Nitrite Lvls

[lambpie89]

Hi, just starting my tank off i have 3 platties - did have 4 but one died
but hurrah we have 3 babies already!!!

right on to the question, at what lvl do nitrites get leathal to the fish, mine is at 0.50 at the mo it has risen to this point slowley aver the last 3 days. how long do you think it will take to return to zero as i need to get some snail/algee eaters in there.

 

[tstenback]

generally aim to keep the nitrite levels below 1 ppm when fish are involved. I have seen fish in water that had a readiing of 6 ppm and look perfect. I think that it depends on the individual fish but any level of nitrite will stress a fish and different fish handle stress in different ways. How long it takes to go down is just a guess. Usually a couple of weeks or more. the level you have is not very high so if this is as high as it gets then perhaps yours will come down quicker. HTH

 

[ScuabaDuba]

I heard that nitrate is due to lack of oxygen...which is often because of overfeeding. that true? if it is, does that help?

 

[tstenback]

Nitrate is the byproduct of the nitrogen cycle and if your tank is established then nitrates are building up in the tank, unless you have something in there that is consuming them like plants or certain filter media. Excess food that decays can add to this level but i dont believe that the lack of oxygen has a major part in the process. HTH