Nitrite Spike

[floridalove]

Will a nitrite spike cause cloudy or murky water? I have 0ppm ammonia but 5 + ppm nitrites in my tank. ph at 7.2. would the fact that i have a nitrite spike make the water cloudier than normal?

thanks.

 

[tstenback]

You bet. It s called a bacteria bloom and it always happens during the high nitrite phase of the cycle. Its good. it is the creation of all the bactereia that you need and it is just floating around waiting for something to attach to( any surface in the tank or in the filter as it gets sucked through there. it should go away all by itself in a few days or so (depends on the level of ammonia that started it all. So it is normal and everything appears to be going fine. you should be able to measure your nitrates now as well. HTH

 

[floridalove]

Appreciate it, do you know approx. how long untill all the nitrites are gone at this point, also i do have a general hardness of 232.7ppm, i heard for a thriving community tank it should be between 50-100ppm is this correct and if so how can i bring the hardness of my water down.

 

[Bol]

Personally, I think your GH is probably fine. At least, you'll probably be in more trouble if you try to change it, than leave it alone.

For info, my GH is much higher (~340 ppm) and it doesn't seem to affect my community fish.

 

[floridalove]

oh ok, ill leave the water alone. thanks

 

[G_Sharky]

I would add nitro-zorb on your filter...It's like a carbon bag but it absorbs and eliminate nitrites, ammonia, and nitrates....It works really well for me, i used it in the last stage of my cycle right after the bacterial bloom....