high NITRITE now.. wtf

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M

mrfuzz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 31, 2008
206
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Florida
Hi folks.


Previously I dosed my 75g with ammonia from ace hardware.. yes i did over dose by mistake. However, i resolved with a bunch of very large PWCs.. got it down to 4pm.

Had tank set to 82* F and dosed with SEACHEM STABILITY..

its been oh, over two(2) weeks now. And my NITRITES will NOT change or go to zero.

Upon dosing, ammonia dropped to 0-.25ppm later in the week, and i seen my Nitrites shoot up - off the charts.. performed small 25% PWC.. didnt move

Did another small water change the next day, it dropped a little.. i left it alone for next 2-3 days - and dosed with stability.

Now, last night, nitrites were still 3.0ppm... did a large PWC 35% plus. NITRITES are sitting at 1ppm this morning.

NOTE: Fish will be here today!... getting me very upset because water params were on the move.

It been over two(2) weeks now, and last night I finished the bottle of Stability.
Water params of this morning:

PH: 8.3
Ammonia: .25 (There is ammonia in my tap - treat with PRIME)
NITRITE: 1PPM
NITRATE: 20PPM

Also... maybe its to do with the city having to replace main water line @ my condo facility?? (they're doing that today)
 
Im going to mention that i somehow got pond snails in the 75.. a few not many - ive been picking them off as i see them.

I added some PA River rocks over two weeks ago, close to time of ammonia overdose.. I was unable to boil the large ones they wouldnt fit in pot.

So i rinsed in hot water, scrubbed and then soaked with vinegar and rinsed again.. The small ones i boiled. So as how the pond snails got into the tank - no clue!.

Pool Filter sand
PA river rocks
Designs by nature back ground.
Resin drift (small piece)


Could it be the GE Silicone leaching into the tank causing my NITRITE levels??... i let it cure for 24hours.
 
A cycled tank should have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites and some nitrates. What are the water paramaters coming out of your tap?
 
tap has ~.25-.50 or so of ammonia maybe more.... They are replacing main water line coming into condo facility today - maybe resolve my ammonia levels from city! .. doubtful though.

Added Some RO/DI water into tank last night too. (use RO/DI water for planted tank - 80 / 20 tap mix)


Im aware of where water needs to be, thats why i am bugging out. Tank was moving along fine and now its stuck with nitrite... when doing water changes my nitRATES are still there - so i do believe i have plenty of BB and its cycled.


Think a 75% water change will resolve?
 
if there are no fish in the tank, why are you doing water changes? you're just lengthening the cycle...
 
i have aquarium salt and plenty of prime.. my goal is to get NITRITE down to .25ppm.. and just dose w. prime & salt... and pwc day after.

suggestions.. ideas?

I must mention - last night on last PWC i rinsed the sponge out of my AC110 - thinking to remove any hanging nitrites / bacteria hanging on there that shouldnt be.

Running two filters - eheim 2217 & AC110

Should i pick-up another bottle of seachem prime - or some bio-spira?
 
r1dermon;4889859; said:
if there are no fish in the tank, why are you doing water changes? you're just lengthening the cycle...
Click to expand...

I agree. The beneficial bacteria should be removing ammonia and nitrites. Water changes should be done for nitrates.
 
I let tank sit for a week without water changes.. just started doing ~ two days ago to get the nitrite levels down - they were off the chart.

the BB converted so much ammonia and i tested nitrate and it was 40ppm previously (tested everything twice) to verify results.

i know, water changes are frowned upon during cycling process.

Although, tank has been running for almost a month now, previously it was running for 2 weeks with NO ammonia(was trying to use ammonia from source water) - i was dosing with Seachem stability.

From there, i added the ammonia and overdosed.. did very large water changes - got levels down to 4ppm and then the cycle began.. 3 days later ammonia was .25 and eventually zero... NITRITES were through the roof - off the charts.
 
I would slowly dose up a little salt if your Nitrites are high after adding your fish to help them not succumb to Nitrite poisoning...

Also you might want to consider just dosing with Prime over the next few days every day to make sure it's not volatile..
 
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