What Causes A Nitrite Spike?

[dtaylor21184]

As above

just wanting to know what causes it and how long it lasts or what to do as I was about to finish my fishless cycle and it's now spiked

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Do you have a log? Post it here or bump it up. The more information available, the easier it is to figure out why something hapens.


In general, a nitrite spike is just a part of the cycling process. Ammonia is processed first into nitrite. The a-bacs come along first, since their "food" is readily available. They process 1ppm NH3 into 2.7ppm NO2. So, you need more n-bacs in the end to process the waste. But, they start from a disadvantage (don't have food available at the beginning) and need to build a larger colony, which is why "phase two" (commonly referred to as the nitrite spike) is usually the longest part of a cycle.

 

[dtaylor21184]

I've being doing my cycle for over a month for the last week I've had double 0 and I did a water change the other day and my nitrates are still high does this mean I just need to keep doing water changes to lower it.

I also added a log and some plants and when testing my nitrite has suddenly gone up when it had been at 0 for a week

 

[hanny93]

Are you talking about a nirite or nitrate spike? Youve mentioned both!

 

[dtaylor21184]

Well my nitrate was high so I did a water change as I was approaching the end of my cycle I then added a log and plants and my nitrite has spiked which is my main concern as I think I just need to do water changes to bring my nitrate down

 

[dtaylor21184]

Ok what changes aren't lowering my nitrite or nitrate levels

 

[Claire121]

A big water change can cause the nitrIte eating bacteria to slow down for a few days but they will soon get back to where they where. (There is no point doing little regular changes if you're cycling - just do 90% in one go )

High nitrAte levels can cause the cycling to stall.

If you've done a big water change to get your nitrate level down, (which was the right thing to do) a second nitrite spike can occur so you just need to be patient for a while.

Also adding wood may have affected your PH. I have read that fluctuating PH levels can also stall or slow the process down - so maybe check that too.

HTH

 

[dtaylor21184]

I did a 80% water change on Monday after my nitrate was still showing as 160ppm

I did a 50% change on Tuesday my nitrate still showed as 160ppm

I've just done another 50% change showed as 160ppm so I've done another 50% change showing 80ppm so I'm gonna do another 50% change

Will my nitrite correct itself

 

[Claire121]

Will my nitrite correct itself I believe so, given time and the right conditions.

However one thing you should be aware of is that some more experienced members say that Nitrate tests are notoriously innacurate/difficult to do properly, so you may want to try a different brand to compare, as you've done water changes every day this week.

 

[StandbySetting]

Hang on, are you the guy that was having problems with nitrate readings? For future reference if you have readings of nitrite then it will interfere with your nitrate test kit, giving a higher value than is actually present.

 

[dtaylor21184]

No that wasn't me.

Right I've now got my readings all down ammonia 0ppm nitrite 0ppm and nitrate 0ppm

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

I can tell you why it took 4 water changes to bring your nitrates down, becuase 160ppm is the highest number on the chart, now your nitrate levels were in the region of about 1200 roughly, if the test was accurate of course.

OK, so just keep up with the dosing and water checks, and just wait it out for the qualifying week