Fertilizer And Ammonia Spike

[wheelyfeet]

Hi,
I was about midway through cycling a small Eclipse 3 that houses a single Betta. Two days ago my ammonia was zero and nitrites were at .50. I did a 25% water change.

This tank has three small potted plants in a group so I placed one stick of Plant Gro by Nutrafin under the middle of the grouping. This is a slow release fertilier stick. The instructions called for one stick for each plant, but since the tank is so small, that amount made me nervouse.

Yesterday, the ammonia level had risen back up to .50 and the nitrites were .50. I did a 50% water change, but I am baffled. None of our other tanks have had an ammonia spike once the readings dropped to 0 during the cycling phase. Could this spike be caused by the fertilizer?

Thanks,
Debra

 

[jimbooo]

hi debra. no it's not from the fert sticks. i use 8-10 in my rio 180 and they are fine. have you recently cleaned the filter, changed the gravel or anything major like that?

 

[wheelyfeet]

hi debra. no it's not from the fert sticks. i use 8-10 in my rio 180 and they are fine. have you recently cleaned the filter, changed the gravel or anything major like that?

The Eclipse 3 is a 3 gallon (US) with a biowheel filter. It has a small snap in mechanical/carbon filter and the biowheel for the biofilter. When I did the 25% water change I did rinse off the top of the snap in filter. I used cool water so as not to disturb any culture (or so I thought). I didn't vacuum the gravel or touch the biowheel, since I know that the biofilter cultures there. Perhaps rinsing the filter did it.

I guess I'll just keep up on the testing and water change as needed till things settle down.

Debra

 

[wheelyfeet]

Hi,
I was about midway through cycling a small Eclipse 3 that houses a single Betta. Two days ago my ammonia was zero and nitrites were at .50. I did a 25% water change.

This tank has three small potted plants in a group so I placed one stick of Plant Gro by Nutrafin under the middle of the grouping. This is a slow release fertilier stick. The instructions called for one stick for each plant, but since the tank is so small, that amount made me nervouse.

Yesterday, the ammonia level had risen back up to .50 and the nitrites were .50. I did a 50% water change, but I am baffled. None of our other tanks have had an ammonia spike once the readings dropped to 0 during the cycling phase. Could this spike be caused by the fertilizer?

Thanks,
Debra

I answered my own question. I soaked a fertilizer stick in a tub of water and tested the water. The ammonia level is through the roof. I read the ingredients that say: "derived from ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate . . . " My test kit measures both NH3 and NH4. So, thankfully, my high ammonia reading is not from NH3.

 

[George Farmer]

My test kit measures both NH3 and NH4. So, thankfully, my high ammonia reading is not from NH3.

The level of NH3 or NH4 depends on your pH. It is a ratio i.e. the lower the pH the more NH4 and less NH3 and the higher pH the more NH3, less NH4. pH 7 and both will be in balance. NH4 (ammonium) is far less toxic than NH3 (ammonia).

 

[jimbooo]

sorry i'm being thick here. gf225 does that mean these nutrafin fert sticks are bad or not? i've got loads of them in every tank.

 

[George Farmer]

sorry i'm being thick here. gf225 does that mean these nutrafin fert sticks are bad or not? i've got loads of them in every tank.

They should be perfectly safe in a heavily planted tank(s) like yours. They are probably good in the right circumstances. A lightly planted tank is not ideal circumstances I'd suggest.

 

[wheelyfeet]

They should be perfectly safe in a heavily planted tank(s) like yours. They are probably good in the right circumstances. A lightly planted tank is not ideal circumstances I'd suggest.

I don't know much about what happens to the ammonium in the water, but I figure something has to happen to it if the plants don't take it up. If I read your post correctly, part of the ammonium convert to free ammonia at levels that depend on pH? I suspect that it must also convert to nitrites and then to nitrates, as I believe my testing revealed.

Not only did the ammonia readings rise through the roof, but so did the nitrites. I pulled the stick and did an 80% water change. The followup test showed ammonias at zero, but nitrites still at 2 ppm. I did one more 50% change, which brought nitrites down to .50 ppm. That is not ideal, but more acceptable during the cycling phase.

I checked out Hagen's website and noticed that they no longer have these sticks in their current product line. Perhaps they are reformulating?

Ay yi yi, what a pain that one little stick has been. Jimboo, too bad you live on the other side of the world, or I'd mail you my sticks. Unfortunately, postage would cost more than they did.