Nitrate Spike

[Russ84]

Just thought id share todays experience with you all so if it happens to you you know not to stress and panic like i did..........

Woke up this morning got dressed for work and headed out. Made the usual detour to my jar tank just to see how hes going. Water's murky jar is beathing fast and shallow with his mouth open and gasping for air!!! in went 3 air stones to bump up the oxygen and temp reduced. To early to do anything so off to work. 8 30am when the fish shop next door to my work opened i rush over with a water sample and a story. Once i say gasping for air the guy goes "nitrate poisoning mate" water tested and confirmed. After a short chat we came down to the conclusion that after a 1hour black out on saturday the good bacteria in the 2 external filters and died causing the nitrate spike.
Anyhow went back to work told the boss i was taking lunch early then rushed off home, did a 30% water change added AmmoLock with plently of airation added to the water. With the directions to moniter and do another 30% on the weekend i was feeling better. My Jar was already breathing better.
Just got back from work then. Jar looks great. Back to his terrible self
So there you go, hope this helps others
See ya

 

[TMDragon]

Yeah normally to be safe, during power outages, I dump all the water in my canister filters and just keep the filter media damp with some paper towels soaked in tank water.

Since canisters are completely sealed, no air can reach your beneficial bacteria and with the water stagnant, they can't pull any from the water once they've used it all up. Some bacteria will slowly start to die off due to the lack of oxygen after about an hour or so and anaerobic bacteria will start to grow. Keep in mind though it normally takes a bit longer than an hour to deplete your entire bio-media and cause a spike of any kind, but I guess you can never be too sure. Anyway, once the power comes back you are basically dumping poison into your tank. If canisters are your only source of bio-media, this will be a huge problem.

This is why to be safe I dump my canister water during power outages. It's not mandatory though, I've known people who have gone 3-5 hours without electricity and done nothing, and their tanks come out fine, but I'd rather play it safe. Also if you only have canister filters, I would invest in a good sponge filter. Relatively cheap and provides some nice backup bio-media.

 

[jay17]

good for you.. you have many informative people around you.. other people are not so lucky.. but that is why the MFK exists.. the whole world is your neighbor.. glad to have read your thread.. will be added to my knowledge bank.. lol

 

[Bderick67]

Would be good to know the difference between, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Nitrate poisoning happens over a long period of time and is the result of not changing your water on a regular basis.