Little help.

[paveking1]

I am having some problems with my new 500 gal shark& ray tank .I have 2 bamboos & bluespot ray.My little pup bamboo died today & i didn't know why .I did my water checks & found my nitrites went to 1.0 .What would have caused this the ammonia is 0 & nitrates are like 5 .Do you think there wasn't enough benifical bacteria to handle the load of the sharks & ray? What to do now?

 

[LauraCline]

So sorry to hear about your bamboo pup. How long has the tank been running and how much LR/LS do you have? If the tank is too new and too much load is placed on it, there may not be enough beneficial bacteria. How are the other shark and the ray doing? How long after the pup expired did you discover him? Is it possible he passed due to other reasons and then caused the spike? All you can do is keep an eye on things, keep oxygenation levels high, and try to get get the nitrites and nitrates to 0.

 

[ladyshark]

That's bad news--very sorry to hear about your loss. Its possible your tank was at the tail end of the new cycling process, when Ammonia goes down, converts to Nitrite and Nitrate. Its my understanding that trites and trates are not so toxic/lethal as ammonia, but I also believe its not good to have high levels as you described.

I think a larger than usual water change is in order. Also, I know some people use Prime to neutralize nitrites and nitrates, esp in emergencies--you may want to pick some up and treat your tank to protect your other inhabitants.

I hope it resolves quickly for you.

 

[paveking1]

I have around 400lbs of live rock the sand is new sand .I did add some more rock out of reef tank to help.I tested the nitrites this morning & they are down to .25 from 1.0 so i'm making progress.Keep my fingers crossed that the other 2 are ok .Thanks for the kind words & help.