Question on lowering Nitrite levels.

mr_bentley78

mr_bentley78

Stupid Fish Store Guy
Aug 9, 2006
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0
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Have had 2 angelfish die in the last 2 days and one tiger barb seems to be gasping.

Ph = 7.0, temp = 80, Nitrite = 0.5

I'm pretty sure, from what I've read, that it's the nitrite level that's causing this to happen. Will a 50% water change help this, or is there anything else I should be doing?


Also, off topic, but how often do Trapdoor snails spawn? I started with 3 Trapdoor snails, and noticed a baby on the back of the last one I bought. Since then (yesterday) there are 3 new babies in the tank. Can this be leading to a problem? I have 3 adult TD snails (all that i wanted) and now have the 3 adults + 4 babies... I don't want to be swarmed by snails.
 
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I would do at least a 50% water change and then re-test and decide what to do then--when I get anywhere near a .25 nitrate reading I first do a water change and then re-test.
 
Water change, water change, water change. Do a 50% water change then test. If you come up postive for ANY nitrite then do another water change. Nitrite is very toxic to fish. Nitrate is different. Anything above 20ppm needs to have a waterchange.
 
sarcare said:
I would do at least a 50% water change and then re-test and decide what to do then--when I get anywhere near a .25 nitrate reading I first do a water change and then re-test.
Click to expand...
just a correction. I think sacare meant nitItre.

Presence of nitrite indicates a bio-filter issue. Water changes will solve the problem of water quality, but it will be good to find out how it happened to avoid it in the future. How long has the tank been set up? what size? Did you do anything recently that may have interupted your cycle?(change filter cartridges, add a large stock of new critters, etc) Have you taken amonia readings?

You will want to closely monitor your water and keep up with changes to get nitrite to 0 untill your bacteria have reestablished themselves.
 
Yep, water changes, @ 50% until the nitrite is 0.

By the way, how long has the tank been up and what is your normal maintenance schedule?
 
add aquarium salt--bout a tablespoon per 5 gallon--as well. the nitrite binds to the blood in the fish preventing oxygen uptake. the salt counter acts the nitrite. fish is able to breath this way--reduces fatality rate.

it is called "brown bood disease" if you want to google for a more accurate dosing instruction.
 
Sorry for the late replies, I had to head out to work. My wife did a 50% water change, then it still read .3 - .5, so she did another waterchange of about 30%... still reading between .3 - .5 . I was recommended at work to add some Nitrovec biostarter, and have done that now. Still not seeing any results, and I'm on well water and it's making my pump act up from using so much water =/.

It's a 55 gallon tank, has been set up about 3 weeks. I Cycled it with 20 guppies, have 2 bio stars in it. (The biostars came from an existing mature tank from work.)

Should I continue to do more water changes?
 
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yes water change till nitrite is 0. You are doing a "fishy cycle" please go to the articles section of the forum and read the entire post regarding cycling, it will solve all your problems. Im not sure what the nitrowhatever is, but 99% of comercial products do more harm than good. The only one I have heard of that actualy contains the bacteria you need is bio-spira.
 
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http://www.cavyrescue.co.uk/products/Sera-Nitrivec---500-ml.shtml

That is Nitrovec.

I had cycled my tank for about 2 weeks with 20 guppies, some of which are still very much alive.

Also, I can't see an article about cycling in the Articles section, and when i clicked a link in the "Water Chemistry for Beginners" article to the "Cycling" article, it said i did not have the correct permissions to view the page. Not sure what that's about...

I have performed maintenance 3 times in the three weeks I've had it set up.
 
Not sure about that product. Does it say anything about the TYPE of bacteria it has? It says nitrification bacteria, but i am still skeptical it is the real deal. At this point you should be doung as many WCs as needed, daily or more if neccisary.

here is a simmilar post of the article http://centralpets.com/phpscripts/PrintFriendly.php?AnimalNumber=4475
 
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