Something Isn't Right...

DanaLeChiffre · Mar 11, 2009

Shalom,

I just did a water change and heres what I have:

Ammonia - 0
NitrAte - 10
NitrIte - 1.0
pH - 7.0

Something is wrong right?

lil-x-me...x · Mar 11, 2009

what makes you think something isnt right? im not totally 100% on this stuff as i havent used one in ages...

what i do no is, strips arnt very accurate and could say that there is a problem when there isnt...have you got test strips?

x

tom16 · Mar 11, 2009

Your nititre is high it needs to be 0.

dcarmor927 · Mar 11, 2009

^^ i agree,

can you give more info?
what size tank, was the tank cycled? I would like to assume yes, but you never know

Have you added any fish recently, the bacteria could be adjusting to the new load

DanaLeChiffre · Mar 11, 2009

lil-x-me...x said:
what makes you think something isnt right? im not totally 100% on this stuff as i havent used one in ages...

what i do no is, strips arnt very accurate and could say that there is a problem when there isnt...have you got test strips?

x

Not strips, Test tubes... API

I added 5 Cherry Barbs on Monday. You think the filters are just getting used to the load the levels will go down??

240 Litres

fatheadminnow · Mar 11, 2009

Make sure there is no other sources of ammonia in the tank, i.e. left over food/dead fish, added fish recently.

The bacteria that break down ammonia can multiply quicker than the bacterial that beak down nitrite.

So if you have excess ammonia in your tank, the ammonia would drop really quick to zero, while the nitrite will not, hence, leaving you with a nitrite spike.

Need to know: When was the tank cycled, and how long has it been sense it has been cycled? Test kit?

-FHM

cooldude · Mar 11, 2009

If possible return fish to fish store and complete the fishless cycle.

See how I cycled my tank.

http

/aquarium-setup.blogspot.com/

waterdrop · Mar 12, 2009

I think I remember that Dana was cycled ok. I think 5 barbs is a pretty large all-at-once addition and that its the adjustment mini-spike we're seeing. Its the nitrite part of the spike, as FHM says, because the N-Bacs are slower to adjust and because each 1ppm of ammonia will be processed into 2.7ppm of NO2 by the A-Bacs, so the N-Bacs have more of an adjustment to make.

As always when you see any traces of ammonia or nitrite, water changes and testing are in order and should get you through just fine, as the adjustment should take place within a few days.

~~waterdrop~~

Miss Wiggle · Mar 12, 2009

yup the 5ppm of ammonia that we cycle with is usually considered a safe bet for the max amount your first load of fish will produce, however it;s not an exact science, sometimes they'll be producing 6ppm or whatever and you get a little blip in teh first few weeks of the cycle whic is what you seem to have here.

do large water changes to reduce it to 0.25ppm of ntirite absolute max, then keep testing and water changingin over the next few days to keep ti there, it should drop back down to 0 of it's own accord in a few days. :good: