the mystery of the missing nitrite!!

[esoxlucius]

So, if you read my recent thread on the demise of my albino tinfoil barb you'll also know that I was planning on getting some clown loach to take its place.

I was going to leave it a few weeks before I actually got them but I went to my LFS on Thursday, not planning to get them, just to price them up along with a small tank/stand to quarantine them in.

Anyway, you know how it goes. The clown loach, which are usually around £10 a fish, i'm talking one and a half inch here, were going for £5 each. I also saw a small 14g tank with a stand which I got cheap because one of the hinges on the stand door was broken. So I left the shop with tank, stand and 10 clown loach!

I set it all up and seeded the filter (a resun magi 700) with mature media from my 180. I also threw a couple of seeded sponges in the tank as well to be doubly sure. Fish went in and then it was a case of monitoring very very closely.

The morning after, I came down to milky white water (bacterial bloom) and I had readings of ammonia 2ppm and nitrite 0ppm! I certainly didn't expect this due to the plentiful seeded media I had in the tank plus I wouldn't have thought that 10 tiny unfed clown loach could produce that much ammonia just overnight. Anyway, I did a 50% water change there and then and another 50% water change in the afternoon. This got rid of the milky water and obviously reduced the ammonia.

Fast forward 72 hours and lots of testing and monitoring and my ammonia is now steady at 0ppm, my nitrite is also 0ppm and I have got a showing of nitrate!

What I can't understand is, why did I get the initial bloom and 2ppm ammonia when I seeded the tank and filter with very mature media? And also, why did it go from showing ammonia straight to nitrate. What happened to a slight showing of nitrite?

Just for your info, all 10 clown loach are thriving. No skulking or hiding. They are very active and eating very well. They will be in this tank for a couple of months before I put them in my 180 com tank.

 

[Coryloach]

The bacteria on the cycled media needed to multiply to the amount of bioload in the tank, hence the initial reading. It takes about 24 hrs for it to double. There is a lot more to "Cycling" a tank than adding cycled media. It may take 6 months to a year for a tank to mature and be safe for "sensitive" fish.

I honestly think you've got way too many clown loaches in that 14G tank, unless you're planning on changing the water daily. They won't grow a mm in an overstocked tank and that's the period clown loaches grow the fastest. Also, fish in crowded tanks get sick...Keeping them that way defeats the point of quarantine.....

 

[esoxlucius]

The bacteria on the cycled media needed to multiply to the amount of bioload in the tank, hence the initial reading. It takes about 24 hrs for it to double. There is a lot more to "Cycling" a tank than adding cycled media. It may take 6 months to a year for a tank to mature and be safe for "sensitive" fish.

I honestly think you've got way too many clown loaches in that 14G tank, unless you're planning on changing the water daily. They won't grow a mm in an overstocked tank and that's the period clown loaches grow the fastest. Also, fish in crowded tanks get sick...Keeping them that way defeats the point of quarantine.....

The mature cycled media I put in this tank was from an heavily stocked 180. The BB should have been able to cope with 10 tiny clown loach easily without the need to further multiply. This is why I was so surprised at the bloom and elevated ammonia.

I was hardly going to go out and buy a huge quarantine tank for 10 tiny clown loach only to take them out a few weeks later to go in my 180. I'll monitor the nitrate now it's showing and if need be I can do as many water changes as it takes to keep nitrate virtually at 0ppm. I'm not planning on keeping them there any longer than I need to.

 

[Coryloach]

I've quarantined baby clowns for 2-3 months but only 1 or 2 at a time, in a twice the quarantine tank size you're using.. They do grow during this period. You don't want to stunt yours is my guess. Nitrates are just a tiny portion of the big picture and the only thing nitrates tell you, is how big your bioload is. You already know it is big for the size of the tank. No need to waste the test, do the water changes anyway.

 

[skjl47]

why did I get the initial bloom and 2ppm ammonia when I seeded the tank and filter with very mature media?

The bacteria on the cycled media needed to multiply to the amount of bioload in the tank
Hello; This sounds right.

The BB should have been able to cope with 10 tiny clown loach easily without the need to further multiply. This is why I was so surprised at the bloom and elevated ammonia.

Hello: The relationship between beneficial bacteria ((bb) and bio-load is dynamic. This ,to me, means most any significant change can result in an unbalanced relationship for a time. The odds of getting just the right balance when seeding a new tank and adding new fish are likely slim. That your numbers came good fairly quickly indicates it was close. So not bad.

BB reproduce slowly compared to many other bacteria. Maybe 15 hours for one doubling cycle for bb compared to 20 minutes for some others under very good conditions.
There is also the possibility the filter material was not as loaded with bb as hoped. While I do not doubt the likely presence of bb colonies on filter media surfaces there are some things that can reduce bb populations. That said I would have figured things the same as you did with regard to the seeding.

 

[jaws7777]

Bb bloom happens when ever i set up a qt. Bacteria colonizing the tank and decor.


Tbh im surprised those little loaches got the ammonia up soo high so fast