established tank seems like its doing a cycle

[matt2426]

need some help here my situation had a establised tank since last oct. i had one of my filters break i had two fluval 405s running my 125 gallon tank one broke down so i ordered a fluval fx5 put all new media in it new rings and sponges and put all the old bio rings from the broken 405 into the working 405 so i have 1 405 and 1 fx5 running right now been running like this since wendesday now my quesiton or concern is that all the parmeters have flucuated like the tank is going through a cycle amonia is still fine nitrite is bad above a 1.0 on the (api test) nitrtate is around a 20ppm ph is 7.8 any suggestion would help thanks

[David Rose]

Add a tablespoon of salt/10gals until the filters catch up to help prevent nitrite poisoning and monitor parameters daily. You could also use PRIME or SAFE to detoxify.

[nc0gnet0]

Your tank is going through a mini-cycle. Not unusual in the case you described. On the plus side it will recover much faster than a virgin cycle, typically 3-7 days.

Nitrosomonas is the strain of bacteria that breaks down ammonia to nitrite. It is generally thought of as the hardier of the two beneficial bacteria found in your filter, and the first to become estalished.

Nitro bacter are the bacteria that then takes this nitrite and further breaks it down into nitrate. It is generally the more fragile of the two, and the last to become established in the filter. For starters, nitro bacter has no food source until the nitrosomonas is estalished. For this reason, it is always the last phase of cycling a filter to take place, and why simply monitoring for ammonia in a new setup is not suffice.

Nitrite poisining is much more deadly at higher Ph's. Adding salt during this process is one god way to go. Other products out there will detoxify it as well, as Dave mentioned Prime, Safe, ammo lock, etc. But, water changes should always be your first line of defense.

A 50% water change will reduce your nitites by.....50%. As I am sure you know however, two 25% water changes does not equal one 50% water change.

[kaceyo]

Definitly use the salt if there is nitrite in the tank rather than depend on your water conditioner to detox it. It's questionable whether or not water conditioners actually detox nitrite even though they claim to. Step up your wc schedule until the nitrite disappears.

[matt2426]

thanks for the responses everyone nitrite levels are coming down today when i tested it. its not at 0 yet but coming down thanks

[David Rose]

Glad to hear it Matt... do let us know how you like your new FX5 after you've had is running awhile.

Take care,
David