Very high nitrite question.

T

Trex76us

AC Members
Sep 30, 2007
21
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0
Lewisville, Tx
I set my 55g tank up on November 29. I added some fish food to help with the cycle. I aslo cut the pad off a penguin filter cartrigde from a 30g tank we have set up and added to my one of my trays in my canister filter (XP3). I'm keeping the water temp about 80. On December 3th I added 2 pices if drift wood and a some plants. I test the water about every other day using API master freshwater kit. On the 5th the nitrites test was maxed out and has been this way for the last 4 days. I seen the ammonia get any higher then .25. Dose this seem right or is there any thing else that I should be doing?

water peramiters on 11/29/2007:
Ph 7.6
amm. .00
trite .00
trate 0-5.0

water peramiters on 12/2/2007:
Ph 7.2
amm. .25
trite .25
trate 0-5.0

water peramiters 12/5/2007 to now
Ph. 7.0
amm .25
trite 2.0-5.0
trate 0-5.0
 
Trex76us said:
I set my 55g tank up on November 29. I added some fish food to help with the cycle. I aslo cut the pad off a penguin filter cartrigde from a 30g tank we have set up and added to my one of my trays in my canister filter (XP3). I'm keeping the water temp about 80. On December 3th I added 2 pices if drift wood and a some plants. I test the water about every other day using API master freshwater kit. On the 5th the nitrites test was maxed out and has been this way for the last 4 days. I seen the ammonia get any higher then .25. Dose this seem right or is there any thing else that I should be doing?

water peramiters on 11/29/2007:
Ph 7.6
amm. .00
trite .00
trate 0-5.0

water peramiters on 12/2/2007:
Ph 7.2
amm. .25
trite .25
trate 0-5.0

water peramiters 12/5/2007 to now
Ph. 7.0
amm .25
trite 2.0-5.0
trate 0-5.0
Click to expand...

Ideally with the fishless cycle (Ithink I am right with this) you need to get your ammonia level up to 5ppm. This both stimulates the production of ammonia converting bacteria, and the production. A different type of bacteria is then produced to convert the nitrite to nitrate. As the ammnia bacteria grow in numbers, more and more ammonia gets converted and so you have the Nitrite 'spike'.

To be honest I dont understand how you can be having that spike without having a bigger ammonia level than you have had, although it could be that the presence of an old filter has seeded your new filter and so the ammonia hasn't had to increase so markedly. That's just my theory though.

I would keep adding fish food and try to get te ammonia up to about 2ppm. test it daily so you can keep an eye on what is happening.
 
It's possible that you just added too many fish at once- the seeded media method generally requires that you add a small bioload to start with and let the bio filter catch up. For whatever reason, your seeded media didn't do the trick and you are in the middle of a nitrite spike. This is normal in cycling tanks, but is very harmful to your fish. You need to change as much water as it takes to keep your ammo and nitrite under .25. The good news is, the nitrite spike means that your cycle is progressing and shouldn't take too much longer. Within a couple more weeks (probably), you'll see the nitrite drop off to 0, and the nitrate start to creep up. When ammo and nitrite remain at 0 and you see nitrate at 10-20 ppm, then the tank has cycled.

Until your tank cycles, cut back on feeding to every other day (your fish won't starve), do not change the filter media, and remember..... water changes, water changes, water changes! Good luck.:)
 
Ah, if not, then there's no problem. With no fish in the tank, all you have to do is sit back and wait.:)
 
montysmum said:
To be honest I dont understand how you can be having that spike without having a bigger ammonia level than you have had, although it could be that the presence of an old filter has seeded your new filter and so the ammonia hasn't had to increase so markedly. That's just my theory though.

I would keep adding fish food and try to get te ammonia up to about 2ppm. test it daily so you can keep an eye on what is happening.
Click to expand...

I don't understand that too. I was hoping to see the ammonia go up frist. I really don't think the the old filter seeded would do that much just for the ammonia but not for the trites. I found some pure ammonia at the $0.99 store I think I might used to bring the ammonia up with. I just would hate to have them both up really high at the same time.

And there is no fish in the tank yet.

I would love to hear what others have to say about this.
 
That's happened to me in the past. Nothing to worry about. There was one time that I seeded a 55 gallon with a couple of Biowheels and a few fish. I never registered any ammonia on my test kit, but saw a teensy nitrite spike on the 2nd day. By the 4th day the tank had cycled. You've used less bio media to seed, therefore your cycle is taking longer than mine did. All you need to do now is wait it out.:) You should be done soon.
 
If you use the ammonia, do not move it right up to 5 ppm. Put in enough for 2 or 3 ppm and test to make sure you didn't overdo it. If it comes right back down the next day, your ammonia eating bacteria are there and all you need to do is get the trite eating bacteria numbers up. It is likely you have both kinds because of the media you moved. You are just trying to get their numbers up enough to bring everything but the trates back to zero.
 
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