Nitrites won't lower - help!

B

bobandfiona

AC Members
Dec 13, 2005
114
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0
Dallas, TX
Nitrites UPDATE!

Ok, so I have had my 26gallon going for over 10 months...no problems. Had a bad ich problem 5 months ago, lost all but 2 fish. I waited a long time to add more. I also changed my entire filtration system from a whisper to a bio-wheel with filter (more powerful). Its a filter system built for 55 gallons, so it is doing well. But, obviously, changing that created a new cycle. (changed the filter approx 3 wks ago). Now, I am not sure if I am in the middle of a cycle or what is going on...the Nitrites are through the roof (5.0 or greater...I don't know exactly because the test only goes that high) Here are my tank readings since I redid the filtration system...
12/14
pH 7.8
ammonia 0
Nitrite (NO2) .25
Nitrate(NO3) 90

50% water change 12/15
pH 7.8
ammonia .30
NO2 0
NO3 8

12/16
pH 7.6
amm .5
NO2 .25
NO3 10

12/17
pH 7.6
amm 1.0
NO2 .25
NO3 0

12/18
pH 7.6
amm 1.0
NO2 1.0
NO3 .5

12/20 (25% water change)
pH 7.6
amm 1.0
NO2 .25
NO3 0

12/24
pH 7.8
amm .75
NO2 5 or more (magenta)
NO3 60

12/27
pH 7.8
amm .25
NO2 5 or more
NO3 60
(did 50% water change and vacuumed gravel and cleaned all decorations)

Today
pH 7.6
amm .25
NO2 5 or more
NO3 20

Any ideas why my Nitrites won't go down? I am using double filtered tap water for my water changes which tests out at pH7.8, 0ammonia, 0nitirites, 0nitrates?

Should I add a nitrite eliminating medication like AmQuel?
 
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The best would be to do water changes to get the Nitrites down. Do 50% water changes 12 hours apart to bring the Nitrites below 1.0. 5.0 is a lethal dose. Add a 0.3% salt solution to your tank to prevent Nitrite uptake by the fish (Do it slowly and measure very well so you don't shut down you biofilter like I happened to do recently :hang: ) What works for me is filling up a bucket with tank water and dissolving the salt in there. Then using an airline to siphon the salt solution into the tank gradually as far from the filter as possible so the salt solution will be diluted when it enters the filter (If you have a filter the brine solution will mix in the tank rather quickly). I use a glass to weight the airline down. If you are worried about using salt, get a hydrometer to measure the salt concentration. I use a hydrometer by marineland which is made out of plastic and can measure very low concentrations of salt. Get the specific gravity of your tapwater and raise your tank's specific gravity 0.003 higher with salt. Which is the same as exactly 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) per gallon.
 
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Keep the salt solution in and the nitrites below 1.0 while you wait for the Nitrite Crash to happen. After that, you can remove the salt by doing normal waterchanges. Next time you change filters, keep both of them running or at least transfer the old cartridge in front of the new cartridge in the new filter to preserve your bacteria.
 
Thanks for responding - i was beginning to worry if anyone would see it...I have alot of salt in there now - I was treating with high temp and salt for new ich outbreak...everyone seems to be fine...but I didn't have the carbon filter in until yesterday...maybe that brought the nitrites high? I am going to petsmart/petco now and I will get a hydrometer for salt reading and repost...any help later would be greatly appreciated once I find out how high my salt is...

In the meantime, main suggestion is do 50% water changes every 12 hours, correct? :help:
 
rrkss said:
Next time you change filters, keep both of them running or at least transfer the old cartridge in front of the new cartridge in the new filter to preserve your bacteria.
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I know that now with the help of this site...that's how I found my way here was when I switched filters...oh well, at least now I know...and I am glad I found this place.
 
I pretty much have the same problem with Nitrites. I started a 10g tank around thanksgiving, with about 10 goldfish. With feedings every other day, Ammonia was kept at around 2.0 - 4.0. A week and a half ago, just after the ammonia crashed to 0.0, I left the power off for about 3 hours. Now Nitrites have spiked to above 5.0 (color changes to magenta in less than 5 mins. - tetramin 5 mL test vial). Even with 2gal. water changes twice a day, the Nitirte level won't drop. About how long will it take for the nitrite level to crash? I've removed 3 fish already, and one has died.
 
Even with 2gal. water changes twice a day, the Nitirte level won't drop. About how long will it take for the nitrite level to crash?
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2 20% a day will not reduce levels very quickly. Try two 70% about 2 hours apart and re-test. If nitrites were at 5 and you did two 20% changes you would only drop the level to 3.2 ppm. Even with no more production of nitrites that isn't enough to help. With that many fish in the tank, production of nitrites will be very high so the water changes probably weren't enough to do much of anything in the big picture.

dave
 
Something else that may help you out...

Get some live plants in there if you don't have any.

Anachairis should help for the long run and if there's enough light, will really get busy on the numbers!
 
kmail5776 said:
I pretty much have the same problem with Nitrites. I started a 10g tank around thanksgiving, with about 10 goldfish.
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10 goldfish are way to many fish for a 10 gallon tank. Each fully grown goldfish needs about 20 gallons of water to do at their best. Even though you are now down to 7, you are going to be struggling with that 10 gallon tank for a while. I know it looks beautiful but it is not healthy.
 
bobandfiona said:
In the meantime, main suggestion is do 50% water changes every 12 hours, correct? :help:
Click to expand...

Yes, do that every 12 hours to bring the Nitrites down below 1.0. This is to prevent the fish from getting overstressed due to dissolved gasses in the water. 12 hours will be suffficient time to allow the water to stabilize while still quickly removing the Nitrites. The salt suggestion works because chloride ions are lighter than nitrite ions and with a greater concentration of chloride ions, you reduce nitrite uptake preventing brown blood syndrome.
 
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