Nitrite in established tank. Need advice, quick.

zenseed75

zenseed75

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Feb 22, 2008
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Okay, I have the thread going on about my 400l tank and all the problems. Well, the congo is now blind (I've been hand feeding him), my algae eater keeps getting bigger, and all the other signs are still going on. I've been doing water changes, 25%, 15%, 30%, and so on and put an activated carbon filter in.

Well, I didn't get to do one last night because I worked a crazy long day so when I got home today I tested the water and the jbl kit said i had nitrites of .8, ph 7, kh 3, ammonia 0, nitrate 80. I tested it with my API kit and it said I had 0 nitrite.

I did a 40% water change and cleaned an ungodly amount of poo (seriously, a LOT!) out of my filter system, took all the filters out and cleaned all around and rinsed them off with tank water exchanged my oldest fine filter and rinsed it with tank water also. Let the tank cycle for an hour then tested the water again. PH 7, kh 3, nitrate only went down to 60! after all that poo I couldn't believe it!, ammonia 0, and the jbl kit is saying my nitrite is at 1, api says 0.

I don't know which to believe. I ran the jbl kit 2 times to make sure and even ran it on my tap water. Tap was fine. Where is this nitrite coming from? Which kit is more realiable in your alls eyes? I have some Nitri Zero and was wondering if I should use it.
 
API is the most recommended on this forum, however, to be safe I would do a couple more water changes when you can. I am not familiar with the other brand...

How old is each test kit? I assume you are following the directions correctly.
 
Both are farely new. I'm running the API test again because when I went back to empty it it have a reading of .25. But that was long after the 5 minutes was up but its never done that before.
 
Just did the API test again and it says 0. I don't know why it is showing them so high when API says 0. I have had 0 readings on the JBL kit a few times on my tank water and always on my tap water. So frustrating.
 
actually I find that while the colour intensifies on an API kit left to sit for a few hours, the reading for ammonia & nitrite at 0 becomes even more apparent - nice golden yellow, and a rich blue.

if I left for an hour and either went greenish/purpleish I would consider that a positive reading for ammonia and nitrite respectively...and water change accordingly.
 
Both are liquid kits. I was doing water changes every 1 to three weeks before I started kicking up the pace to lower the nitrates. Those buggers are kicking me in the rear.

I did a very low dose (only put 20 drops in as opposed to the recommended 90) of Nitri Zero made by ELOS before bed last night. I am doing another nitrite test as we speak with the JBL kit and it is showing down to .1. I have lost faith in API. API is all I used since October. I wonder how many times my Nitrite has been up and I thought everything was hunky dory.

I'll do another exchange tonight when I get home.
 
How old is the API kit?... Meaning what is the date code on the bottle. It doesnt always matter if you just bought them, sometimes folks buy them just to find out they are 3yrs+ old and already expired.

I seem to get false readings on my Seachem nitrite test kit... but only the very first reading, .05. I think perhaps its just overly sensitive, not sure. All my tanks seem to get this reading, even my tap. The only time I can get it to show 0 is with distilled water.

I wonder if anyone has actually tested nitrite kits against a standard? Usually I dont put a whole lot of faith in the accuracy of any of these test kits really.
 
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