Nitrite Lvls And Cycling

[AdrianJames]

Ok so If I was to do that I would be getting up every 4 hours in the night to change water because thats how fast it rises....No joke. I did a water change at 9:30am and by 1:30pm it was .25ppm then by 7:30pm it was 1.0ppm. So I should be changing 90% about three times a day? Thats crazy!???

Have you considered cutting down on the feeding to once every 2-3 days? That would reduce the amount of ammonia going into the water, which in turn would reduce the nitrite that is produced.

Ps to the message above the last. My tank is heavily planted.

Can we see a photo? I am wondering if you have any non-aquatic plants in there that might be rotting and adding to the ammonia.

Whats your Ph. If low less toxic to fish but the cycle can take longer.

More of the ammonia is ammonium at lower pHs, which is why it is less toxic, but nitrite is more difficult because it depends on the species. For some species, there's no difference regardless of the pH; for some, nitrite is more toxic at lower pHs; for others, it's more toxic at higher pHs.

All my plants are aquatic plans that I bought from an speciality aquarium shop. I have anubias Barteri, Hemianthus callitrichoides 'cuba', Limnophila aquatica,Micranthemum umbrosum,Rotala sp, willow moss and java moss.
My PH lvl is about 7.

I guess Im just going to have to keep an eye on it and maybe change water twice a day...but to me it just seems like I'll be stuffing up the whole process... I dont know.

 

[AdrianJames]

This is a pic of my tank, sorry not so clear... I've just trimmed a lot of it

 

[rousell]

Tank looks nice

 

[Aqua Tom]

Now you have plants in there (nice looking tank btw) you should soon see a reduction in the ammonia readings.


Tom

 

[KittyKat]

Are you sure that's a 60 litre tank? If not, please measure the sides and height and post them here. If the tank is as small as it looks (going by heater, filter and fish size), 5 guppies is quite high stock for a fish-in cycle, which would explain why you're seeing such fast rises in nitrite.

At the moment, the tank is not what I would consider to be heavily planted, only moderately planted. As the plants settle in and spread, and as it comes closer to being heavily planted, they will have more of an effect on the water parameters.

 

[AdrianJames]

Are you sure that's a 60 litre tank? If not, please measure the sides and height and post them here. If the tank is as small as it looks (going by heater, filter and fish size), 5 guppies is quite high stock for a fish-in cycle, which would explain why you're seeing such fast rises in nitrite.

At the moment, the tank is not what I would consider to be heavily planted, only moderately planted. As the plants settle in and spread, and as it comes closer to being heavily planted, they will have more of an effect on the water parameters.

Its the 60l Dennerle Nano tank. I can assure you, its not smaller. This is also the picture AFTER I trimmed all the plants back. You should have seen it before! The guppies faces were pressed up against the glass!

 

[Tizer]

no chance that is 60 litres, it looks no bigger than my Arc tanks which are 35 litres.

pic for comparison:

 

[Tizer]

The 30 Litre dennerle tank is 30x30x35cm. the 60 is 38x38x43cm

nice thread here with the 60 litre planted setup (might get some nice tips too! I read the journals there a lot.


Actually, i take it back, your picture doesn't give a very good feeling for size. Maybe measure it to be sure

 

[AdrianJames]

no chance that is 60 litres, it looks no bigger than my Arc tanks which are 35 litres.

pic for comparison:

I can ASSURE you its a 60l tank. The photo may be deceiving cause I took it with my phone close up. I ordered it online, and it came with 60L on the box. Its the 60l dennerle nano tank.
I am looking at the box right now.

 

[KittyKat]

Not much difference between the dimensions of the two tanks, which is why it looked deceptively smaller… what fertilisers are you adding? Maybe one of them includes an ammonia-based nitrate component, and the filter could be treating it as ammonia, thus giving you nitrite… Not too sure how valid that theory is, but that sort of fertiliser does tend to show up as ammonia on a test, so it's relatively likely that the ammonia is in a form that the filter can use.

 

[AdrianJames]

Not much difference between the dimensions of the two tanks, which is why it looked deceptively smaller… what fertilisers are you adding? Maybe one of them includes an ammonia-based nitrate component, and the filter could be treating it as ammonia, thus giving you nitrite… Not too sure how valid that theory is, but that sort of fertiliser does tend to show up as ammonia on a test, so it's relatively likely that the ammonia is in a form that the filter can use.

It was just the dennerle soil that came with the complete plus set. Then the black gravel on top. I just think its the cycling process, but it just seems to take awhile. A lot of people are just saying "The nitrite spike is normal and soon you will see if go down" ??

 

[KittyKat]

The spike in itself if normal, but to me, the daily rise in nitrite looks quite high for the stocking and volume, which is why I think it's likely to be something else that's not helping. Plant "soil" substrates do have a tendency to release ammonia when first used, so that could be adding to the ammonia, and thus nitrite, levels.

 

[AdrianJames]

The spike in itself if normal, but to me, the daily rise in nitrite looks quite high for the stocking and volume, which is why I think it's likely to be something else that's not helping. Plant "soil" substrates do have a tendency to release ammonia when first used, so that could be adding to the ammonia, and thus nitrite, levels.

ahhh ok, that is probably it then...what can I do about that? I just have to wait it out?? I cant change it now Maybe it will take up to 10 weeks to cycle. Its been 6 so far.

 

[KittyKat]

ahhh ok, that is probably it then...what can I do about that? I just have to wait it out?? I cant change it now Maybe it will take up to 10 weeks to cycle. Its been 6 so far.

The only two things I can recommend are doing more large water changes and double dosing a dechlorinator which claims to "deal" with nitrite. At this point, there is really not much you can do to speed up the cycle.

Next time you cycle, these points will help you, although they are not much use for this time:
* seed the new filter
* start with a plant "soil" substrate only in a fish-less cycle situation
* do a fish-less cycle

 

[AdrianJames]

ahhh ok, that is probably it then...what can I do about that? I just have to wait it out?? I cant change it now Maybe it will take up to 10 weeks to cycle. Its been 6 so far.

The only two things I can recommend are doing more large water changes and double dosing a dechlorinator which claims to "deal" with nitrite. At this point, there is really not much you can do to speed up the cycle.

Next time you cycle, these points will help you, although they are not much use for this time:
* seed the new filter
* start with a plant "soil" substrate only in a fish-less cycle situation
* do a fish-less cycle

Great! Thanks so much for all your help appreciated! I now know NOT to do fish in cycle. Its a headache, even though my fish seem like they are unharmed by all these lvls.