Sudden Nitrite Spike In 6-Gallon --- Ahhhhhh!

[Amberleaf]

Okay well so on Sunday my Mom did a water change on her 6-gallon tank. This morning, the water was *very* cloudy. This evening, I finally got off my lazy butt and checked the water.

AHHHHH!!!!

Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 5+ ppm (well, it certainly wasn't any colour on the chart)
Nitrate - 160+ ppm? Lulwut?
pH - 6.6 - 6.8

I tested my tap water from the kitchen, for both filtered *AND* unfiltered water, and both showed 7.4 - 7.6 for pH, and nitrate was 0.

How come the pH in the tank was so low if my Mom only did a water change yesterday? (I couldn't do it because I got my swine flu shot on Saturday and my arm still hurts but I mean seriously desperate times call for desperate measures right?? )

How could the nitrate have been so high?

I only tested the water from the kitchen, and then I sprang into action.

I did a gravel vacuum but now I can't test anymore, since my Mom is home and stuffs. I'll test sometime tomorrow probably, but, I mean.... Still. It's been easily a month since the tank went into a cycle, and I squeezed out some bacteria from an old sponge filter that was just lying in the 55-gallon tank not being used but hopefully still with some bacteria in it over the filter *AND* into the tank.

But why did everything spike and drop? Could it be because of the snails? I mean, there's absolutely *millions* in there, just at the top, at the water line, they're all bunched up together and there's hundreds at the back....

Sorry!! .... I'm just so confused!! .... Help, please?

 

[fatheadminnow]

Possible the snails?

The problem with small tanks like that is that they are REALLY hard to maintain perfect water qualities IF something goes wrong.

So, the sudden increase in snails could easily been the cause of the nitrite spike.

What kind of test kit are you using and how big of a water change did your mom do?

The high nitrite could make the pH drop...I think? What kind of substrate/decor do you have in the tank?

-FHM

 

[Amberleaf]

Okay, I use the API liquid master test kit -- I dunno how old it is, however, so it could easily be giving me wrong readings, but, I mean.... with the platies at the surface with red mouths and gasping for air (I think?) and cloudy water, I know something's wrong. ;

I dunno how big -- she said half or something. I believe her. She knows how to do a water change, if she doesn't quite realize about fish poisons and stuffs!

I use gravel, and there's some java moss in the tank and this big plant that I have in my 10-gallon, and I don't know what it's called; and then there's a rock, and.... two or three plastic plants, I believe. ^^;

But yeah, I'm going to try to rid myself of the snails.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yeah, I would try to get rid of the snails as a start.

I assume she uses a water conditioner as well?

-FHM

 

[Amberleaf]

Yeah.... I kinda make her. I have a bottle of that Big Al's stuff upstairs in my room, and a large jug of it downstairs on the shelves underneath the 55-gallon tank -- HEY, you can't miss it. ^^;

Any ideas on getting rid of snails, other than lifting all of them out by hand? I mean, I swear; there's hundreds of them.

 

[waterdrop]

Sounds like an overfeeding problem Amber. Also, note that for getting the tank back in order, *multiple* large gravel-clean-water-changes will be your most powerful tool. Agree that after that you will want to use all the tricks to lower the snail population. There are lots of threads on that if you search.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[loraxchick]

definitely overfeeding if you have a large snail population. snails will not overrun a tank unless there is plenty of food. so if you are overfeeding that is the source of the snail problem, AND most likely the nitrite spike.
the old food rots in the substrate, waterchange stirred it up causing a bacterial bloom (cloudy water). the filter is catching up with the increased ammonia from the substrate which is why you are seeing nitrites.
my suggestion- do a really good gravel vac/water change everyday for a few days. do not feed the fish in this time. after say, 3 days everything should be sorted.
as far as the snails go, once you stop overfeeding you will see their numbers diminish rapidly (i assume most are teeny). in a month or so you will only have a few left.
if you want to get rid of them NOW, put a piece of lettuce or spinach on the bottom, wait many hours, then remove the lettuce which will have loads of snails on it. repeat till they are gone. honestly i find its good to have some snails in the tank as they are very useful cleaners and often indicate certain problems (in this case, too much food due to population size).
it is doubtful the snails caused the spike. my money is on the gravel.
cheers