Water levels all gone to pot!!

[adam]

I don't understand whats happening!
I have just checked stevie boy's water and his levels are all over the place!
amonia 0
nitrite 0.25
nitrate 75

i've just done a water change.
Recently removed a plant that was starting to die and also took some river stones out.

His levels have been stable for months untill now.

Anyone know why this might be happening?
Or any suggestions on how to sort it out?

 

[karrie]

Is it cycle again maybe? Did you do any thing to the filter? Did you take the plant out before or after you noticed the levels?

 

[heihei]

could also have been the removal of riverstones, which would have contained the good bacteria, which is why it might be going through a cycle? How big a waterchange did you do. The nitrate seems high tho. Maybe try to do a few daily 10-20% waterchanges. What did you replace the riverstones with?

 

[jennifer]

The high nitrate is normal for a cycled tank. The amount of nitrite is small, not enough to be harmful. It suggests that you may have had a mini-cycle. The dieing plant probably released a bunch of extra nutrients into the water, that could be part of it. Doesn't sound like a big problem, hehei's advice is what I would say - a few extra water changes and you'll be fine.

 

[adam]

I had changed half the filter pads about 3 weeks ago. left some old ones in so there was still some bacteria, hoping that it would soon spread.
i removed the river stones the day before i checked the water. would it effect the tank that quickly?
I will continue doing small water changes daily, hopefully it'll sort it out.

on the plus side, since i removed the plant the little white worm things that were on the inside of the tank have gone and the slick on the surface has gone!