20 Gallon Tank New tank syndrome, high nitrites

Hello!
I changed my substrate from gravel to aquascaping substrate, and on the top of it, sand. As a consequence of this, I got the new tank syndrome, so I tested my water with 0.25ppm of ammonia, 0 nitrites and 5 nitrates. I used the TSS+ method, so 24 hours after a big water change, I added TSS+.
I just tested my water after 48 hours of adding TSS, and now I have 0 ammonia, 0.50 nitrites and 10 nitrates.
my question is, should I do water change to lower the nitrites, even if the TSS+ method says I should not do water change after 7 days? Or should I wait and make sure the nitrites don’t go over 1.0? I’m just making sure.
thank you

 

Do you have fish in the tank now?

Was it fully cycled before you changed the substrate?

 

Do you have fish in the tank now?

Was it fully cycled before you changed the substrate?

I have 7 harlequin rasboras and 6 albino corys, as well as 3 nerite snail and 1 amano shrimp. My tank was fully cycled before I changed the substrate, yes. I didn’t even scratch or clean any surface to keep as much bacteria as possible after changing the gravel.

 

I have 7 harlequin rasboras and 6 albino corys, as well as 3 nerite snail and 1 amano shrimp. My tank was fully cycled before I changed the substrate, yes. I didn’t even scratch or clean any surface to keep as much bacteria as possible after changing the gravel.

In that case I would do water changes to get the nitrites down, rather than leaving the fish exposed to it. There should still be the majority of your nitrifying bacteria left in your tank so this seems like more of a mini cycle to me.

 

In that case I would do water changes to get the nitrites down, rather than leaving the fish exposed to it. There should still be the majority of your nitrifying bacteria left in your tank so this seems like more of a mini cycle to me.

Ok, I’ll do it then. Thank you!