My Nitrite is REALLY high HELP?!?!

B

Bar16

AC Members
Dec 24, 2005
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I Have a 75g FO tank with an undergravel filter. Its been up and running for about 5 months now i have a Lion and a moray eel. I had a california Stingray but he died last week the first fish i have lost. Anyway i did my tests today for ph amonia nitrates and nitrites everything is perfect expect my nitrites are high TOO high. I did a 30 % change today and just tested it again and still TOO high. Im getting a canister filter in 6 days to go along with the undergravel filter. Is there anything else i can do in the mean time to get the nitrites down?

:help:
 
It sounds like your biological filter has either crashed or is overloaded. Nitrite by itself is not very dangerous to marine fish, but something is clearly out of whack. With two messy eaters like the lion and eel, it seems likely that the problem is that the UG filter simply can't keep up. With a load like that, a canister will do some good, but a wet/dry or fluidized bed may be a better way to go.

Like LittlePuff said, more water changes will help keep things under control until the problem is taken care of.
 
you said you were getting a canister in a few days, but what other filtration do you have? powerheads? what type of substrate are you using with this system?
IMO undergravel filters are pointless, it houses a lot of waste along with bacteria; but some of that needs to be removed through water changes, you can't remove the waste without taking out the undergravel filter, so it will all sit there and accumulate. Also, these filters tend to clog easily from the build up of waste. This may be the cause. IMO no second thoughts get rid of that garbage!
 
High NO2 with no NO3 or NH2 (if I'm reading correctly) is wierd.

What are your exact results?

What kind of test kit are you using and have you used it before for SW?
 
I agree. Throw out that UG filter when you add the canister. Nothing but problems from those things. That might rid you of some unfriendly bacteria.
 
I have two 301 powerheads and i use crushed coral. The readings for the nitrate was 0 and the reading for Nitrite is around 5 i use the quick dip stick. The amonia is also 0 i use the droper for testing that. I added some stress zyme last nite hopefully that will lower a little bit before i get my canister.

75 gallon Fish Only
1 Volitan Lion
1 Snowflake Moray Eel
1 Clown Trigger
 
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