Alien Anna
Fish Gatherer
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2002
- Messages
- 2,087
- Reaction score
- 2
Today I checked in on my molly in the hospital tank. I immediately felt something was wrong - she was lurking on the bottom and not moving. When I lifted the lid I smelt a distinct whiff of some chemical (not ammonia). The only other time I smelt that I'd had a nitrite spike due to a power cut the night before. I thought "Nitrite poisoning", but then I thought it's just paranoia - that's a matured filter in there. But I tested the water anyway: 0.3 ppm nitrite. Ouch!
I've moved my molly back into the main tank, in a breeder and she seems OK. I hope her babies are OK too (she hasn't given birth yet). I've no idea what caused the nitrite spike but I had used methylene blue in there a few weeks ago and although I rinsed the filter thoroughly, maybe the methylene blue was still in it. So I've ordered a new sponge and I'm going to ditch that one.
I'm gobsmacked that my fish-keeper instincts are becoming so finely tuned that I can spot nitrite without having to test for it!
I've moved my molly back into the main tank, in a breeder and she seems OK. I hope her babies are OK too (she hasn't given birth yet). I've no idea what caused the nitrite spike but I had used methylene blue in there a few weeks ago and although I rinsed the filter thoroughly, maybe the methylene blue was still in it. So I've ordered a new sponge and I'm going to ditch that one.
I'm gobsmacked that my fish-keeper instincts are becoming so finely tuned that I can spot nitrite without having to test for it!
!
