Added Fish Yesterday And Now Nitrites Are Up

[Shara]

So I cycled my tank and last week we were getting zero readings within 8 hours of putting ammonia in. The nitrites had also dropped and were at zero.

Yesterday I put 8 neon tetras in the tank (10g) and they all seemed really happy. Today I did all the tests and everything is normal except the nitrites are at around 5 ppm. That seems really high. One of the fish is just hanging out in one spot in the tank and didn't even seem interested in eating. What should I do?

nitrate: 5 ppm
nitrite 5 ppm
ammonia 0
ph 7.5

Thanks

 

[Shara]

Ok i redid the test and now the colour looks more like 1 ppm. I wish those colour charts were easier to read. <sigh> Anyway, I did a 10% water change and will check it all again tomorrow and hopefully it's better. I'm worried about that one little fish

 

[fatheadminnow]

This is not good as neon tetras can not handle any ammonia or nitrite in the tank that show up on test results.

Question: After you cycled your tank, did you continue to cycle it for at least on more week? It is very common for nitrites to spike in the final week, and that is what you could be experiencing.

Question: What test kit are you using?

If you can, I would re-home the fish until your tank is clear from any detectable ammonia, or in your case, nitrite.

If you do not do this, you might, and I stress might, lose a couple neons. But I hope not!

-FHM

 

[Shara]

It wasn't a whole week. Five or six days. I'm using the API master kit. This one:
http/www.petguys.com/-317163010340.html

 

[fatheadminnow]

It wasn't a whole week. Five or six days. I'm using the API master kit. This one:
[URL="http/www.petguys.com/-317163010340.html"]http/www.petguys.com/-317163010340.html[/URL]

That is what I use as well, and it is a good test kit!

All I got to say is that you are experiencing a small nitrite pike, being that it is a freshly cycled tank and all, and should soon pass.

Just keep a close eye on the water parameters, and make sure to keep the nitrite down below .25 ppm via water changes.

-FHM

 

[OldMan47]

A 10% water change will help not at all. If you find that the 1 ppm reading is real, you need to do a large water change to clean it up. I would start with 50%, wait an hour, take another reading and if you still have detectable nitrites do another 50%. You are trying to save fish right now, not water.

 

[vinylman]

You say you cycled the tank ''last week''. How did you cycle it?. As has been said, Neons aren't really suitable for a newly-cycled tank, if it is cycled.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with the above, your water changes do not have enough "punch", they need to be larger and the goal is for nitrite to not rise above 0.25ppm by the next time you are home and can re-test and potentially perform another water change.

You've got two problems, as the others are saying. One, that you may either not be really cycled or that you're experiencing a final mini-cycle, due to not doing a "qualifying week." And the other that the choice of initial stocking was neon tetras.

The most popular recommendation here in our beginner's group is that neon/cardinal tetras, for some unknown reason, really seem to need a tank to "mature" for quite a number of months after cycling before the tetras will be ok. So the usual recommendation to to wait 6 months beyond cycling before neon/card introduction.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Shara]

I did fishless cycling and started three weeks ago. The method where you add ammonia until it recovers quickly and has a zero ammonia reading within 8 hours. Last tuesday mine would get rid of 4-5 ppm of ammonia within eight hours. It did that two days in a row and the nitrates had dropped and remained zero for three days in a row. So I added fish on Sunday. THe neon's weren't my first choice but we have very limited options here and it is only a 10g. I did ask first about fish choices but wasn't told not to get neons.... So I'll do a big water change now and hope for the best. That one fish that was looking pretty sad yesterday is pretty much gone. I'm thinking I should kill it but don't know how.

 

[waterdrop]

Its ok, this happens to lots of people and you were trying to do the right thing. Don't be afraid of large water changes, they are your friend usually. I forget, are there any problems with your tap water? (ammonia, nitrates, extremely soft?) Just be sure to dose correctly with dechlor/dechloram and to do your rough temperature matching so that the neons will receive the least shock possible. Any reading of nitrite(NO2) (or ammonia for that matter) above 0.25ppm *trumps* all other safety considerations and calls for a large water change using the technique mentioned.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Shara]

Thanks I've done two 50 - 60% water changes in the last day and the nitrites are at o at the moment. I lost two fish though I was going to take them all back but my daughter has been sick and I haven't been able to get out. <sigh> The other six look quite happy though and are busy and eating well. Those two that died didn't look as well right from the start. Not surprisingly... I'm just going to keep testing the water several times a day to make sure that doesn't happen again. Thanks for all the advice.