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Disappearing Nitrites and still no Nitrates, please help!

14K views 47 replies 6 participants last post by  whitecloud34 
#1 · (Edited)
I really don't know what to do now or even know what went wrong. My tank has been cycling for just over 4 weeks now and last Tues. I finally got a low NitrIte reading of .25. The ammonia, which had been steadily right between 1.0 and 2.0 became a definite 1.0 and the NitrAtes was 0. I left the tank alone until today...No water changes, no testing, no adding fish, etc.

Today I just tested again and the pH went to 6.0 from like 6.4 on Tues. The ammonia was back up at 2.0 and the NitrItes was back to 0. Still 0 for NitrAtes.

What is going on? When I saw the Nitrite reading on Tues. I assumed there was great progress but now it's at 0? And still 0 Nitrates?

I have some goldfish and paradise fish in there and they are doing fine. 20 gallon temp. 76 no live plants. I use Prime. Please tell me if this with the nitrItes is normal and what to expect from here?
 
#44 ·
Ok, new update: so now that I know there is something wrong going inside the tank and it isn't the tap water itself, I've taken a handful of gravel and put it in a cup and will let it sit overnight and I'll see if the pH drops in there. I also took out the castle and have it sitting in water overnight so Iwill test that also. I'm really hoping it's the castle because that'd be the easier culprit, but I doubt it!:shock: I forgot-- I do have another filter that came with the tank set up and I've never used it and it has two different sets of catridges in it. I don't know what kind it is though; it has no name on it and it came with the tank setup and its box was just a cardboard box without anything written or pictured on it so that's why I chose to purchase my Aqueon filter. But if the pH doesn't drop in any of my new experiments I will try switching filters. I don't know if a filter is capable of crashing my pH though.

Just did a 15% water change and the pH is currently 7.0. Will post results tomorrow.
 
#45 ·
Well I discovered the problem! :-D It's the gravel. I left a handful of the gravel in a cup overnight in 7.0 pH and this morning it was about 6.6. I tested the water the castle was kept in and it was fine. I went on Google and did a search and discovered someone else had my same problem with pH constantly crashing and they had the same exact gravel I had: black coated gravel from Petco. I am going to scoop it all out with a strainer today and do a 20% water change and hopefully the problem will go away. Hopefully the tank won't get too messy without gravel for a while as it will be a little time before I can get some new gravel. This time I am getting the natural un-coated kind. Hopefully there won't be a problem with it. I will post in a few days my pH results and I'm really hoping things will get better with my tank!
 
#47 ·
Sorry I was away for a few days, it couldn't be helped. I'm pleased to see that you discovered what was crashing the pH. Do you know the name brand of the gravel that was the culprit? It is important that the company making/producing this stuff knows that it is causing problems.... and its even more important to let others know what it is so that they can avoid it.
 
#48 ·
Sorry I was away for a few days, it couldn't be helped. I'm pleased to see that you discovered what was crashing the pH. Do you know the name brand of the gravel that was the culprit? It is important that the company making/producing this stuff knows that it is causing problems.... and its even more important to let others know what it is so that they can avoid it.
It was Petco's brand.Black coated gravel. It even says on the bag, "Will not alter water chemistry." Thank you for all your help! I didn't even consider leaving aquarium water out in a cup overnight. Thanks again Dawn. :)
 
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