siopaopao

Hi! i'm a fairly new aquarium keeper. i have a 10 g tank that i'm having "problems" with water readings. my ammonia reading says it's zero, have normal nitrates, but very high nitrite reading. is this possible and what could be causing this? thanks!

sirdarksol

A mini-cycle could be causing it; something that killed off some of the bacteria.
An overloaded tank may be causing it, too.
Or a mistake in the testing.
Or something I'm missing entirely.

Welcome to Fishlore!

Lucy

Hi Welcome to Fish Lore

I agree with sir.
How many of each fish do you have?
Sounds like you need to do some water changes.

siopaopao

i do water changes regularly because of the high nitrite readings.a week ago i had ammonia spikes and normal nitrite and nitrate readings. as for the fish, i have 4 guppies and 2 corys in a 10gal tank.

Lucy

Slightly overstocked, but managable with at the very least water changes once a week.

I'd step up the water changes, like daily, to get the nitrites under control, they're are toxic to your fish.

MissMTS

It sounds like you are at the tail end of your cycle or your minicyle. This is how it works:
Ammonia Spike, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0
Ammonia Zero, Nitrites Spike, Nitrates low reading
Ammonia Zero, Nitrites Zero, Nitrates Normal
Obviously it takes a while for the tank to go through this process, but just be patient and keep doing your water changes. You are almost there!

jdhef

Did you by any chance change out your filter media lately. If you did, it would put you into a mini-cycle since the bulk of beneficial bacteria is in the filter media. You should only change the filter media when it is totally falling apart, but you should rinse it out in dirty tank water with every water change.

siopaopao

that's the thing, i know my tank is not going through a mini-cycle because i haven't replaced the filter. i just rinse it out with tank water when i do water changes.also read that my tank's about to finish it's cycle.good to know that.thanks for the info.i'll keep all of you posted.

lilsoccakid

i would agree that it could be going through a mini cycle. i would use prime to keep the fish safe

acidpope

Could be your tests. Most LFS give free water tests if you bring in a sample. A second opinion is always nice to have. If it's free, no harm no foul.