nitrite/nitrate

[nicmack]

Hi - I just noticed on my 225 litre tank that the nitrite/nitrate levels are starting to show what is the best remedy for this apart from keeping up the water changes !!

[whetu]

In general, if you have nitrIte in the water you should do water changes to reduce stress on your fish. NitrAte readings are something altogether different.

In order to give properly informed advice, I have a few questions for you!

1) Is this a newly set up tank or has it been running for some time?

2) How many fish do you have in there, and what types?

3) Have you made any recent changes (eg done a major filter clean, added more fish, etc)?

4) a. Have you been testing for ammonia? b. If so have you noticed a recent ammonia spike? c. What was the highest ammonia reading and when did it happen?

5) What are your nitrite readings?

6) What are your nitrate readings?

(Nitrite and nitrate are different things and indicate different processes in the tank)

Your answers to these questions will give an indication of what you should do next.

[nicmack]

Is this a newly set up tank or has it been running for some time?

- Long established tank 2+ years

2) How many fish do you have in there, and what types?

- 2 clown loaches 6 discus all in there since 10/07

3) Have you made any recent changes (eg done a major filter clean, added more fish, etc)?

- no did have the heater off for two days two weeks ago by accident !

4) a. Have you been testing for ammonia? b. If so have you noticed a recent ammonia spike? c. What was the highest ammonia reading and when did it happen?

- will need to check for it

5) What are your nitrite readings?

0.5

6) What are your nitrate readings?

40

(Nitrite and nitrate are different things and indicate different processes in the tank)

- maybe a filter clean is needed???

Thanks

[Caryl]

What sort of filter have you got and how often do you clean it and do water changes? Don't forget your fish will have grown since the tank was set up so the load on the filter increases over time.

I just cleaned out my Jebo 819 after about 12 months running. Got 3/4 of a 2L ice cream container full of gunk out of it. Water flow had still been good. I was just curious to see how gunky the filter was. Didn't over clean it though as that would destroy too much of the beneficial bacteria living in the gunk.

[VinsonMassif]

Any Nitrite is not a good thing. You can detoxify the Nitrite by dosing 1tsp regular kitchen salt per 20L of tank water.

The safest way to add the salt is to mix it into a bucket of tank water, then use a length of narrow tube (like air line tubing) to syphon the salty water into the tank.

But keep in mind this is treating the symptom, not the cause.

As Whetu and Caryl said - test your water, do water changes, check your filtration.

If you have measurable Nitrite I would suggest 50% water changes daily until it goes away.

[nicmack]

thanks for your help I just cleaned my filter in tank water and got told at the LFS to do a 10 day nitrivec course as a short term fix because i replaced someof the old media

[whetu]

Thanks for the answers - that really helps to diagnose the issue.

It does look like your filter may have got a bit overloaded at some stage and suffered a bit of a set-back causing a mini-cycle. Now that you have cleaned it, hopefully it will settle down.

I just googled nitrivic as I'm not familiar with this product. It looks like it introduces beneficial micro-organisms to the water to speed up the nitrate cycle (ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate). Some people say this kind of product doesn't do any good, but IMO it doesn't do any harm and might do some good so I hope it helps!

Salt is a good way of reducing the stress on your fish caused by nitrite in the water, but be careful with the clown loaches in there - they cannot tolerate much salt in the water so keep a close eye on them looking for signs of stress. At any sign of stress do another partial water change to dilute the salt and remaining nitrite.

[Ianab]

Replacing filter media could have caused the Nitrite problem, that will go away fairly quickly as the filter recovers.

The Nitrate level is a bit high, especially for Discus. But that just indicates you need to change more water. Dont be scared to do larger or more frequent water changes. This will help with the nitrite level in the short term as well.

When you have to replace filter media, just do one element at a time so the rest are still working.

Ian

[nicmack]

thanks again - I think you are right re the filter it had not been maintained on a regular basis so perhaps was overloaded.... no wonder my discus weren't happy the product the LFS sold me was sera toxivec which should get rid of any nasties (hopefully) straight away while the new media has time to get going but I will watch out for any mini cycles starting up

[Luke*]

bummer to hear nic! no plain sailing ay. still sounds like you got it sorted. also bear in mind ammonia and nitrite still occur throughout the process but is converted to nitrate in 24hrs once properly cycled. aim for discus is <10ppm nitrate tho 15-20ppm is more realistic in a planted tank.

[nicmack]

Hey Luke - at least it is not a total disaster this time ! I think some of it was my fault in not doing filter maintenance with the cannister filter I am keeping a close eye out they are eating which is good - however the white dimaond has rapidly outgrown the others and is a bully !