Nitrite level -- should I panic?

[mikev]

Hi there,

perhaps you could tell me if I should panic or not....

New 10g tank (<1 week), ammonia level 0, nitrite level *varies* between 0 and 0.25 (a test would give 0.25, ten minutes later will show 0, an hour later again 0.25...). Not a problem with the kit: in an old 30g tank, the reading is a stable 0.

The fish seems to be ok...so far.

I don't understand what may be causing the instabilty (bacteria not fully settled?) and what I should be doing? (massive water changes? evacuation? something else?). And I really don't understand just how bad is 0.25...(I *think* low-level nitrites do not cause quick/long-term damage).

My current plan of action is to evacuate (move the fish to the stable tank) if the level reaches goes above 0.25...but I'd rather not move the fish around if I could avoid it....

Thank you very much for any comments/links....

 

[PeterM]

You could try to add a bacterially mature filtre to your setup from another tank. This will help to stabalize Nitrite levels in the water. Levels can and do vary, but as long as your fish are looking OK, not stressed or showing any signs of disease then you should be ok leaving them til the levels settle down.

The varying levels probably mean your tank is still cycling, and you really do need to let a tank cycle before you add fish to it! Its really important. The best thing you can do is get some substrate from another already setup and cycled tank and cup it into tights or panyhose that will hold it. Leave a few of these in your 10 gallon tank, and add the mature filtration from your cycled setup. This will speed the cycling process. Also, if you do water changes, ake sure to condition the water with a chemicla conditioner, or even better right now, let the water stand in a bucket or tank for a week before adding it. This water should be added after being warmed to the correct level by the addition of hot water.

 

[mikev]

Peter,

thanks!

You could try to add a bacterially mature filtre to your setup from another tank.

Did this already (borrowed the entire filter from the old tank for a few hours+3 cups of old gravel). This is what kept/keeps ammonia at 0, I suspect. Kept nitrites at 0 too, originally.

Seems like I screwed up a bit: I cleaned the filter before moving it back (new fish, no infection seen, but just to be safer?...so it is inactive now. I guess I can move some more gravel...(good idea?)

This will help to stabalize Nitrite levels in the water. Levels can and do vary, but as long as your fish are looking OK, not stressed or showing any signs of disease then you should be ok leaving them til the levels settle down.

What is the panic point?

The varying levels probably mean your tank is still cycling, and you really do need to let a tank cycle before you add fish to it! Its really important.

Don't I know.... A screwup here: I *thought* I had a fully cycled tank...it was not and I had to improvise...

This water should be added after being warmed ...

Thanks! Hmm, I guess can do water changes using the water from the mature tank (it is big enough to spare and ph is about the same). Good idea? is 1/3 change daily ok?

 

[PeterM]

If I were you I would do a 1/3 change from the mature tank and see how that goes. By the sounds of it youve already done everything you can to speed a cylcle up.

One thing I forogt to mention earlier: do you have any large rocks / pieces of wood in the tank that make some places difficult to get to with a syphon hose? I lost three South American Puffers because of a Nitrate spike. The tank was cleaned regularly and matue, but there was this one little corner in a piece of wood that had trapped a lot of food that I simply hadnt noticed. Something similar could, I suppose, be going on in your tank too. Its probably best to clear the tank of wood and ornaments and see how this affects things.

I think that by tomorrow, after the 1/3 water change with mature water and the filter being moved that your tank should have stabalized quite nicely. If it hasnt, then another water change with mature water couldnt hurt

*edit*

I would say that the "panic" level (or the Immediate Action level) of Nitrate in water would be around the 80 to 100 mark. Anything up to 40 is considered, usually, perfectly fine. Personally, I prefer the levels to stay around 10, as I am certain this will mimic natural conditions far better.

 

[mikev]

Peter,

thanks!
(did the change).

One thing I forogt to mention earlier: do you have any large rocks / pieces of wood in the tank that make some places difficult to get to with a syphon hose?

Valuable info, thank you very much. This may be a real problem.

no large rocks, or wood, but deep gravel. And the fish is under the gravel most of the time (khulis). And I cannot remove gravel, because -- with a new filter running -- this is where most of the bacteria is....

 

[mikev]

I would say that the "panic" level (or the Immediate Action level) of Nitrate in water would be around the 80 to 100 mark.

nitrIte, not nitrate...

nitrates are ok (10-20)

 

[PeterM]

Its a sticky situation youre in there for sure. The gravel will probably be an irritation to remove... but theres on thing you can do in the future once the tank has settled down again:

Remove by the cupful gravel from the tank and, when its down to a layer thats about 2cm (an inch) deep, cover the gravel with thoroughly washed sand. Your bottom dwellers will tank you for this, so will any plants that you introduce to the tank. The deep gravel tends to stay fairly clean, so there will be no need to take it all out to clean it if you decide to do this.

Its not essential though, gravel is perfectly fine as a substrate by itself! My personal preference is simply sand becuase its kinder to the skin and scales of fish

Panic levels for Nitrite (NO2) are typically anything over 10. Under ten is still to be worried about though, ideally its 0 or perhaps 1. I dont think youll have much to worry about though, it really does sound like its under control, and if all else fails and your fish start to show signs of stress, theres always the other tank to keep them in temporairily

 

[mikev]

Thank you for the good ideas.

Its not essential though, gravel is perfectly fine as a substrate by itself! My personal preference is simply sand becuase its kinder to the skin and scales of fish

Shows how little I knew about khulis.

I was told that they are basically non-aggressive polkadots...so i did not expect them to go into gravel (our polkadots dont)....

 

[rdd1952]

If I were you I would do a 1/3 change from the mature tank and see how that goes. By the sounds of it youve already done everything you can to speed a cylcle up.

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Using water from another tank doesn't do any good. You are simply putting dirty water into the tank. Bacteria isn't present in the water column. It is on your filter media, it the gravel, on plants, etc. Do water changes with clean, dechlorinated water from the tap.

Panic levels for Nitrite (NO2) are typically anything over 10. Under ten is still to be worried about though, ideally its 0 or perhaps 1. I dont think youll have much to worry about though, it really does sound like its under control, and if all else fails and your fish start to show signs of stress, theres always the other tank to keep them in temporairily

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If your nitrite ever gets to 10, all you fish will be dead. Anything over 1.0 is toxic and can killyour fish. You definitely don't want to let it get over 1. Any reading other than 0 for ammonia or nitrite is totally unacceptable in a cycled tank. Even during a cycle with fish, you don't want them over .25 to .5.

 

[mikev]

Using water from another tank doesn't do any good.

Confirm: It did not do any good, not even a temporary relief. Nitrites are up to consistent 0.25 and probably still rising. Left alone, it will be 0.5 by morning and I doubt khulis will take it.

Oh well, I moved over some media etc from the big tank and will give it another two hours ; if the numbers don't improve, evacuate...

Thanks for all the very helpful comments....

 

[rdd1952]

Just keep up daily water changes of about 15%. How many and what type fish do you have in this tank (pardon me if you already said and I missed it). I did see that you had a khuli loach.

 

[mikev]

Was too scared to continue and moved them (four khulis) to the big tank.
(If it were a "normal" fish, I would have waited...) I will try to stabilize the tank w/o fish (and emotions).

(One reason I did not want to put them into the big tank is that all the good hiding places there are "owned" by a gang of polkadots. It is still not clear if they can coexist)