purple, so I'm putting it somewhere between those two colors.

Another partial water change it is!

 

[mattlee]

Today's test reveals ammonia levels at 0 ppm, and nitrites at somewhere between .25-.5 ppm. The test tube showed a pastel purple, so I'm putting it somewhere between those two colors.

Another partial water change it is!

i would go for a 50% change, wait an hour and re-test.

are you getting nitrates when you test the water?

also what are the nitrates from the tap water?

 

[nork]

Full test kit readings on tank water are:

Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - .25-.5 ppm appx
Nitrate - 5.0
pH - 8.2

Nitrates in un-treated tap water is: 0 ppm

The tank water today is a bit milky looking. As you can see from my video in my diary thread, it's been crystal clear up until today.

 

[waterdrop]

Getting a bit of a bacterial bloom then. That will probably be because the cichlids are such high waste producers, plus they are young and growing. You've got the idea on the water changes though so just keep up the good work.

It sure is unfortunate that the fishless cycled acted the way it did and gave all the right signs that it was one of the fast 3 week ones. Makes me want to be even more skeptical of 3 week ones, especially since so very many of ours take 70 to 80 days!

~~waterdrop~~
edit: spelling

 

[nork]

So at this point I basically daily water changes until everything is settled?

The bacteria bloom, is it a good thing or bad thing?

 

[waterdrop]

The bacterial bloom is just an observation, neither good nor bad. If, years later in your established tank you suddenly see a bacterial bloom then you should consider it bad except for the fact that maybe it has alerted you to a problem you were not aware of.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[nork]

Ah, ok.

So for now, just keep up the daily water changes? Should I do more than daily water changes? WCs every couple of days?

Right now I'm going to test every evening after work and do the necessary water change to reach 0 ppm until this is under control. Is this too often or not enough?

 

[waterdrop]

We can all guess at what size and whether they need to be daily but no one can really tell you that but yourself. You have to be a bit of a detective and figure out, based on you looking at your logged results over days, what percentage and frequency of water changes are keeping both ammonia and nitrite just below 0.25ppm at the max before you can be back home and change water again if necessary.

So the pattern that develops is this: You do some size of water change that (20min later when you test) puts the trace down close to zero or looking like zero. Then 12 hours goes by and you test again. If it still looks like zero then your water change might have been bigger than you needed. If its right coming up on 0.25 color then you're just about right assuming you can stand another change at 12 hours (!) or if its over 0.25 then you know right off that your percentage and/or frequency need to increase.

Over time its going to get harder and harder to see those traces and when you go two full days with no water change and double zeros the whole time then you know you've probably reached the end, but watch it for another week before laying off the testing or certainly before adding another fish.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[nork]

24 hour test shows better, but not perfect results.

Nitrites at .25 ppm, hopefully this downward trend continues.

I've been going light on the feeding these first couple of days, hope these guys aren't getting too hungry.

 

[mattlee]

your fish will be fine on a bit of a diet, dont worry

 

[nork]

Testing nitrites today brought back a lavender color, which I would guess is about .125 ppm.

My acei is swimming around the tank now, the swelling appears to be going down slightly, but it's got a good portion of white discoloration around its left pectoral fin.

 

[mattlee]

the water changes should help sort this out.

Testing nitrites today brought back a lavender color, which I would guess is about .125 ppm.

My acei is swimming around the tank now, the swelling appears to be going down slightly, but it's got a good portion of white discoloration around its left pectoral fin.

just re read the topic and cant find anything about swelling to the fish....

what happened mate?