Hi

Here is an interesting article for new and experienced fishkeepers.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/john1/nitrit ... nglish.htm

John

thanks John

intersting article. the beginning was really detailed n complicated( i skipped most of it ).

but it failed to mention an important clinical sign---or more commonly a post-mortem feature---brown-blood disease is another term for nitrite poisoning....basically the blood turns brown because the red blood cells have been altered--methaemoglobinaemia. so if u picked a fish and examined it's gills, and instead of a bright bloody red colour, u see darkish brown---it's almost diagnostic for nitrite poisoning.

fish struggling to breathe, dying, having brown gills etc is the extreme of course. it has been shown that mild to moderate chronic elevations of nitrite in the water actually reduces WBC count( white clood cell counts) etc, lowering the immunity of the fish n predisposing them to diseases..

and sometime u do get these lowish readings in an 'established aquarium'. often after a major water change, or a good cleaning of the filter( any event that disrupts the good bacteria). a high pH plays a role too in some instances....

Anyway, don't forget salt too. a 0.1-0.3% salt solution helps fish cope with nitrites, by inhibiting gill uptake of this poison. Again, a critical management aid not mentioned....

Hi Wayne

intersting article. the beginning was really detailed n complicated( i skipped most of it

Can you imagine if that article would contain all, which, in your opinion was missed, how much would be skipped then?

John

too much chemistry John. gettin too technical for me n clouds the main practical points for aquarists to remember with regards to nitrite n fish just my humble opinion

Hi Wayne

I posted that article here in OZ. About the same number of hits. 2 replies. Both positive. So, to each his own.

John

hey hangon. what about the fact that nitrite peaks dont actually happen once. they continually happen every time you increase the loading on the ecosystem. a soft coral dies - mm nitrite peak. that fish goes undiscovered behind the big log- nitrite peak. the problem is that most tropical systems dont have the surface area to support a bacteriological system that can really handle the kind of peaks that happen. most filter systems are far too small to handle it. the bacterial explosion to handle the ammonia loading = converts it to nitrite = converts it to nitrate. in the gaps there is a time period where there is a lot of ammonia/nitrite in the water - if its enough to blow away your tiger loach - you find it dead.

these kind of peaks occur every time you add a fish / add excess food / something dies/ all sorts of variables and your aquarium is really a continual bacterial challenge to hold off the peaks.

easy no?

Hi

Yes, you'll have a nitrite peak, nitrite peak, nitrite peak....

If you add 10 fish every week and have a $2.50 boxfilter.

John