Nitrite Test - Warning Unsafe - Advice Please

[the_lock_man]

Great advice, thanks. The water's going in gently to try and minimise as much stress as possible for my fish.

Should I leave the tank when full for 24 hours and retest?

If you've got the time, retest after about 15 mins (to give the new water a chance to mix with the old).

Yes I have but looks like I'll have to go out and buy some more Aquasafe at some point.

A lot of people recommend Seachem Prime, becuase it's very concentrated, and therefore lasts longer.

 

[clown_loach]

Great advice, thanks. The water's going in gently to try and minimise as much stress as possible for my fish.

Should I leave the tank when full for 24 hours and retest?

If you've got the time, retest after about 15 mins (to give the new water a chance to mix with the old).

Yes I have but looks like I'll have to go out and buy some more Aquasafe at some point.

A lot of people recommend Seachem Prime, becuase it's very concentrated, and therefore lasts longer.

Excellent, thanks for that tip.

 

[clown_loach]

Great advice, thanks. The water's going in gently to try and minimise as much stress as possible for my fish.

Should I leave the tank when full for 24 hours and retest?

If you've got the time, retest after about 15 mins (to give the new water a chance to mix with the old).

OK the tank's filled nicely and my fish are swimming around (not huddled together in a corner anywhere). Nice to see their little tails with a hint of pink in them which I think suggests they're not too unhappy.

Made myself a cuppa and had a rest before testing both ammonia and nitrite levels.

The ammonia is somewhere between the 0-0.25mm colour range, probably nearing the 0.25 colour scale which means I'll need to do another water change.

Good news on the nitrite, it's not down in the deep purple range which it previously was, but is more at the 0.25 ppm colour.

 

[the_lock_man]

OK, so now it's down to your judgement - do you have the leeway to go do something else, or do you need to do another change? Your call, mate.

 

[clown_loach]

OK, so now it's down to your judgement - do you have the leeway to go do something else, or do you need to do another change? Your call, mate.

I've still got to get that ammonia down so think I'll go for another water change.

Can I ask about some wood and slate I bought to add to my tank? How do I introduce it - would it be a good time during these water changes or another time.

I'm thinking this is already a stressful time for my fish, and this would be just another level added, so am talking myself out already by the sound of it ...

 

[the_lock_man]

With the slate, give it a good scrub before putting it in the tank.

With the wood, is it dry or wet? The only wood I ever bought was pre-soaked in an LFS tank, so I could bung it in straight away. If it's not been presoaked, then you have to soak it, else it will leech tannins into the water, and turn it brown. Basically soak it in a bucket, and keep changing the water (I can hear your heart sinking.......) until it stops going brown.

 

[clown_loach]

With the slate, give it a good scrub before putting it in the tank.

With the wood, is it dry or wet? The only wood I ever bought was pre-soaked in an LFS tank, so I could bung it in straight away. If it's not been presoaked, then you have to soak it, else it will leech tannins into the water, and turn it brown. Basically soak it in a bucket, and keep changing the water (I can hear your heart sinking.......) until it stops going brown.

I'm getting the hang of changing water - crash course today!

It's dry wood so will take your advice and leave it to soak and change the water regularly.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If it's not water logged wood, it may float, so you might need to tie or glue it to a piece of slate. The tannins aren't bad for your fish. They will lower the pH a bit, but in general, they are beneficial or neutral. The only issue with them is that your water will get a yellowish-brown tint to it. Personally, I kind of like that look, as it appears more "natural" to me than a clear tank, but that isn't everyone's preference. If you are going to glue the wood to keep it sunk, regular super glue will do the job nicely, and it cures instantly in water.

 

[clown_loach]

If it's not water logged wood, it may float, so you might need to tie or glue it to a piece of slate. The tannins aren't bad for your fish. They will lower the pH a bit, but in general, they are beneficial or neutral. The only issue with them is that your water will get a yellowish-brown tint to it. Personally, I kind of like that look, as it appears more "natural" to me than a clear tank, but that isn't everyone's preference. If you are going to glue the wood to keep it sunk, regular super glue will do the job nicely, and it cures instantly in water.

Nice tank you've got there.

I've got the wood soaking (as suggested earlier) in a deep bucket and there's not a lot of brown water even after scrubbing it and it's not floating. Will have a go at my fish tank gardening skills later... hoping they're better than my attempt at normal gardening!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If it's not water logged wood, it may float, so you might need to tie or glue it to a piece of slate. The tannins aren't bad for your fish. They will lower the pH a bit, but in general, they are beneficial or neutral. The only issue with them is that your water will get a yellowish-brown tint to it. Personally, I kind of like that look, as it appears more "natural" to me than a clear tank, but that isn't everyone's preference. If you are going to glue the wood to keep it sunk, regular super glue will do the job nicely, and it cures instantly in water.

Nice tank you've got there.

I've got the wood soaking (as suggested earlier) in a deep bucket and there's not a lot of brown water even after scrubbing it and it's not floating. Will have a go at my fish tank gardening skills later... hoping they're better than my attempt at normal gardening!

Thanks... That picture is almost 3 months old now. I've made a few changes since then. I might have to update the pic in my signature.

 

[Mowbz]

As MowbyDick there says, you could really do with another change, to give you that leeway I talked about. You may be at 0.25ppm now, but in an hour or so, it'll be a different story.

Oh and Ben, you got yourself into that 34 bucket thing! No sympathy from me!

MowbyDick? What you saying? lol

This answers my question Ben as to how long I wait to retest. Will test the amonia level and see what the results are.

My goodness what a big tank you've got

Its not that big, its only 4ft. The person i bought it from had replaced it with a 6ft that holds nearly twice as much! wish i had the room...

 

[clown_loach]

It's day 2 after the almost 100% water change yesterday. Results just in ...

pH = 7.6
Ammonia = 0.25
Nitrite = 0.25
Nitrate = 5.0

My 6 little tetras are still with me

Flu symptoms have worsened for me - now got a chest infection - not so good.

But looks like another water change for me today.

Thanks for everyone's advice yesterday. Nice to know you and it made the whole process less scary.

Took the opportunity to also add in the wood I mentioned to you yesterday as well which has added a nice addition to the layout.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yup, another water change is in order. I know it might sound strange, but doing as large a water change as absolutely possible is actually LESS work.


For example, an ammonia reading of 1.0ppm with a 90% water change would drop the level to 0.1ppm. Doing only 50% water changes would require you to do 3 50% changes to lower the concentration to 0.125ppm. Doing the 3 changes would actually be MORE stressful to the fish, and would require you to remove and add nearly double the amount of water to get less desirable results.

 

[clown_loach]

Yup, another water change is in order. I know it might sound strange, but doing as large a water change as absolutely possible is actually LESS work.

I've done another water change today ... wondering if my little tetras are beginning to know the daily routine now

This morning's nitrite reading on it's own was enough to get me on the case straight away.

pH = 7.6
Ammonia = 0.25
Nitrite = 2.0
Nitrate = 5.0

I only had enough AquaSafe to change 5 gallons out of the 6 gallon tank today so expecting to to do this again tomorrow and am guessing for a few more weeks yet?

Out of interest, roughly how long does it take for the filters to contain enough bacteria to handle processing?

 

[the_lock_man]

Yup, another water change is in order. I know it might sound strange, but doing as large a water change as absolutely possible is actually LESS work.

I've done another water change today ... wondering if my little tetras are beginning to know the daily routine now

This morning's nitrite reading on it's own was enough to get me on the case straight away.

pH = 7.6
Ammonia = 0.25
Nitrite = 2.0
Nitrate = 5.0

I only had enough AquaSafe to change 5 gallons out of the 6 gallon tank today so expecting to to do this again tomorrow and am guessing for a few more weeks yet?

Out of interest, roughly how long does it take for the filters to contain enough bacteria to handle processing?

Morning, mate. THese things vary so much, but you are looking at about another 6 weeks or thereabouts - but as the bacteria colonies grow, so the workload lessens.