Anyway of lowering nitrite?

[Joeyt66]

Well i have a bit of a problem i recently did a water change (sunday ) and today i notice some of the fish going to the top for air. So icheck my water levels Amonium 0, Nitrite 0.8-1.6 and nitrate 110. So i plan on doing a water change but then remember just doing one so i test my tap water it seems to be just as high. I"m on a well and we've had quit a bit of rain so im guessing thats why they are so high, ive tested it before and no nitrite and a little nitrate (not exactly sure the number) So i have no way of doing a water change and its a 135 gallon tank so buying water is expensive. Is there any way of lower ing it?

 

[Joeyt66]

Any info would be great !!!!!

 

[rdd1952]

I did a couple searches and came up empty on how to get rid of nitrate in water. I did find a couple links that said that you should NOT boil water with nitrates because that would only concentrate it more. You may have to consider bottled water or possibly looking at your LFS. I'm sure there are products that remove nitrate just like the ones that remove ammonia and nitrite. Most of us don't like using chemicals but that may be your only option until your well water clears up.

As a side note totally unrelated to the fish. I don't know how old you are (maybe the 66 in your ID means born in 1966 like my 1952 does). Just in case you are married with young children, I did find a couple sites that said to definitely not let babies under 6 months drink water that has high concentrations of nitrate. According to those sites, the babies stomach does just the opposite of our tanks and turns nitrate into nitrite and can poison a baby. I've got 2 grown children and 3 grand children and never knew that. Here's a link ti the best site I found.

http/pmep.cce.cornell.edu/facts-slides-s...heef-grw85.html

 

[Blue Lobster]

Zeolite filter insert will help.

http/www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...D=1113365727118

 

[nc_nutcase]

Seeing that NitrAtes are the largest reason water changes are so important, I would have to believe that if a miracle cure was available, we would use that instead of lugging buckets and buckets of water each week. I know I would.

Since your having so much rain would it be possible to put a new plastic garbage container outside to collect rain water to use?

 

[Blue Lobster]

Rainwater has Sulfuric acid. You'd be better off filtering all the well water coming into the house with a R/O system. Kill two birds with one stone, better water for you and the fish.

 

[rrdrummer5]

ok in ur topic it said nitrIte and everyone seems to be talking about nitrAte.

I have always been told and read that the only way to remove nitrIte is water changes. BUT, i got this stuff from petsmart called Nitra-zorb that says it removes nitrites,nitrates, ammonia etc. I had about 1ppm ammonia and 2-3ppm nitrite levels in my tank cuz i didnt let it cycle properly. I put that nitra-zorb in my filter about a week and a half ago and now everything is at 0. I have no idea if that is because it finally cycled or if the Nitra-Zorb really works. But it was like 10 bucks so i figured it was worth a shot and as far as i can tell, it worked. good luck

 

[rdd1952]

ok in ur topic it said nitrIte and everyone seems to be talking about nitrAte.

I see that the topic says nitrIte now but I swear it originally said nitrAte. If we are indeed talking nitrIte, that is simple. Just do water changes as rrdrummer5 said.

 

[nc_nutcase]

I was also under the impression we were talking about nitrAtes... at least now it says NitrIte... but Anyway....

The best way to deal with nitrItes is to let your tank fully cycle. Then water changes will address the nitrAtes.

One strong concern... if you use a chemical to 'remove' (although it cannot remove anything, but will convert it into something else... my question there is convert it to what?) ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte... then the 'beneficial bacteria' that naturally converts them (amm into nitrIte into nitrAte) will all die off and the chemical will be your only source of addressing these things. This will make you forever dependant on the chemical to keep your fish alive. Very good for the manufacturer and distributor of the chemicals... but I wouldn't want to be in that situation.

The common and safe way to deal with the byproducts of fish waste is to properly cycle the aquarium, do not overstock and perform weekly water changes. These quick fix methods are usually a lot more about the 'quick' than they are the 'fix'.