Hey guys, I did a 60% water change a few days ago for my 12 gallon, and my tank is undergoing a mini cycle *I think*. I checked my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels, and all but my nitrites are at optimum levels, at 0 ppm for ammonia and 10-20 ppm for nitrates. However, my nitrites are at 2 ppm. I did 2 water changes of 25% each so far, but the nitrite is still at 2 ppm. I added tetra safestart today, so hopefully it'll help. I also did replace my 8" air stone with a sponge filter, so potentially I lost some colonies of bacteria that were growing on that. However, my fish are not stressed at all, and aren't showing any signs of nitrite poisoning. They're eating fine, swimming fine, not gasping for air, not getting any brown spots, no rapid gill movements, and no lethargic actions. Also, all the snails and shrimp I have show no signs of stress. I did add activated carbon and purigen to help clear my water up of tannins, and I did clean my old filter cartridge *in a bucket of old tank water, shook it loose of any organic material left on it*. Maybe I shook too hard and took out the good bacteria colonies?
Anyways, I'm just wondering if this really is a mini-cycle, or a false reading from my API liquid tests. Thanks!
Anyways, I'm just wondering if this really is a mini-cycle, or a false reading from my API liquid tests. Thanks!