# Nitrate/Nitrite through the roof!



## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

Hello all,

I have a 75G AC tank which i have had running now for about two months. I have about 20 cichlids ranging from 1.5" to about 4" everything has been going great so far all the levels have been normal and the fish have looked healthy...until this morning. I noticed one of my bigger cichlids was looking kind of pale and lazy and when i tested the water my nitrate and nitrite levels were extremely high. I did a 75% water change as quick as i could and thought everything would be okay but i tested the water again tonight at about midnight and the ni/na levels were still really high! i cleaned the gravel as best i could when i did the first water change. am i doing something wrong? HELP!


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Some questions first...

Did you cycle the tank? When you say extremely high levels, what exactly (in PPM) are the readings? Count all your fish too and make sure you don't have a dead one somewhere behind a rock in the tank because that can make your levels shoot up. How often have you been doing water changes before this? what are your readings before and after previous water changes? What filter are you running?


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## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

I did cycle the tank. *** been using test strips so i dont know the exact levels but they were rated to be "unsafe" I took our a dead fish today that i didnt notice as he was behind a rock system could that have been it? i do weekly 25% water changes and treat my water with aquasafe plus before i put it in. i am running 2 penguin 350 filters


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Yep the dead fish could very well be it. When a fish dies it releases things into the water that can cause the levels to rise pretty quickly. Since you found him and got him out I would probably go ahead and do another good size water change today and then retest later after the water change and see what you get. I'd suggest picking up an API freshwater master test kit as well (about $25 online). They are much more accurate than strips and will help you to monitor exactly what is going on.


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## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

Thanks for the help steve!

I went to my LFS and bought that exact kit. I tested the water and the nitrite levels were above 5ppm. I did a 40% water change and tested the water again and i get pretty much the same result! the nitrate was gone but the nitrite levels were still at about 5ppm! idk what to do here! between yesterday and today *** changed most of the water and the levels are still high! i tested my tap water to be sure it wasnt coming from there and its not my tap water has 0ppm of both nitrate and nitrite.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Test your ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate again and tell us what the reading are. If your tank was cycled and now it's showing Nitrite again then it could be going through a mini cycle. Have you disturbed/changed/cleaned the filter recently at all?

Let me know the readings for all three of those things and we'll trying get you back on track.


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## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

I did change the pad things in the filter in the filter a few days ago. my readings were nitrite=~5ppm, nitrate=0ppm, ammonia=0ppm. Some of my fish are really starting to look bad. Kind of panicking here a little


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

You should have some sort of Nitrate reading in a cycled tank even soon after a water change, especially with 20 fish, so it's odd that you have 0 Nitrate. A mini cycle would give you a Nitrite spike, but 5ppm is pretty high.

Best advice I can give you is to do a large water change each day to try to get that nitrite down, and add a double dose of PRIME after each water change because that will help to detoxify the nitrite as well. If you are simply going through a mini cycle perhaps due to the filter change+dead fish then the water changes and adding PRIME will most likely be enough to keep your fish safe, but it might take a week or 10 days of doing that till your past the mini cycle.

Maybe someone else can help add something, but that's kind'a my thoughts(mini cycle) after reading what your saying unless I'm missing something. Keep us posted on whats happening.


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## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

okay well thank you so much for all your help!


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

How are the fish looking today?


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## k7gixxerguy (Jan 12, 2012)

I do larger water changes, upwards of 60-75% as long as you can match the temp well. Make sure that you also are flushing out the filter material in tank water. I have also found that the bottom of my HOBs hold a lot of detritus after pulling the material out of them so be sure to dump them out as well if yours do this.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Do 75% a week. You have some active traffic, and only to get bigger. What do you have in the 350's? Might be time to biological mod.


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## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

Thanks guys I did a 70% water change yesterday and it didn't change the nitrite levels much


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## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

I've done the following water changes:

Saturday 75%
Sunday 40%
Monday 60%
Tuesday 60%

And my nitrite levels are virtually the same I mean after today's water change they looked a little better maybe 2-3ppm but still I've changed out all of the water where is the nitrate coming from?!


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## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

Oh and my ammonia and Nitrate levels are still at 0ppm


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Looks like you might still be cycling. What's the water reading out of the tap.


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## Call_me_Tom (Feb 11, 2013)

Do you have a canister filter? Have you checked the bottom of the filter for buildup of material?


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## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

i have 2 penguin 350s. and the water reading our of hte tap is good no ammonia, no na/ni, just a little chlorine (which i take out with prime). If im still cycling will large water changes affect the cycling process?


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Yes it'll effect the process of cycling. So i'd not do water changes til the nitrites are high, as you need it to start jumping over to nitrates readings. Thats my theory anyways why theres nitrites, but no nitrates, your still cycling.


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## jraccah1 (Feb 21, 2013)

What level should I keep my nitrites at to maintain the cycling process?


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

I'd not let it climb over 20ppm. When you get nitrate readings cap it at 50ppm. Normal when cycled should be capped at 20 ppm, and 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia. Shouldn't take long for the nitrate stage to start if it hasn't already. From what I've read 10% daily water changes, and no more then 10% during a cycle won't hurt the cycle process, and might actually speed it up.


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## swimmingwiththefish (Aug 23, 2012)

Make sure you are mixing nitrate bottle #2 VERY well. Bang it on a table for 60 seconds or so. Bottle #2 has crystals that settle on the bottom of the bottle. If not mixed correctly it can cause inaccurate results.


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