Little Problem

[zain611]

Just tested my water today as i changed from gravel to sand and my ammonia was about 0ppm/ 0.25ppm and nitrite was about 0.50ppm for the first time and nitrate with 40ppm as normal. i did a 50 or 60 percent water change and will do another but what could be the cause of this and i hope it gets resolved soon

 

[ColR1948]

I did a rescape a while ago and disturbed the substrate, in doing so I got a spike like that.

 

[zain611]

How long did it take to go back to normal and what did you do doing my third water change

 

[ColR1948]

When I did it I never tested the water, it was only after 2 days I noticed all the fish gasping for air on the surface, after searching online I read about a Nitrite spike. tested the water and sure enough it was high, so did a big WC, still fairly high the next day then I noticed 2 fish dead, so did another large WC and it came down, did a few more after that till it got back to zero, but I did do a major rescape with the fish in the tank.

 

[zain611]

Sorry to hear for your fish just about done with my third water change which would of lowered it to 0ppm but could this be a mini cycle? i checked my paremeters before i changed to sand and it was all fine with ammonia and nitrite 0 also i never had an nitrite spike ever since i got tropical fish which was about 9 months ago

 

[DrSlackBladder]

I expect a lot of your good bacteria were residing in your gravel. I would think 50% daily water changes until the mini cycle is over should just take a few days, assuming you haven't changed or aggressively rinsed your filter media. A little Nutrafin Cycle added with the fresh dechlorinated water wouldn't hurt. I use it as a safety precaution whenever changing something major, or adding new fish, etc.

 

[zain611]

Thanks DrSlackBladder i didnt rinse the filter media so this might help also i have the API stress zyme so could this help?

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Yes, I think so; lots of people recommend it during periods of change, although I've never used it myself. Your ammonia and nitrite are not high, so the daily pwc's should sort it in a few days I think.

 

[zain611]

Yeah i would agree. i just tested the ammonia and nitrite and they both look 0ppm ( tested about 10 minutes after water change

 

[zain611]

Tested again today and this is what i got: for both ammonia and nitrite it looks like 0ppm- 0.25ppm which looks good but its hard to tell as the colour from the nitrite solution is a little dark in blue and on the colour chart a light blue colour means 0ppm and for 0.25ppm that would be a light purple colour which i cant say it looks purple. ammonia would have a yellow colour for 0ppm and a light green colour for 0.25ppm. nitrates are 40ppm as normal

 

[CezzaXV]

I would say it's more likely that you disturbed some nasties in the gravel than you'll have lost your good bacteria, though it is possible.

Just keep up with the water changes and it'll be fine.

You didn't have an under-gravel filter, did you? (probably not, just checking)

 

[zain611]

Never had a under gravel filter but the old models of my tank did have those but they replaced it by a internal filter also going to check the water

 

[zain611]

Great news, ammonia and nitrite are 0ppm. Can i still use my stress zyme as im abit curious that it could desterb the filter