Nitrites Spike

[Dmoney]

Hey Guys,

I had spent the last 3 weeks doing the fishless cycle. I watched the ammonia drop, and then I watched the Nitrite spike and then fall. I thought I had a completely cycled tank. I could add Ammonia till it would be 5ppm and within 12 hours both Ammonia and Nitrite would read zero. I added 6 fish 2 days ago. All juvenile's. My Nitrites has gone from zero to 1.5 today. My Ammonia is still reading zero, and my Nitrates are at 10 ppm. The PH is staying put at 8.0, and the temp is about 80-82 degrees. I did a 20% water change this morning, the readings were still the same tonight. I just got done doing a 50% water change. I have added 2 extra air stones as well for extra oxygen. Is there anything else I can do? What do you think the cause of this is? Thanks for your help....

 

[Dmoney]

Well it's been almost an hour and half and I just tested the Nitrites again. It has actually gone up to 2 ppm. I am baffled at why it is climbing? I forgot to mention before that it is a 55 gallon tank. Any suggestions or answers would be great.

 

[dthoffsett]

I'm not to sure why it's climbing after a water change, they best I can recommend it to do daily or twice daily water changes until it drops to 0 again.

You might check with some of the people in Tropical Chat for more help. Miss Wiggle is especially good help with cycling.

 

[Dmoney]

I just did another 40% water change this morning. The level has dropped off a little bit. It is down from 2 to maybe 1.5. I have now done a total of 3 water changes in the last 24 hours. The level of the Nitrites ha hardly dropped at all. My nitrate level is about 8 ppm. The ammonia might have read a slight amount this morning. It was so close that it could have been 0, or it could have been .25. The PH is still 8.0, nd the temperature is right 80 degrees. The fish seem to be doing fine, although I would feel a lot better if the Nitrites would go down. I cant really think of anything else that might be causing this. I am using Aqua Safe on all water that is being added, I have had no power outage interuptions, and I have not cleaned or changed anything out in the filter. I will do another 40% water change tonight, and hopefully that will bring down the level some more. Does anyone have any other suggestions?