# Why am I getting nitrite spikes after a water change????



## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

I have a two-month-old 30 gallon that is running with TWO (count them, two) established filters with light stock and light feeding. I've now had two nitrite spikes (.25-1 ppm) after water changes. This is confusing the heck out of me. I use plenty of Prime. I don't do massive water changes at one time (maybe 25%) and don't even shut off the filters, never mind opening and cleaning them. At this point, I don't even vaccum the substate. This happened again this weekend. I'd been testing every day (yes, I'm neurotic about nitrite) for the past week/10 days with 0 nitrites. Do a water change, test again, measureable, but less than .25 nitrite. Later that day, up to about .5, overnight about 1. I did massive water changes and added a bottle of Dr. Tim's (I'm buying stock in this stuff) and it's back to 0 last night and again this morning.

I'm terrified to do water changes. Any ideas???? BTW, I've tested the tap and it has no nitrites. I also do not have ammonia.

I should also note that if I weren't testing so regularly, I probably would not have noticed anything. The fish did not seem in distress . . .

Second, related question. I'm finding that after I test (using API liquid reagent), if I leave the test tube standing around, after a few hours, it turns back into baby blue from the darker blue or light purple result. Any idea why that would occur?


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

I've seen large water changes cause the small nitrite spikes you describe in newly cycled tanks, but that was like 75-80% changes. What disrupts the bacteria I can't say for sure, but the nitrite converters are definitely more fragile in the early going than I'd like them to be. In a new tank with light stocking and feeding, I'd suggest waiting another 2-4 weeks before attempting another water change. Those nitrite levels are low enough that the Prime should detox it just fine. No reason to fear a small, brief spike.

I wouldn't spend any more on Dr Tim's. You don't need it (in your situation) and it's not likely doing anything for you. The bacteria that are already in the tank are boucing back on their own. You're not wiping them out, because if you were, you'd see massive nitrite peaks that would last a long time. So, no need to add more bacteria from a bottle. The tank's already seeded.



> Second, related question. I'm finding that after I test (using API liquid reagent), if I leave the test tube standing around, after a few hours, it turns back into baby blue from the darker blue or light purple result. Any idea why that would occur?


I don't know the reason for it, but would disregard it unless it turns back to baby blue within the five minutes you're supposed to wait. I've seen that happen when nitrite levels are very low, such as a tank that's almost cycled.

Test kit is fine, since you're not getting these same readings on your tap water. I think I'd just write this one off to some very fragile form of nitrite converters that you have going and give it time. Once they get established, they're hard to disrupt like you're seeing.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks for the response. I definitely won't be doing a water change for awhile! And I guess I will do very, very small 10 percent changes at first just to be on the safe side . . .



> Those nitrite levels are low enough that the Prime should detox it just fine. No reason to fear a small, brief spike.


But the Prime did not detox it to my satisfaction. Maybe I wasn't adding enough, but anything over .25 nitrite really gets me nervous. And it didn't seem brief to me, as the spike went up to .5-1 ppm and lasted overnight. (You should know that I lost an entire show tank of male peacocks/haps to an unexplained nitrite spike in October, so I'm particularly sensitive to this phenomenon.)


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

Are you cleaning the filters in aquarium. Do not use frsh water to clean them because you kill the biological in them.


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## jrf (Nov 10, 2009)

I believe the Nitrite tests will show the same results before and after adding Prime. At least thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s how it works with the API Ammonia test. So, I think it would be hard to say how effective the Prime was at detoxifying the nitrites.

Are you sure they donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t treat your tap water with chloramine? With chloramines in the tap, I could see a small nitrite spike happening if you have just enough nitrite oxidizing bacteria to cover the bioload of the tank.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Filters are not cleaned. They are not even being turned off!

I'm not sure whether my water has chloramines or not, but I'd expect Prime to take care of it. And a small, temporary nitrite spike would be OK, but this wasn't that . . .

Just for giggles at one point during this episode, I took a test tube of tank water, used an API reagent test for nitrite and got a light purple, say .5 ppm. Then I started adding drops of Prime directly into the test tube to see what would happen. After about 5-6 drops, the color turned back to baby blue, ostentibly, the Prime had "bound" the nitrite, rendered it at least temporarily non-toxic and caused it to stop registering. As I would expect, I guess . . .


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## jrf (Nov 10, 2009)

I re-read your original statement and see that you said your water doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t test positive for ammonia. My tap is treated with chloramines and it does show up on the API ammonia test. So, I would say youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re not dealing with chloramines.

When I was fishless cycling a tank, I managed to lose most of my nitrite oxidizing bacteria by simply removing a large rock. I get the impression that it doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t spread around the tank as quickly as the ammonia oxidizing bacteria does. However, since youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re not doing any sort of aggressive cleaning, I have no idea what the issue is.



prov356 said:


> I'd suggest waiting another 2-4 weeks before attempting another water change.


I'd go with prov's approach for dealing with it.


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