My ammonia level has dropped and the Nitrite spiked and has seemed to level off at 2ppm and its not budging. I have changed the water twice in the last two days and it stays the same. Could the UV be killing off the bacteria? My fish do not seem to be stressed but thats probably because of the salt. HELP. Karen
Stuck with High Nitrite
- Thread starter karenj
- Start date
karenj said:
I would think the opposite, your fish ARE stressed and you need to do more water changes. 2PPM of Nitrites are very Unexceptable. You will damage your fish for life. Start doing more water changes. Make sure Salinity is the same and the temp.
Good Luck
mostlycichlids
Cichlid Specialist
Try changing 50-60% of the water to start see if it drops after 24 hours. If not start doing 25% water changes daily to every other day until it drops. Just water dont vac the gravel. also you may want to use prime to neaturalize the toxicicity of the nitrites.
This is a SW tank, right? Nitrites are harmless in SW. It indicates that something is happening, but it's not harmful for the fish because the salt protects the fish from nitrite toxicity. The only reason to test for nitrites in SW is to monitor the cycle.
How long has it been at 2 ppm? Nitrites tend to hang on at the same level for longer, than drop dramatically semmingly overnight.
Is this a UV sterilizer? If so, you don't need to run one. It's not causing this issue, because the bacteria are not free floating in the water column, but rather are attached to objects in the tank (rock, sand, etc). But, UV sterilizers do kill off a number of good free floating 'critters'--micro fauna larvae, etc. They do more damage than good, IMO, particularly if you're wanting a reef.
How long has it been at 2 ppm? Nitrites tend to hang on at the same level for longer, than drop dramatically semmingly overnight.
Is this a UV sterilizer? If so, you don't need to run one. It's not causing this issue, because the bacteria are not free floating in the water column, but rather are attached to objects in the tank (rock, sand, etc). But, UV sterilizers do kill off a number of good free floating 'critters'--micro fauna larvae, etc. They do more damage than good, IMO, particularly if you're wanting a reef.
yup, ditch the uv, just run it once a week or something..........
whoa!! oriongirl, nitRITEs can be toxic and harmful to marine animals even at lower levels, its the nitrATEs that come after that arent as toxic, although im sure you know this, you must have been referring to nitrates maybe?
At about day 10 into the cycle, the nitrifying bacteria that convert ammonia into nitrite, nitrosomonas, should begin to appear and build. Just like ammonia, nitrite can be toxic and harmful to marine animals even at lower levels, and without nitrite present the cycling process cannot complete itself. Nitrite will continue to rise to a high level of about 15 ppm, the most critical stage, and at about day 25 the level should begin to fall off, although it's quite possible to run on for another 10 days. Most likely the nitrite reading will peak and fall off to less than 2 or 3 ppm by about day 30, and shortly thereafter to zero. If it does not, don't worry, it should drop sometime within the next 10 days or so.
whoa!! oriongirl, nitRITEs can be toxic and harmful to marine animals even at lower levels, its the nitrATEs that come after that arent as toxic, although im sure you know this, you must have been referring to nitrates maybe?
At about day 10 into the cycle, the nitrifying bacteria that convert ammonia into nitrite, nitrosomonas, should begin to appear and build. Just like ammonia, nitrite can be toxic and harmful to marine animals even at lower levels, and without nitrite present the cycling process cannot complete itself. Nitrite will continue to rise to a high level of about 15 ppm, the most critical stage, and at about day 25 the level should begin to fall off, although it's quite possible to run on for another 10 days. Most likely the nitrite reading will peak and fall off to less than 2 or 3 ppm by about day 30, and shortly thereafter to zero. If it does not, don't worry, it should drop sometime within the next 10 days or so.
No, due to the high levels of chlorides in the a marine tank nitrites aren't nearly as harmful as they would be in a freshwater tank. OG knows what she speaks of.
Hi, I just did another 50% water change and have unplugged the UV. The tank has been running for 6 weeks and the ammonia cycled just as it was supposed to and is close to zero. Nitrates have been undetectable until today. When I tested the water immediately after the change the nitrite was at between .25 and .50 so I quess I will just wait and see what it tests in the morning. I guess I just don't understand as the smaller tank which I started just a few days before this one is at zero for ammonia and nitrite and only a trace of nitrate. The only difference in the two is the filter they are running off of. The fish seem to be fine, eating well and very active.
The Chloride molecules bind to the gills preventing the Nitrite molecules from getting absorbed by the gills into the bloodstream. The reason Nitrite is a bad thing to have is because Ammonia is often present at the same time, which will kill fish.
If ammonia is fine and the nitrate levels are within a normal level (ie very low) then waiting probably isn't going to hurt. On the otherhand water changes are always nice.