Nitrites Still Not Going Down.

[fostersimported]

Ok I have had my tank for six weeks weeks now but nitrites No2 not going down.

I have a 65 liter tank with a filter compartment spanning the width of the tank. It has two sponge filters and one which looks like cotton wool. The pump is rated at 200lph.

2 1/2 weeks ago had a massive spike in No2 +3.3mg/l even though I was changing 80% of the water my neons died.

I am continuing with daily 20% WC but the Nitrites stay around 0.3mg/l after the change and go up to 0.8mg/l before I change the water. The first sponge filter has a slime / snot slowly building up in it, the second filter has no slime / snot in it. The ammonia has not been above 0.0 mg/l for 27 days.

My tank does have plants and bio Co2 (jbl) the pants are doing fine.

I have 2 Yellow Cichlids, 2 Mollies, 1 Dwarf Gourami, 3 Siamase Algae eaters. Will the No2 ever go down

don

 

[Colin_T]

Your nitrite test kit might not read 0. Some kits go down to 0.5 as their lowest reading. Test your tap water and see if that has any nitrite in it. Also take a sample of the tank water to your LFS and have them test it with their kits. You should take your test kit and test at the same time to see if your kit is out.

Try cutting back on food and see if that helps.

 

[fostersimported]

Your nitrite test kit might not read 0. Some kits go down to 0.5 as their lowest reading. Test your tap water and see if that has any nitrite in it. Also take a sample of the tank water to your LFS and have them test it with their kits. You should take your test kit and test at the same time to see if your kit is out.

Try cutting back on food and see if that helps.

Ok will test Tap water and post results. I wasn`t sure if the 200l/ph pump was fast enough.

don

 

[Colin_T]

the 200lph pump should be fine on a 65litre tank

 

[fostersimported]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Well I tested my tank again heres the results.

Tap water:
NH3/NH4 (ammonia) 0.0
No2 (Nitrite) <0.3 (Less than 0.3 it is the lowest my Tetra test kit measures)
No3 (Nitrate) 12.5


Tank

NH3/NH4 (ammonia) 0.0+ (+ Because when I compared it to the Tap water test the colour was very slightly Darker,)
No2 (Nitrite) 0.5-0.8 (in between on the colour chart)
No3 (Nitrate) 12.5+ (+ Because when I compared it to the Tap water test the colour was very slightly Darker,)

In the case of the ammonia I would estimate 0.05 but the next level on the test kit is 0.25. The same goes for the Nitrate I estimate 13-14, next level is 0.25.

All measurements are mg/l but I think it is the same as ppm.

So I think that the tank is still Cycling because the nitRAtes have not risen. I am going to miss a water change tonight and will see if the levels change. However, I have been reading that my plants could be slowing the cycle. I`m not sure.

So the slime / snot on the first more course sponge filter. Is that the bacteria building up ? I did clean the dirt/dead leaf parts etc off the sponge in old tank water~! But I did not need to clean the second less course (smother) sponge filter, Should I expect a slime / snot build up on that sponge as well?

cheers
Don

 

[waterdrop]

Nice looking tank Don,

Cleening a filter during fish-in cycling can slow down cycling a little if done vigorously I would think. Hopefully you just rinsed it in tank water, not tap water, right?

~~waterdrop~~
BTW, for the things we do in this hobby, yes, mg/l equals ppm. But technically they are different in that mg/l designates units of solids in liquids, whereas ppm means similar units, like solids in solids.

 

[fostersimported]

I cleaned the filter in a bucket of tank water I had siphoned out during a water change. I only cleaned it gently to remove leaves etc which had been caught up.

Thanks for the comment, Its my first tank and have already been looking at a 400l corner tank. But I will wait until, 1 I have the money and 2 I have mastered my 65l.

Will post the results of the test tonight, so I can see if much has changed with out the daily 20% WC. Goto go late for work

Don

 

[fostersimported]

Wow!!

It looks like the levels are going down

NH3/NH4 (ammonia) 0.0+ Unsure to be exact because ran out of test fluid could only put in 4 drops instead of 7
No2 (Nitrite) 0.3
No3 (Nitrate) 12.5+

The No2 is lower than yesterday and I did NOT do a 20% WC. I will not change the water tonight and test again tomorrow.