Sorry Another Nitrite Question

[Nemo8269]

I'm a little confused as to what to do with my water stats.

pH = 7-7.5
Nitrite = 0.25

A few weeks ago my amonia was up, not sure of the level as the lfs tested it and he said there was only a trace. Tested nitrites today and the level is 0.25. Its been like this for 2 days a little less on the first day.

now this is where i'm confused as to what to do. I've searched through the nitrite posts and there seems to be conflicting advice. Do i do regular water changes or will this affect my tank if it is cycling? What about adding filter aid would this help? Or should i jsut leave it alone and keep testing?


my tank is 190lts stocked with fish and real plants. I have a Fluvel filter.

any suggestions would be great

 

[mark.w.jones]

I'm a little confused as to what to do with my water stats.

pH = 7-7.5
Nitrite = 0.25

A few weeks ago my amonia was up, not sure of the level as the lfs tested it and he said there was only a trace. Tested nitrites today and the level is 0.25. Its been like this for 2 days a little less on the first day.

now this is where i'm confused as to what to do. I've searched through the nitrite posts and there seems to be conflicting advice. Do i do regular water changes or will this affect my tank if it is cycling? What about adding filter aid would this help? Or should i jsut leave it alone and keep testing?


my tank is 190lts stocked with fish and real plants. I have a Fluvel filter.

any suggestions would be great

I wouldn't add any chemicals personally. They do more harm than good IMO.
How long has your tank been stocked with fish for?
You say your tank is cycling. Is this for the first time. ie you have just set up the tank and are cycling with fish OR are you saying there is a mini cycle going on at the moment caused by your sudden ammonia spike.

There are lots of potential causes for a blip in ammonia / nitrite.

Most commonly:

Over feeding.
Unnoticed fish death.
Leaving uneaten live foods e.g. blood worm on the bottom.
Leaving loads of dead plant matter knocking about.
Overstocking of tank.
Filter not powerful enough to cope with amount of water / stocking.
Death of bacteria in filter caused by forgetting to add dechlorinator, washing sponges / filter material out in tap water.

Do any of these apply to you?

Hope thats helpful

 

[Nemo8269]

It could be going through a mini cycle due to the trace of amonia and now the nitrite, what do you think?
The tank has been up and running for about 7 months now and all sats where normal up until a couple of weeks ago. Iv'e struggled with my pH being to low for a few weeks along with my amonia but it is now stable.

None of your suggestions apply other than feeding too much maybe. I feed them once nightly with flake, bloodworm and pellets. All is eaten within five minutes though

 

[jayjay]

in your signature it says 1 mollie think its died. do you know if it dying was around the same time your ammonia went up because that could make the ammonia raise then the nitrite would rise.

i may of made a mistake and misunderstood you but o wel

hope i helped

 

[Nemo8269]

No that Molly died a while ago now. Iv'e done another reading and my nitrite has now gone up to 0.5. should i do a water change, increase airation???

Help

 

[Nemo8269]

I did a 25% water change last night and this morning the nitrite is now reading between 0.5 and 1.5.

what else can i do?
there are no dead fish & food has been eaten in a matter of minutes. I didn't feed them yesterday and won't today either to see if this helps the level drop.

What else can i do?

 

[Nemo8269]

Anyone?

 

[mark.w.jones]

Anyone?

Cant suggest any more than keeping up the small water changes and hoping your levels settle themselves. Cant seem to see any problems from what youre telling us.

 

[Sheridanp]

It's very frustrating. I have had nitrite problems for a long time, and there always 0.3-0.8. It's so annoying, and it will never go away.

 

[mark.w.jones]

It's very frustrating. I have had nitrite problems for a long time, and there always 0.3-0.8. It's so annoying, and it will never go away.

Are you 100% sure about the accuracy of your test kit. If fish all seem healthy and OK, no deaths then maybe water is fine.

 

[Sheridanp]

There was one death, my common pleco. Very odd, I don't know why, but I was getting rid of him the next day so it worked out fine.

I use the Hagen Master Test Kit by Nutrafin. I think it's correct.

And yes, the fish are all healthy and happy. The water must be fine.

 

[Nemo8269]

The one thing i did notice there was quite a bit of fish droppings underneath a rock. The rock is hollow underneath and the dropping were trpped in there. I'm imagining this could be the problem, what do you think?

Iv'e now filled the hole with new filter sponge to stop the dirt getting trapped, not sure if this will help. There are no other signs of fish waste anywhere in the tank and the tank looks clean although the fish are obviously being irritated by something as they are scraping/flicking themsleves across the sand and plants.

I'm going to do another water change this morning and see if this has helped. Current Nitrite reading 0.5+

 

[Nemo8269]

Carried out a 25% water change yesterday, tested again this morning and the nitrite reading is still 0.5.

Could it be the plants, they not doing very well. Could this be due to the nitrite levels and would it help if i remove them all?

The tank is being well airated, iv'e read that fish find it dificult to absorb oxygen when nitrites are high so iv'e increased airation. Are my plants suffering dueto this increased airation?

I don't know what else i can do.