Nitrite help

Hi all.

After getting to work today (I work a nursery/Wet pets) , my boss decided to test me on my nitrite testing abilities. She got me a Tetra NO3 test kit and had me follow the instructions. I took a sample from one of the display tanks and did as the instructions said.

After waiting 5min I checked the sample and it was fine. The nitrogen level was fine.

So I used the money I had to purchase my own test kit to check my aquariums. When I got home, I tested my 3ft tank. The nitrite level was really bad. Something like 1.6mg/l which is really bad!

I have a reverse UGF and a corner-filter with carbon in it, and a sponge filter. Is it possible that I have too much filtration and bacteria?
I did a water change and will do another test tomorrow.

I then moved onto my 2ft breeding tank which has 4 vissies (2 Mollies and 2 Guppies). I have a UGF and sponge filter running and the result was the same, also in the red zone.

Just to check that I was doing everything right, I asked my dad to try the test on my other 2ft tank that is over stoked. I only have a UGF in it, and the results shocked me more! The level was in the O.K. 0.3mg/l.

So I quickly did a water change and will test again tomorrow and then post my results.

I usually change my 20% of my water every 2nd week. Must I rather do a 20% water change weekly?
The thing that confused me the most was that the 3ft tanks fish look perfectly healthy.

Any advice would be helpful.

P.S. I have a spare sump lying around somewhere and was wondering if I should put that under the 3ft. I also took the sponge filters and corner-filters out of all the tanks that had.

Regards
Firefly

 

Ok, Firstly NO3 is Nitrate, and not Nitrite. Nitrite is NO2, and is very short lived, and usually converted by nitrifying bacteria into NO3. NO2 is very harmful to fish, where as NO3 is much less harmful, until higher levels are reached.

If this test kit is functioning correctly, then I would say you need to do at very minimum a 50% water change everyday until it registers in the acceptable range.

It would be useful to know what fish and how many you are keeping in this tank?

Also, when doing a water change, do you 'vacuum' the gravel or just syphon off the water and replace?

20% sounds a bit too low if you are only doing it every two weeks, so I would say either 25% every week or 40% every 2 weeks? Again though, knowing what fish you are keeping in these tanks will help with deciding the best action?

Regards
G!

 

I concur with Big G.

Tell us what is in the tank, and also explain to us how you go about cleaning your filter (if you are at all)

Rather give us too much information that what you think is the bare minimum. That way we can give you more accurate information.

I would highly suggest a 50-75% water change immedietely.

 

O.K. Thanks Big G for correcting me.

I did a water change yesterday and today and will do another one tomorrow just to be safe. I do use a gravel vac and get almost all the way to the UGF plates. I clean my filter regularly/weekly.

I am planning on changing from a Reverse UGF system to a sytem that has a powerhead on the uplift, not the reverse.
I told my boss the situation and we agreed I was overfeeding. I am going to feed them less . Better have them hungrier than dead! (Please don't quote me on this one)
I have 2 diamond sharks, 2plecos, 2 medium parrots, 1 butterfly fish, 1 rainbow shark and one spotted goby. Shouldn't be overstocked. This could be true becuase my neon tank had lower levels of NO2. I believe this is becuase the fish finish the food and don't leave any to rot. I will watch my feeding and nitrite level more closely this next couple of days.

 

"Better have them hungrier than dead! " could not agree more ... a happy fish is one that is swimming around looking for food - a fat fish dies young - I think might even be prone to disease. Quality of food can also play a big roll in the amount you need to feed.

BTW have you checked the expire date on that test kit?

Later Ferdie

 

nitrates

Get rid of the ugf. I had bad experience with it in the past. Rather get an inside filter which do filtration at a rate of twice your aquarium volume. Sponge filter is good but only in small aquarium where fry is kept.

Also do 50% water change twice a week without feeding the fishes.

I could be wrong but thats what I experienced in the past.

 

Er, can I just clarify which it is you are testing for? Are you testing for NO2 or NO3?

If your NO2 is high, then you still need to do a water change, but we also need to look at other issues?

If its NO3 then you should be able to control it by increasing the volume and frequency of water changes, and also by reducing the ammount of food.

Regards
G!

 

@ Zoom: re 50-75% water change.
The key here for me is that he fish have been said to be looking healthy despite the poor water quality. While it is paramount to reduce the levels of N02/N03 any big change in water parameters even from bad to good is going to place a lot of stress on the fish. Had the fish been displaying signs of being unhappy at the time I would have agreed with your advice but since they were looking ok I would prefer to advise a 25% water change daily until levels are acceptable. Also when doing such a large percentage water change i would advise checking ph levels between the tank and tap water.

 

Would a good amount of plants not help in reducing the NO3 ?

 

Plants help immensely to stabilize it my amazon swords are growing like weed at the moment in my oscar tank, some of them have taken root right through the pots into the substrate.

 

Actually plants help very little. . . To put it into perspective you would need a plant/fish ratio in excess of 30:1 in order to reduce Nitrate levels to acceptable levels, of course this is also species dependant ie. oscar needs more than a neon cause they mess more. No amount of plants can keep an aquarium healthy, thats why we do water changes.

 

Yeah of course but they do help stabilize it to some degree. But having said that:

http://www.aquabotanic.com/plants_and_biological_filtration.htm

 

Yes plants would help but, there is no substitute for regular water changes.

 

Plants will only reduce a little, and can help long term to stabilise NO3, but will never be enough to consume all the Nitrates (NO3), and in this case we need to get rid of the NO3 (or NO2) very quickly as these are at highly toxic levels at the moment!

Are there any fish showing clamped fins at all? Or perhaps wiggling more than normal or in a strange way?

I would also say that anything more than a 50% water change per day could stress the fish too much, but most importantly, make sure the water you add is at the same temp as the tank! Last thing you want is a sudden temp change!

Regards
G!

 

Was not thinking interms of resolving the problem, only some help

 

Well thanks for all the advice guys. I was trying to stop my nitrites Big G. I did another test this morning, the results were much better. I will do another water change (20%) and that should stabalize it some more.
The only other thing worrying me is what filter could I add? I was thinking of stopping the reverse flow( becuase I read in a fish book that it can cause high nitrite levels) and putting a canister on the powerhead to quick filter the water. I would then have the UGF run normally on air stones.
P.S. Would a powerhead of 700l/hr be to strong for parrots and sharks in a 3ft tank?