ammonia and nitrite spikes

[mathao]

is it normal for the ammonia and nitrite to spike up after rinsing the filter?
yesterday i did a water change and rinse out my canister filter in the out going bucket and today i see a spike up of nitrites and ammonia when i was testing the water.
ammonia=0.25
nitrite=0.2
nitrate=0.1
i have 3 to 3.5 month old juvies at about 3.5 inches in the tank rite now.
should i keep doing 50% water changes until everything gets back to normal or do i need to take the fishes out of the tank into another thank until everything settles down, i've been ageing the water for 24 hours then i have to add prime to it because when i test the water before i add it there is still chloromines in the water but there is no chlorine in it. Should i age the water longer before adding next time, say like three days.

[Dan]

if you cleaned all the media in the filter, you've started a mini-cycle. no need to remove the fish, keep up the daily WCs and they'll be fine. prime will detoxify ammonia(you'll get false readings on all tests but seachems ammonis test) and supposedly nitrite and nitrate, if used at 5x the normal dose.

[Foxfire]

is it normal for the ammonia and nitrite to spike up after rinsing the filter?
yesterday i did a water change and rinse out my canister filter in the out going bucket and today i see a spike up of nitrites and ammonia when i was testing the water.
ammonia=0.25
nitrite=0.2
nitrate=0.1
i have 3 to 3.5 month old juvies at about 3.5 inches in the tank rite now.
should i keep doing 50% water changes until everything gets back to normal or do i need to take the fishes out of the tank into another thank until everything settles down, i've been ageing the water for 24 hours then i have to add prime to it because when i test the water before i add it there is still chloromines in the water but there is no chlorine in it. Should i age the water longer before adding next time, say like three days.

A 50% WC will reduce those values by just 1/2 - not great but much improved; next time consider a 75% WC (which is the exact same as two 50% WC!) Consider some salt ( 1 tsp/10 gal as well as the prime.)

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

is it normal for the ammonia and nitrite to spike up after rinsing the filter?
yesterday i did a water change and rinse out my canister filter in the out going bucket and today i see a spike up of nitrites and ammonia when i was testing the water.
ammonia=0.25
nitrite=0.2
nitrate=0.1
i have 3 to 3.5 month old juvies at about 3.5 inches in the tank rite now.
should i keep doing 50% water changes until everything gets back to normal or do i need to take the fishes out of the tank into another thank until everything settles down, i've been ageing the water for 24 hours then i have to add prime to it because when i test the water before i add it there is still chloromines in the water but there is no chlorine in it. Should i age the water longer before adding next time, say like three days.

Add salt to the tank and they'll be fine. What is your pH?

-Ryan

[mathao]

the ph is around 6.2
ok, i'll add some salt to the tank and see what'll happen, thank you

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

the ph is around 6.2
ok, i'll add some salt to the tank and see what'll happen, thank you

At that pH, ammonia isnt an issue. However, the measureable nitrite's are. The chloride in the salt will help with that issue till the bio filter comes back.

-Ryan

[mathao]

they seem to be doing better now. no stress bars anymore