Ammonia/nitrite Come Back

[Mbuna Dave]

Yesterday i decided to rip my tank apart in preparation for a Mbuna setup.I removed all plants and took out the fish and also removed quite a bit of sand.After a good clean up i put in some ocean rock and re-filled the tank.

The filter/pump/lighting etc where turned off for just over an hour,maybe an hour and a half.

This morning i checked the temperature and it read 79.5F.My PH is 7.5 which considering the ocean rock i expected it to be higher.But the ammonia and nitrite where at the peak.Why?

My tank had been setup since before christmas so the filter has had plenty of time to mature,i added some ammonia yesterday as i had took out the fish to feed the bacteria but why has the reading gone through the roof.Anyone got any ideas?

I am so disappointed,i wanting to go and stock the tank up today till i saw this.

 

[nmonks]

Don't worry about it too much.

Filter bacteria _start_ do die off after about 20 minutes of the filter being switched off. They consumer a lot of oxygen, and so when the water stops flowing, there is no new oxygen going into the filter, and the bacteria die off (or at least become dormant). Plug the filter back, let it run a couple of days, and it'll be good as new. The bacteria still in the filter will rapidly multiply (or come out of dormancy) and you'll be laughing.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Mbuna Dave]

Phew,thanks Neale.I had worries that i would have to wait a whole month and start the cycle again from scratch.
Fingers crossed eh?

 

[Mbuna Dave]

Ammonia dropping real fast now,just have to sit on the Nitrite.