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Nitrite Spike 2nd Time


JohnNYC
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My 20 gallon long has been up since November. I have 6 neon tetras and some plants. On Sunday I added more plants, that is the picture I uploaded. I had a nitrite spike a day after the initial plant adding and then again last night. My guess is ammonia went up too but I tested when after the ammonia had dropped and nitrite was high, about 10 ppm according to the test strips. Normally I have 0 ppm when I test with strips or API master test kit. I test before I do my weekly water change. In both cases I did a gravel vac, added root tabs, planted and rinsed my HOB filter media in tank water. I also noticed that the tank is cloudy and clears up after a few days. 

Maybe when I plant I stir up detritus and that causes the cloudiness and spike. Maybe I'm cleaning the filter too much, although I have rinsed filter media at other times without an issue. Can root tabs cause cloudiness? I added about 20.

To alleviate the issue I added fresh beneficial bacteria. Tonight I'm planning on doing a 50% water change. Last night I got home too late to start a water change, so it had to wait. 

Any thoughts? Maybe it's just new tank syndrome?

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I had a similar situation... Newly stable (fragile?) tank; cleaned the filters (just rinsed) but didn't vacuum the gravel, then added some root tabs and had a horrible nitrite spike (no ammonia spike tho) that lasted 36-48 hours. I changed my water every 12 hours until the spike was gone and managed not to lose any fish.

I suspect if I had either just cleaned the tank or just added the root tabs, I would've been ok, but the combo overwhelmed the fragile biofilter I have barely established in the tank. I also wondered if my well water facilitated the dissolution of the root tabs capsule, allowing for the fertilizer to release very quickly and to leach into the water column, but reading your thread makes me just think the water may not have been a factor.

I will NEVER clean my HOB and my sponge filters at the same time again, and I am going to stick to the fertilizer suspension that I had been using in the water without issue. Hope your situation clears up quickly!

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I also want to believe my tank is well-established, but "they" say the tank needs to be at least 6 months old -- if not 12 -- before one can start to be comfortable about parameters and changes. My tank is about 3 months old. So I have vowed to only clean 1 filter at a time (I do weekly 25% water changes and test daily), the HOB one week, then the sponge the next. Then vacuum 1/4 of the gravel another week (the tank is planted so I can't vacuum much real estate as it is). I still haven't decided how often to put the in-water fertilizer yet...it says weekly, but after the nitrite debacle weekend before last, I am gun-shy. I may do it twice a month and see how things go.

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On 1/24/2023 at 9:02 AM, JohnNYC said:

Maybe when I plant I stir up detritus and that causes the cloudiness and spike. Maybe I'm cleaning the filter too much, although I have rinsed filter media at other times without an issue. Can root tabs cause cloudiness? I added about 20.

You added a bunch of ferts and had a nutrient spike. Ferts are nutrients. I wouldn't worry about it beyond the initial spike as long as the live stock are OK.

On 1/25/2023 at 2:36 PM, DeadStang said:

I also want to believe my tank is well-established, but "they" say the tank needs to be at least 6 months old -- if not 12 -- before one can start to be comfortable about parameters and changes.

Once established, nitrifying bacteria can double in population in a matter of hours. When people talk about taking that long to come to "balance", they are refering to everything in the tank including non nitrifying bacteria, various types of algae, etc which are all competing for real estate.

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Thank you all. It sounds like I did too much. Hopefully lesson learned and I'll "do less" with my aquarium. I did a water change tonight and will test again tomorrow. I'd like to get a few more fish, slowly. But I think I should set up a quarantine tank first and not chance it.

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On 1/24/2023 at 6:02 AM, JohnNYC said:

In both cases I did a gravel vac, added root tabs, planted and rinsed my HOB filter media in tank water. I also noticed that the tank is cloudy and clears up after a few days. 

First, welcome to the forums! 🙂

Kind of reminds me of my tank and some stuff I dealt with for a while.  How is your filter setup and what filter are you using?  Test results of your water parameters?

Cycled or not, when you see ammonia / nitrites above a certain range I tend to opt for a 50-80% water change.  The following days I will monitor, try to locate the source, and then repeat up-to 50% WCs as need be.

On 1/25/2023 at 9:41 AM, DeadStang said:

I will NEVER clean my HOB and my sponge filters at the same time again, and I am going to stick to the fertilizer suspension that I had been using in the water without issue. Hope your situation clears up quickly!

It is a good practice, but it really, really shouldn't matter.

On 1/24/2023 at 6:02 AM, JohnNYC said:

Can root tabs cause cloudiness?

Yes they can! However, I don't think that is what is going on.  It could be a contributing factor. 

On 1/25/2023 at 11:36 AM, DeadStang said:

I also want to believe my tank is well-established, but "they" say the tank needs to be at least 6 months old -- if not 12 -- before one can start to be comfortable about parameters and changes.

There are a bit of variables on each tank.   I can get a tank up and running in 2-4 weeks.  I can get algae and things going pretty quickly.  Some people use algae as a sign of a "seasoned" tank.  Others view things as whatever you introduce could take hold and you'd want to limit what you introduce.  Some things may or may not take advantage of those parameters.  I imagine that someone like @modified lung could take some of his live cultures and copepods, greenwater, etc. and have a pretty robust ecosystem going pretty quickly!  

All interesting things.  "Cycled" is a pretty vague way to say a variety of things.  Fish safe, is that a better term?  Plants are thriving, is that a better term?  Robust ecosystem, is that a better term?  All interesting perspectives. 

 

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I have regular gravel. The filter is a Tidal 35 HOB in which I have the included coarse filter sponge and bio media. 

I used the API master test kit before the planting, cleaning on Sunday and had a pH of 6.8, 0 ppm Ammonia, 0 ppm Nitrite and 80 Nitrates. On Tuesday I checked with the Aquarium Coop test strips and had Nitrite and Nitrate was at 10. I added One and Only nitrifying on Tuesday. Last night I did a 25% water change. The test strips still showed high nitrite this morning. I did not feed yesterday, but fed a little this morning. If the Nitrite its still high tonight I'll do a 50% water change. The plants look good. From my initial plants 2 had dies and I removed the java moss because I didn't like the look of it. On Sunday I added about 8 plants.

Again, thank you all for being so helpful!

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