constant 50ppm nitrite!!

[krystina]

My fishtank just doesn't want to cycle.
I recently upgraded to a 60L tank.
My tank would cycle within 3 days when I had a few small goldfish and comets.
I use a HOB filter with the 3 sponges. I replaced one sponge with the ceramic chunks you buy at the petshop in hopes that it'll act as a breeding ground for good bacteria, but it doesn't seem to be working.

I tested my tank ppms a at the start of the week and at the end of the week (7 days). It was fine at the start, then at the end my ppms were;
pH; 7.5
Ammonia; 0
Nitrite; 5.0
Nitrate; 0
My first instinct was to "DO A WATER CHANGE!!"
Did 20%, tested the water after I changed it and tested again 5 hours later.
No change in ppm what so ever.
Next day, tested the water, nitrite was still 5.0, did a 50% water change.
Still, not a smidge lower.
The same day, only about 5 hours later, I did another 50% water change.
The nitrite was still at 5.0ppm.

Today, I did another 50% water change.
pH; 7.5
Ammonia; 0
Nitrite; 5.0
Nitrate; 10ppm
Nitrite is just stuck at 5.0ppm.
Nothing is diluting it!!
I went and brought a bottle of Bio Booster and put it in the tank every day but it has no effect. It's been a week now with the Booster.
I put food in the filter to try kick start the biological filter, but it's not working ):
I have 2 airstones and lots of things for bacteria to stick to.
The water in my tank is 2 weeks old, but I'm always doing PWC.

I have 5 baby fancies, 2 baby comets and 4 guppies.
One of my fancies looked a bit 'out of it' this morning.

Should I just clean out my tank fully and start again?
First I had a massive Ammonia problem that stuck at 8.0, I'm not sure how it went away but now Nitrite is a massive problem.

Please please help, I have no idea what I should do ):
Should I do a fishless cycle? I'd only have a tub to stick them in.

[Stew_822]

No. You should have fishlessly cycled your tank, but it's a bit late for that now. If I were you, I'd get a nirite detoxifier and wait until the nitrites turn into nirates. It will happen. Tanks usually take 2-3-4 weeks to cycle. Prime seachem works as a detoxifier.

But def. do not start over, that'll bring on another ammonia spike followed by this nirrite spike. Do you have any other tanks? Maybe you could get a bit of filter media from them and swap it with your current ones?

[krystina]

I ended up restarting my tank. Cleaned out everything and rinsed my filter media in old tank water. I don't have another tank, my 50L sprung a leak and I got left with a 70L tank from my sister which I'm using now.
I left my tank for 3 days and tested the ppms. All came up as 0.
Second day, all 0.
Third day, all 0.
I put 3 fancies in the tank and gave them a little bit of food, they gobbled it all up.
Tested the levels, all 0.
Tested the levels the next day and Ammonia was 0 but Nitrite was at 0.25
Ammonia converts to Nitrite, so there must of been SOME level of Ammonia present :S
Tested the tank today and the Ammonia is at 0.25 and Nitrite was at 0.50

It seems that my tank just skipped the Ammonia spike again!

I have a 20L container so I put a filter in that bucket and put the 3 fancies back in there with the other fish. Just going to let the main tank run for tonight and tomorrow and see what happens. I'm going to the petshop tomorrow, I live in Australia and I don't think they sell Prime here, or where I live. I was going to ask if I could use some of their filter material from their tank.

If I went to the river and got a rock/branch from the stream with a bit of alge/moss on it, would it help my bio filter along?

[Stew_822]

I don't think the rock/branch would help with the bacteria, but the moss might eat a bit of the bad stuff. It probably won't help that much, though.

In your 20L container, is the filter in there cycled?

[krystina]

The filter in the 20L isn't cycled.
I've been using alot of the Bio Booster but it has no effect, nor do PWC's.
This has never happened to me so sevearly before :(
Going to the pet shop today to see what they think.
Apparently alot of people have been having ppm problems in my town, they think it's because of the high calcium levels in our tap water during this time of the year.

[Stew_822]

Oh well, good luck with it mate. If I were you, I'd leave the fish in the big tank & wait 'til it cycles, doing as many water changes as nessicery to keep ammonia at or below 0.25. I'd also buy an ammonia detoxifier. Or some Bio-Spira. The Bio-Spira should really help to cycle your tank.