Nitrite/ Nitrate spike

[Slamatrix]

Hi guys,

Just a quick question,
I did a water test yesterday and the nitrites and nitrates had spiked.
Cant remember the number off the top of my head. Previously the nitrites was 0 and the nitrates was around 20.
I'm pretty sure i know how to deal with it? Do a gravel clean and water change.

However the only thing that had changed is that i put a couple of small live plants in there,
Would the plants have affected it?
Or would have been something as simple as where i have shifted the gravel to bury the plants that would have unbalanced the nitrite/nitrates?

Thanks!

Matt

 

[Byron]

We need more data to understand and (hopefully) answer this. How long has the tank been running, was it cycled, what frequency and volume are water changes, what fish load. What are the test numbers for both.

Adding live plants in itself will not cause increases in ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, but disturbance of the substrate could, depending. I will just say that nitrite should absolutely never be above zero, once a tank is cycled; nitrite is extremely dangerous for fish, at any level above zero. Nitrates can rise due to internal issues such as insufficient water changes, overfeeding, too many/too large fish for the tank to support, and similar, though in an established tank this too should never be seen.