cant figure out nitrite reading

jake5757

Ok ill start over lol. My tank is a month old so far. it did spike while cycling for a bit but then 4 weeks in it leveled out and everything was were it supposed to be so i added fish. Its been a breeze for first 2 weeks but yesterday am i noticed this color change when i tested water. So i figured nitrites went out of whack so i changed carbon out with this fluval clearmax which is supposed to remove nitrites and nitrates and also threw in the nitra zorb to get it back down. also figured the cycle bacteria i added would stabilize it abit too but its still the same so ill leave it a few days and see what happens. do you guys think i should swap clearmax back to regular carbon and take nitra zorb out too.

rhymon78

Ok, makes more sense now..

But, what doesn't make sense is the colour that test has gone. I could understand it going a weird colour if you have added a load of different chemicals and that could affect things, as these ammonia and nitrite locking chemicals do weird things (which I don't understand) so the chemicals are still present but they are supposedly turned into a harmless form.. I have never used these type of chemicals so can't really comment, although I have read bad things about them..

If you had a problem with nitrite you would have noticed a purple colour.

The fact it has gone brown, or orange, to me doesn't suggest you have nitrite problems, although it is a possibility if you added all those fish at once. seeing as the tank is only 4-6 weeks old.

The only thing I can suggest for spiking levels of ammonia or nitrite in emergency is to dose heavily (as per instructions on the bottle) of the water conditioner by Seachem called PRIME. This does actually make the ammonia and nitrite harmless to the fish for around 24/36 hours, and then you want to be doing good hefty water changes too, daily, sometimes twice a day.

I would put everything back the way it was, take that zorb stuff out. do a 50% water change, make sure you use a de-chlorinator (I suggest PRIME) and leave things a day or so and observe. There is a possibility that the test has for some reason gone faulty, maybe its been near heat, or sunlight or something?? is there detergent on the test tubes maybe?

marshallsea

Yes, what he said.

jake5757

thanks guys i pulled out the nitra zorb and fluval clearmax bags and put carbon bags back in i cant do water change till tomorrow i gotta pick up a brand new gravel vac.

marshallsea

Im curious to see what happens next.

rhymon78

Yes, keep us informed. I would like to see that test go back to the right colours!

How are the fish? everyone seem ok?

Termato

I am almost 100% certainly bet you that what ever chemicals your putting in there is having a weird results with the API test.

It was blue out of the bottle and as soon as it went into the test tube it started going purple and then red.

That Nitrite test will not do that normally.

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I found this though online. I copied the most important parts...I thought. I put a link to it at the end of the quote.

That is what I found though...and the link they give as reference doesn't work.

Is your Kit Expired? Does it have a date on it? Did it when you bought it? If you can't get a 0ppm reading of Nitrite from Tap or Bottled water, then I would really look into this.
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Above you stated you did all that, but it didn't say you tested for Nitrite. This leads me to believe it is the stuff you put in there.

Can you do me a favor and take a test sample from your tap water and test that with the Nitrite test.

This will serve as a control group and see if it is the test or your water. If you get weird results, try bottled water.

Let me know what you get.

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Also, I agree with rhymon78 on this one. Get Prime water conditioner. It will neutralize all harmful metals and Nitrogen based chemicals in the water. This will assure the safety of the fish.

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Another point of concern:

Ammonia 0.25
PH 8
Nitrite ????
Nitrate 10ppm

Read more: cant figure out nitrite reading

You should not be reading ammonia in a cycled tank. Your water change will be essential right now.

I would test the water for Ammonia and Nitrite (once u get the nitrite solution fixed) every other day until you get 0ppm on both.

My guess is that when you added the fish, you added too many at once. This shocked the system and caused a mini cycle. I have had this happen. Just keep watch of the tank and its parameters.

jake5757

so i tested nitrite from my tap water and its blue. Funny thing is both have always been 0 ppm when tested untill the other day and those fish have been in there for awhile. think ur right on the mini cycle though but we will get this right. im working on a 50 percent water change as we speak on the 60 gallon and i have my new back up 10 gallon cycling right now today so if anything happens in near future i can temporarily put them in that one.they seem fine today besides a couple of the tiger barbs seem to swim and be rubbing on the plants here and there but dont see any signs of itch either. there is a gray hairy matter growing on the plants is that good bacteria or algae starting. my plecos are enjoying life too right now. lots of action in the tank today. when i first added fish though i only had two bala sharks (temporarily till i get a 150 gallon) and three tigers and started with the others a week ago.

marshallsea

Glancing off of items can be a sign of water problems.

jake5757

yup figured so well ill do on 50 % today and one in another 3 days maybe