Nitrite, Nitrate tests, can someone tell me if they are good or not?

S

simple_mr2

AC Members
Jan 11, 2005
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i tested for them both today, and....

nitrite=5, but im not sure what the units are, the only units i can find on the paper that came with it are mg/l
nitrate=1


are these to high, or are they good


thanks
jared
 
i think anything over 0 is high. i dont think levels slightly over 0 will kill fish over night, but if fish are exposed to high levels over a period of time they probably will get sick or die.
 
Five is probably very extremely bad you want your nitrites to be at 0 or so close that your test kit can't tell the difference. I'd do an emergency water change and try to figure out why my nitrites and possibly nitrates are high . Nitrite is toxic The units "mg/L" are the same as "ppm", just another way of saying or writing it. One (1) grain per gallon = 17.1 ppm. To convert to gpg, divide your total mg/L (or ppm) by 17.1. Anything over 5 ppm is toxic.
I would do a big water change my self if my test kit reads anything over about .2 . IME the paper strips don't work worth a darn they are easy to misread. More importantly they are far more sensitive to environmental conditions like humidity and two year olds touching everything within reach. :)
Also where there is nitrite there must also be nitrate. Just wondering what your reading there was it's also toxic just not as toxic as nitrite.
hth
Chris :)
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=SF1127&ast=&key=
 
Actually Nitrite and Nitrate is virtually hardly Toxic in those concentrations to fish, even as high as 80ppm doesnt seem to have much of an impact. However to some inverts thats another story :)
 
so do a water change and take a test, i think one of the reasons in might be high is, i have been using tap water(i know, i know), so should i go to the grocery and get some RO water?everytime i look for RO water, i can never find, what should i look for? does the jug say, RO water on it?
 
oops sorry Mr2 I keep a reef and for some reason I apply the lowest tolerance to all my critters so Geal is correct. Yup, I'd use the ro water from the store your water might be causing you the trouple. The jug will say water purified via reverse osmosis or something like that. What all do you have in your tank critters, pumps do you have crushed coral and how old is your tank?
 
i think i found the problem, i took out 4 gallons of my water,(i used that 4 gallons for a quarentine tank that i started) and added 4 gallons of RO water(with apropriate salt mixture) and now.....


SG=1.020
nitrite=less than 0.1
nitrate=around 2 or 3


thats alot better right, i used RO water this time :D , so i will test next time i do a water change and see what is going on,

i have...
11gallon
2.5lbs of live rock(i know, i know, im getting more when my next pay check comes around)
3 snails
1 mythrax(?) crab
1 yellow tail damsel
1 niger triggerfish( I KNOW HE IS TO SMALL FOR A 11, i am starting to cycle a 120gallon over spring break ;) )
no crush coral, or coral of any kind
tank has been runnin with live rock since jan 11th
with fish and snails for about a week and a half


thanks
jared
 
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