Nitrite's gone through the roof

[jayB]

I have been carrying out a fishless cycle of a new secondary tank (11gal) and after 7 weeks I am getting the perfect ph reading, slightly high nitrate, but "OFF THE SCALE" nitrite levels

As the tank has yet to have any fish introduced, I am bemused as to how this can be ??

I have tried regular (Tap safe/Safe Water) water changes and have tried adding Stress Zyme to the tank - All of which seem to be doing nothing to help !!

Anyone got any ideas for an eager beginner ?

I set up a 30gal tank last year with no problems at all but this is now getting a little over crowded with aggressive male gourami's which need splitting - hence the new tank along side, BUT with the nitrate levels I am getting - will I ever be able to rehome the other tank fish or will I have to drain the tank and start again rom scratch. (7 weeks down the drain - so to speak)

Any help would be most welcome

Cheers

JayB

 

[BobTheDog]

Normal cycling pattern is spike in ammonia, then it will start to fall and nitrite will start to rise. Ammonia will reach zero and at some point, nitrite will start to fall and nitrate will start to rise. Sounds to me like you are in the high nitrite phase. It should start to fall off as the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate take hold and multiply. How long has your nitrite level been elevated?

 

[Magnar]

All perfectly normal as posted above. The high nitrite spike is the first stage of the nitrogen cycle. Bateria have broken down the ammonia into nitrites. Now a different set of bateria will break down the nitrite into nitrates. This is removed by regular water changes although any real palnts will use this nitrate as well (think of the nitrate fertiliser used on land plants). You're nitrite readings will start to drop soon.

 

[Jo]

Yep...completely natural, have just been helping a friend through cycling his tank and he was having to dilute the tank water with 4 parts tap water and STILL getting a reading off the scale, but then the levels dropped, almost overnight, so hang in there, you're nearly done!

 

[jayB]

thanx for the help guys - I guess I am just being impaitent but the first tank didnt seem to take this long ? Maybe being a smaller tank has something to do with it ??

Bob - The nitrite has been high (10 - 15 mg/lt at present) for about 4 weeks now ?


I thought that fish waste was the main cause for nitrite / nitrate problems but as yet have not had any fish near the place ??

I will continue to wait till the levels drop - hopefully soon ? "how long is normal though" I think the first tank took about 4 weeks only to be fine and never saw levels this high.

One thing I was thinking of

The bigger tank has two well established filters nd the new (problem) tank has just the one - (all the same type/model) Would it be worth swapping the new filer in the smaller tank for one of the older ones in the tank that is fine ??

Just a thought but maybe thay have already got a strong bacteria presence ??

What do you think?? or should I just chill and wait for things to take place naturally ?

Thanks for the help so far - Heres hoping you all have a Mery Christmas


JayB

 

[BobTheDog]

Hey Jay, someone with more experience will probably need to speak to this but 4 weeks sounds like too long to me. My nitrite spike lasted about 2 weeks. I seem to remember reading that the bacteria which process nitrite to nitrate can't live in the presence of high levels of ammonia. What is your ammonia reading? I haven't done a fishless cycle yet, but I read about it and you are supposed to drop the amount of ammonia you are adding at some point. Did you do this?

As far as nitrite/nitrate, they are the results of bacteria breaking down ammonia. It doesn't matter what the source - fish, chemical additive,etc - if there is ammonia in the tank and the proper bacteria are present, you will get nitrite.

I'm not sure about swapping the new filter for an established filter. On the one hand, the established filter would definitely speed up the cycle, however I would be worried about decreasing the bio-filter on your established tank to the point that you throw it into a mini-cycle . Anyone out there with more experience have thoughts on this?

Also, for future reference, if you already have an established tank, you can run a new filter on it(along with the existing filtration) for a week or two to establish the bacteria needed for the nitrogen cycle. Once this is complete, you basically have a filter ready for a new aquarium which at most would need just a mini-cycle.

Hope all this helps!

 

[NeilP]

Swopping one of the filters from your mature tank with the filter form the new tank will definately help.

 

[Tolak]

I took some media from a cycled canister filter and put it in a new canister that I set up on a 20 long. It cycled in 8 days, on the fourth day there was a big nitrite spike that lasted for 2 days, then went down to zero. It just took a small handful added to the new media, and really surprised me, as this was the first tank that I cycled fishless. I waited one more week, adding ammo daily, and every night the ammo, & nitrites were zero, with increasing nitrates. At the end of the second week I did a 75% water change and added 6 zebra danios. The tank has been fine ever since.

Tolak