No Ammonia, Very High Nitrites...

No worries; best of luck, and let us know how things go :)
 
Sounds good.
Just one question: 
Was the media you took out kept wet? If it wasn't then most likely most of the bacteria will have died. Get it back in the tank as soon as you can as its possible that some has survived and if not then you need to get it growing again as soon as possible which will help with your nitrite spike.
 
With a bit of luck, the bacteria will just have gone dormant, and in such a short space of time, shouldn't take too long to re-awaken.
 
MadJohnny, just one other thing, if I may - I don't recommend dosing medications as a precaution. The reason the meds tell you to take out the carbon or zeolite is that they remove poisonous heavy metal pollutants, and that is exactly what your whitespot medication is. It works by having a level of poison high enough to kill the whitespot, but not the fish. However, it does make the fish feel poorly.
 
If you do what you did, your are slightly poisoning your fish when they are already stressed from the move, and even if they don't get whitespot, it can leave them weakened enough that another infection takes hold.
 
I think I've seen from research that one of the varieties of beneficial bacteria do not have a dormant stage.  I just glanced over it in passing, so don't take my word for it.  Try and put the sponge back in and see what happens.
 
Like LTM said, preemptive medication is almost never a good idea.  I would just put the zeolite and carbon back in to remove the meds, unless you've positively diagnosed for whitespot.  Even then, try and research some "more natural" treatments if you can.  As a chemist, I can confirm that these medications have chemicals I wouldn't even want to deal with in a fumehood in a proper laboratory if I needn't.
 
Perhaps I should research more next time...
I thought it would be a good to be careful and take precautionary measures...

An update: The nitrites are down a fair bit, but still too high, I will carry on until it is rectified...

My media are back in the filter, maybee not as useful as before as they were only damp in places...



Off topic:
Should I keep the media when I change them? Just incase...
 
Don't change them is the simple answer, there's no need to change them, unless they are literally falling apart, and even then, don't change more than a quarter at one time.
 
Very happy to report my nitrite levels are on te verge of the lowest on my colour scale! Another water change tomorrow should bring it back to where it should be...

Thanks for your help guys...
 
Madjonny said:
Very happy to report my nitrite levels are on te verge of the lowest on my colour scale! Another water change tomorrow should bring it back to where it should be...

Thanks for your help guys...
Good work!  Your care for your fish will pay off.  People will one day see your expertly established tank and wonder why they are so lively and colorful.
 
Keep us posted!
 
Sounds great! Hopefully there won't be another spike and you'll be fully cycled soon. :)
 

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