Leaving On A Trip With A Nitrite Bloom... Ugh

[draxis]

I was given a tank from someone who did not take care of it or have any worry for the animals inside. It is 55 Gallons and I recieved it 1 month 1 week ago. Some basic background is I kept 60% of the water but cleaned everything else 100%. The fish he had were a 12" pleco, 2 loaches (golden dojo and red burrowing type) with a tetra, the others died he said...

I managed to resetup the tank with an emperor 280 / his UGF system and everything was going well.... I moved my fish in from my hospital tank in and well the nitrites went from 0 to a constant i cant even tell because my API test kit goes straight purple. I verified declor tap water and another tank both show 0. I guess my kit works?

I have two south american puffers, 5 platys, and his fish. These were added over a 2 week period. Nitrites went up but i always waited for them to settle before adding more. 24-48 hours.

Per advice here i took the pleco to a pond last night my friend owns. I was sad to see him go but its for the best... He pretty much over stocked that tank by himself. I managed to also remove his UGF system which was only 1 month from being cleaned; was not bad no black stuff people mentioned. I also added a new aquaclear 70 to replace or run in tandem with the emperor (do i really need 550gph)? Some users say to turn the tank 10x in an hour. My reason for adding it was it is 10x more quiet and hopefully can run by itself to do the job.

I added nitrifying bacteria and all the works after doing a 50% water change when removing UGF plates.


Should i keep doing major water changes and stay away from the gravel for now? If any fish gets sick i will feel so terrible... Please help me save my SAPs and friends!
My fears to water changing again and again is if it is cycling then i am doing more harm then good right? If i keep messing with the water i feel like it will only slow the bacteria down and never really be able to catch up if the water is changed daily.

I do not plan on touching the cycled emperor for at least 1 month but again i hope i can eventually remove this.
I also wonder if my iron/plant supplements affect nitrites? Its a thought...

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Alright... I'm having a bit of trouble getting through exactly what's going on...
 
 
A few questions that might help clarify:
 
1 - What fish are currently in the tank?
 
2 - What are your current readings for ammonia and nitrite?
 
3 - What nitrifying bacteria did you add?

 

[draxis]

Alright... I'm having a bit of trouble getting through exactly what's going on...
 
 
A few questions that might help clarify:
 
1 - What fish are currently in the tank?
 
1 - Golden Dojo Loach
1 - Red borrowing Loach (never see him)
5 - Platys
3 - Corycats
2 - South American Puffers
 
2 - What are your current readings for ammonia and nitrite?
 
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - No idea, API test kit goes INSTANTLY purple.  So lets say over 5PPM?
 
3 - What nitrifying bacteria did you add?
 
Nutrafin Cycle or API Quick Start (I kind of do half/half)
 
Also added the iron supplement for plants if that matters.

 

[fluttermoth]

the nitrites went from 0 to a constant i cant even tell because my API test kit goes straight purple. I verified declor tap water and another tank both show 0. I guess my kit works?

That result means your nitrite is off the scale, and you'll need to some large water changes, ASAP, to get that level down, or it will make your fish very sick, or even kill them.

 

Should i keep doing major water changes and stay away from the gravel for now? If any fish gets sick i will feel so terrible... Please help me save my SAPs and friends!
My fears to water changing again and again is if it is cycling then i am doing more harm then good right? If i keep messing with the water i feel like it will only slow the bacteria down and never really be able to catch up if the water is changed daily.

Yes, keep doing the water changes. The bacteria will grow more slowly, which is why fish-in cycles (which is what you're now doing, because you removed the UG, which will have held the majority of your good bacteria) go more slowly; it's a balancing act between having enough ammonia/nitrite to feed the bacteria, but not enough to harm the fish. You don't want to let either of those two toxins get to above 0.25ppm.

Do post the answers to eagle's questions, as it will help us give you better advice.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Ok, so the issue is the nitrite.
 
 
The removal of the UGF is the problem.  This removed the nitrifying bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate. 
 
Nutrafin Cycle and API Quick Start aren't going to help you... Sorry.
 
 
Here's what you are going to need to do:
 
1 - Complete a 90% water change.  Nitrite at that level is potentially toxic in a short period time.  The larger the water change, the more you are going to remove and the better the fish will be able to breathe.
 
If you hadn't had the loaches, you could add salt.  That would help with the take-up of the nitrite into their system.  You could probably use it at 1/4 the recommended dosage.
 
2 - Try to get some mature media from someone with a tank and you can add that to your newer filter.  This will have the nitrifying bacteria you need.
 
 
 
Test the nitrite after the water change... If its above 0.25, do ANOTHER water change immediately.

 

[draxis]

I posted the answers in a quote above.


The UG was cleaned 1 month prior but removing it shouldnt have done that much. Remember i have an hob with bacteria in it as well.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The bacteria is going to live on ALL surfaces.
 
The issue isn't that ALL the bacteria are gone, but there is not ENOUGH.  The amount of bacteria has been reduced and will take some time to catch up.  But, it will catch up.

 

[draxis]

I cant do a 90% because i have fish. I can do maybe 50%

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You can do 90%, even with fish.  I've done it.
 
Just leave sufficient water for the fish to swim.  Make the water that is reentered temp matched and dechlorinated.

 

[draxis]

So dont waste $ with quick start or cycle in new water? What about iron supp for plants?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If you only do 50% you'll need to do at least 3 of them.
 
 
5ppm 90% water change drops it to 0.5ppm. (Still need to do another 50% minimum.)
 
5ppm 50% water change drops it to 2.5ppm, another to 1.25 ppm, and other 0.75 ppm, and another to 0.375, and another to 0.17ppm.
 
That would be FIVE water changes to drop the nitrite to a reasonable level and changing nearly 250% of the tank - Roughly 150 gallons.

So dont waste $ with quick start or cycle in new water? What about iron supp for plants?

 
That has no effect on nitrite.

 

[draxis]

I wonder if chlorine killed some of the bacteria. I do the recommended drops and stir but only let it sit 2 mins before adding. Any tips on this?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

No, that works instantly.
 
 
The issue is that with a UGF, the bacteria are living over the entire surface of the substrate.  Now there's not a lot of flow over the substrate, so they aren't able to do their thing. 

 

[draxis]

Ok on the water change do i siphon the gravel or leave it alone?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd siphon the gravel, so that any waste there gets removed.  Removing this keeps more nitrite from building up.